Over time, innovations have always marked turning points in public engagements and social contracts. It is, therefore, necessary to appreciate the concept of the Community University, as the model being championed by Bells University of Technology, Ota” – Prof. Jeremiah Ojediran (Vice Chancellor )
Impact-making. Problem-solving. Mind-challenging, yet life-transforming in the positive perspectives. These are the apt terms that freely come to mind while listening to the Vice Chancellor’s recent soul-stirring speech at the Press Conference hosted ahead of the 16th Convocation Ceremony, being his 9th at the helm of affairs. That was while revealing the interesting fact that the university has been delivering quality knowledge, uninterrupted for 20 memorable and event-packed years, against all odds, the year 2020 COVID-19 challenge inclusive. In fact, he went ahead by reeling out the several inspiring firsts scored by Nigeria’s premier private University of Technology, Ota.
Not only is it the first citadel of great knowledge in Nigeria to run unique courses such as Bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering, mechatronic engineering, telecommunications engineering, it currently boasts of a professor ranked amongst the Top 2% Researchers on the African continent! And the University is on the global Reporters List for the Ranking with THE, as it is referred to.
In a similar vein, and keying into the captivating moving mantra of the university that: “Only the Best is Good Enough for Bells University,” this historic year, 2024, some students of the university came first at the Creative Writing Challenge as sponsored by Sujimoto Ltd, another set also came first in the Student Charrete Competition on Climate Adaptation and Resilience. That was hosted by the NIA Lagos Architects Forum. Not done, it also came first at the Architect Design Competition on Sustainable and Eco-friendly Design sponsored by the National Association of Architecture Students (NAAS). Brilliant, is that not? Yes, of course it is most inspiring.
But all that triggers the question of what special factors and features; principles and philosophies must have propelled the university to reach its current enviable height. The answers require no rocket science to provide.
Put simply, in its distilled essence, it all began with a potent, profound and practicable vision by its foresighted Founding Fathers, including the passionate lover of education and nationalist, former President, Chief, (Dr.) Olusegun Obasanjo, the Chief Promoter. That vision clearly spells out that it is: “To be a world-renowned university that is committed to the development and transformation of society through environment-friendly technologies and other innovations”. So, how far has that vision been fulfilled?
According to Ojediran, who is fully appreciative of the great foundational efforts made by the first two Vice Chancellors, Professors Julius Okojie and Isaac Adeyemi they kept that vision alive. And good enough that he, along with members of his tested and trusted team have taken it to greater heights. He can therefore, proudly state that the university has produced quality graduates who have significantly contributed to research, technology development, and societal transformation.
Truth be told, BELLSTECH as some admirers fondly call it is unique at churning out graduates who are innovative, creative, resourceful and self-reliant with many of them setting up their own businesses while as undergraduates.
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It is neither sheer self-glorification nor chest- beating when Ojediran states that the impact-making university is celebrating “two decades of academic excellence, empowering minds, celebrating heritage and embracing the future of transforming lives”. That is simply stating it as it is- point blank, backed by ample empirical evidences on ground. Praiseworthy also is the fact that much of the sterling achievements were made from and with lean resources. That is one great lesson for us all to learn from. But there are several others, which is in fact the focus here.
Being creative by coming up with Community Education System ( CES) is one of such. But what is that all about? In his words the Vice Chancellor states that: “it sets out to proffer best solutions from collective knowledge and shared experiences, recognizing that education is a life-long activity”. Yes, of course it is! As Sam Walton rightly noted, “Individuals do not win. Teams do.”
That brings to the fore, the importance and imperative of turning your organization into an attractive brand by its core values. An outstanding value of the university is that of having all its courses accredited by the National University Commission (NUC) and other professional bodies. These include Accountancy, Architecture (BSc and MSc), Banking and Finance, Business Administration, Economics, Management Technology, Nutrition and Dietetics. Others are already listed engineering courses and Bachelors of Technology in Estate Management and Building Technology which got accredited by both NUC and CORBON.
Of immense significance is the deployment of the productive power of pragmatic partnerships. Through such the university has in place buildings by Dr. Mike Adenuga, that house library space, CBT Centre, lab/ workshop and the Asiwaju Onafowokan Colemans Building for the College of Post Graduate Studies. There are also New Horizon building for ICT projects and Bells University Forum Student Building, amongst others.
Also through partnerships, there is the Student Works Experience Program (SWEP), encouraging the training of in-hand skills for road construction within the campus, brick making, paint making, wood work, computer system cloning and electrical fittings work. Apart from the AI Centre to create Artificial Intelligence to promote inter-disciplinary knowledge sharing the donation of Green House, the N10 million for Agriculture related programs, ‘About the Future Program’ is to make the university the hub of research and collaboration on climate change. There is also the Centre for Climate Change in collaboration with the C.C.Group (SDG-13 on Climate Action). It hosted over 300 secondary school students to enhance their Awareness and Sensitization Programs. These have come up with the revamped Weather Station on campus. That is in addition to farming to boost food security. These are indeed highly commendable.
And so is the Olusegun Obasanjo Scholarship scheme with the human touch, changing the lives of indigent students in addition to the internally displaced persons, and the physically challenged. That is apart from the best graduating students and first class graduates sponsored up to their Ph.D level.
The icing on the cake, which amplifies the humanistic approach to knowledge acquisition is that of the Tuition-Free Courses at Bells University. That is whereby the student does not pay the tuition component of the huge sum of N453,000 for courses such as agronomy, agribusiness, agricultural and biosystems engineering. Others are physics and electronics, biotechnology, industrial chemistry, building technology and quantity survey. Awesome, is all one can say, as they draw bees to the honey combs.
All said, it is big kudos to the Chancellor, Members of the Board of Trustees and the Management Team, including the Registrar, the Accountant, the University Librarian, Deans of Colleges, Heads of Department and the highly committed members of staff for a job well done!
