Nigeria needs leadership training institution - Bishop Adelakun

By Joy Adaun

Bishop AdelakunWhat do you want to say about this proposed
university?
The proposed Dominion University is a Christ-centred tertiary institution in the making.

One Sunday, in 1997, I shared the vision that I had about the proposed university with members of the church. The vision was to take a child from daycare level to the university level. So, the conception of the proposed university came when there was no private university in the country.

We started the implementation of the vision with the establishment of the nursery school, which was upgraded to a primary school and few years later, the college was established.

Today, we are in the last phase of the dream with the establishment of this proposed university.

This is our contribution to complement the efforts of the government in its bid to return sanity to Nigeria’s educational system for the development of quality manpower.

How do you want to start the institution?
The university would take off with the Faculty of Humanities. The reason being that the problem of Africa is not availability of resources, but how to manage them. There is a lot of mismanagement going in every sector in this country and in African countries generally.

Africa is the most blessed continent in terms of resources endowment, but very poor because of its inability to manage its economy, politics and educational system. In view of this problem, the proposed university is conceived as management- oriented university to address mismanagement problems in the country. Nigeria needs leadership training university where students will be taught about resources management and leadership skills.

How do you intend to assist indigent brilliant students in the society to have access to the university?
In Dominion University, we are going to balance quality with quantity. To obtain quality, there is a price tag. That is, quality education is very expensive. However, there is going to be consideration for indigent but brilliant students in form of scholarships.

In our college, we do give students scholarships whereby some of them pay 70 per cent, 50 per cent and so on to relieve them of their financial commitment to education. So, we are going to adopt the same approach in the proposed university to ensure that the poor people have access to quality university education. I will like to tell you that we are not money-driven but vision-driven institution.

How far have you gone with the preparation for the take-off of the university?
The take-off of the university is in God’s hand. However, the process is on. We have 13 steps to take and we are on item eight. So, we have five more steps to go. I believe God will grant us the speed this year to get the government approval. Now, we are expecting the National Universities Commission’s visit in May. Moreover, we are giving this university a proper foundation and preparation and people are committed to its being take-off with all necessary facilities to be put in place soon.

In this regard, we are going to employ trained staff from within and outside the country for effective quality education delivery. University education today goes beyond certificate acquisition; it is all about quality skills acquisition. So, we are going to recruit academic staff who will be able to impart the required knowledge on the students.

How far have you gone with the infrastructural development on the proposed campus?
Already, we have the take-off buildings, the administrative block, library, lecture theatres have been roofed and we are about to roof the hostels and staff quarters. Also, we have started the fencing of the portion under development. We have about 250 acres to build the university.

Another advantage about the university is that its location, kilometre 24, Lagos-Ibadan Express Road, would be conducive for learning and research. We are going to run a full residential university for total reformation process of the students both academically and morally.

How do you think Nigeria can return sanity to its educational system?
So many things have gone wrong in our educational system. Education should be seen as service to humanity. It is not a means to enrich oneself. Now, our youths need to be de-orientated through education. It is sad to note that an average Nigerian youth has the orientation of grasping what they can grasp at all cost , not minding the consequences. Therefore, Nigerian youths need reformation education on attitudinal behaviour to life.