Trinity University, a recently approved institution, is ready to commence 2018/2019 academic session and admit pioneer students, its chairman has said.
Samuel Olatunji, Chairman, Board of Trustee of the university, told BusinessDay in Lagos that the school was already listed on the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) website for accessibility by eligible students.
Lagos-based Trinity University was approved on January 9 by the Federal Executive Council.
Olatunji said that the institution would commence academic work by April this year with 14 courses and two faculties, and would be mentored by the University of Lagos.
He said that the two faculties, faculty of science and faculty of arts, management and social sciences, would offer courses in computer science, information technology, industrial chemistry, mass communication and economics.
“The vision of the Trinity University is to be a world-class institution of higher learning that combines academic excellence with high moral and ethical standards in the pursuit of entrepreneurshi-focused education,” Olatunji said.
The Chairman explained that tuition fee for the university would be quite moderate and competitive depending on the course chosen by a student. He added that the institution was open to all students irrespective of religious or tribal differences.
On the challenges that the promoters faced in setting up the university, Olatunji explained that the cost of establishing and running a university was high because the government does not give any form of waiver or subsidy, which some Federal university currently enjoy.
He lauded the NUC for maintaining international standards and thoroughness in the accreditation of new institutions and programmes in Nigeria.
“The NUC does not compromise or lower standards when it comes to licensing of new universities or accreditation of courses.
“The process of getting approval and license for a new university from NUC is very tedious and that is why it took us nine years to obtain our license,” he said.
“While we wondered why it took that long, we saw files of some others who have been processing theirs for 15 years and even above, while others got theirs in less than nine years.’’
According to him, the school needed a pass mark of 70 percent before they could get approval however, but disclosed that Trinity University scored 95 per cent during the NUC accreditation process as announced by the commission, due to qualified manpower and facilities on ground for the take-off of the university.
He recommended that while standards should still be maintained, the processes leading to licensing of universities should be made seamless and less cumbersome by the commission.
The chairman also lauded the newly introduced policies of the NUC to approve mentoring institutions for every newly approved university.
According to him, since the NUC during approval specifies the areas a new university is expected to work on, the mentorship will go a long way to assisting new universities.
“It symbolises a positive advantage and will help the university to perceive its own vision and bring in new dimensions and opportunities.
“You cannot build a university alone, so the government expects you to collaborate in terms of curriculum, financing, facilities or faculties,’’ Olatunji said.
A tour by BusinessDay around the Yaba campus of the university, showed that facilities such as electronic library, ICT and science laboratory, entrepreneurship centre, hostels, security and health care facilities are already in place.
DIPO OLADEHINDE
