Universities must move beyond theory — Don

A Professor of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Babatunde Ogunsanwo, has challenged Nigerian universities to rethink their traditional approach to education.

Ogunsanwo said they must move beyond producing graduates with theoretical knowledge to becoming centres of innovation, enterprise, industrial production and wealth creation.

Ogunsanwo is retiring after 46 years of academic service.

He said universities must see themselves not merely as institutions for teaching, research and awarding degrees but also as productive communities capable of solving societal problems, creating employment, generating sustainable revenue and improving the economic circumstances of their members.

He made the submission while delivering his valedictory lecture, titled “Ailele, But the Beat Goes On,” at the university on Tuesday.

He presented what he described as a practical framework for repositioning Nigerian universities through entrepreneurship, collective investment and institutional boldness.

Ogunsanwo, who had served OOU as Dean of the Faculty of Science, Provost of the Postgraduate School, Director of Academic Planning and Director of Entrepreneurial Studies and Innovations, among other positions,

The professor said his 46 years of experience in the university system had convinced him that its future could not depend solely on government funding or the traditional struggle for improved working conditions.

Ogunsanwo argued that universities must take greater responsibility for their survival and development, particularly in an environment where government funding remains inadequate and the public appears largely indifferent to the welfare of university employees.

He questioned the commitment of successive governments to adequately fund public universities, saying, “I sometimes question whether successive governments possess the political commitment and fiscal discipline required to fund public universities adequately.”

Recalling the history of education funding in Nigeria, he cited the establishment of the Education Tax Fund, which later evolved into the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, as an intervention designed to address the funding challenges confronting public educational institutions.

He said the initiative followed the devastating effects of the Structural Adjustment Programme and the severe underfunding of Nigerian universities in the early 1990s.

According to him, following a challenge by the General Ibrahim Babangida military administration, the Academic Staff Union of Universities proposed an alternative funding mechanism outside direct Federal Government allocations.

This eventually led to the Education Tax Act No. 7 of 1993, which introduced a two per cent tax on the assessable profits of registered companies in Nigeria to support public education.

However, Ogunsanwo questioned whether the interventions had sufficiently addressed the long-term funding needs of universities.

He said, “Although the ETF has supported numerous projects in tertiary institutions, the central question remains whether its interventions, together with other funding arrangements, are sufficient, sustainable, transparent and consistently aligned with the long-term needs of the university system.

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“The attitude of the politicians towards the relentless demand for adequate funding of university education in Nigeria gives me the impression that political elites perceive university academics as overly ‘brain-savvy’, an intellectual trait they fear could threaten their own survival.

“Consequently, with gross underfunding of the universities coupled with poor monthly take-homes, these formidable strategists would be reduced to strugglers whose main occupation would be individual survival.

“The only time the general public considers university staff useful, in my view, is when seeking admission for their children. Beyond that, no one is interested in whatever happens to university staff.”

Against this background, Ogunsanwo urged university communities to take their destinies into their own hands and move beyond merely identifying their problems to developing practical solutions using their collective intellectual and economic resources.

He argued that the traditional university system had placed considerable emphasis on teaching students scientific principles, theories and formulae without giving sufficient attention to how such knowledge could be applied to solve everyday problems and create economic opportunities.

Using Chemistry as an example, he questioned the usefulness of teaching students concepts such as saponification without adequately equipping them to apply the knowledge in soap production.

“I strongly hold the belief that the primary intention of our colonial masters was to train us in how to speak English and know all the scientific formulas with little or no emphasis on their utilisation.

“It is for this reason, for example, that right from secondary schools, students are familiar with the definition of the term saponification in Chemistry textbooks, but even upon graduation, no Chemistry student will understand how to use that knowledge to produce soap,” he said.

According to him, similar shortcomings exist across several academic disciplines, where students acquire theoretical knowledge but graduate without sufficient practical exposure to its commercial and societal applications.

He therefore advocated a fundamental shift in the philosophy of university education, insisting that academic programmes must deliberately incorporate entrepreneurship and practical problem-solving.

“I strongly hold the view that Nigerian universities must move beyond teaching students how to understand scientific principles to equipping them to apply those principles to solve problems, create enterprise and generate employment,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of OOU, Professor Ayodeji Agboola, described Ogunsanwo’s 46-year academic career as a remarkable journey of service, commitment and contributions to the growth of the institution.

Agboola, who was represented at the occasion by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Professor Oladipo Olubomehin, said the retirement ceremony provided an opportunity to celebrate an academic whose contributions extended beyond teaching and research to institutional leadership and mentorship.

He acknowledged Ogunsanwo’s service as dean, provost, member of the University Council and in several other academic and administrative capacities, noting that the positions provided opportunities for him to contribute meaningfully to the university’s growth and stability.

He also commended the retiring professor for training generations of students, some of whom had themselves become professors.