CUSTECH:, A BEACON OF HOPE FOR THE GENERATIONS, A PICTURE OF THE FUTURE
Humanity is given to dreaming dreams: it is either in the unconscious, by processing ideas and sensory information in our sleep or through random brain activities geared towards finding creative solutions to problems. Either way, Dreaming is as old as man. It is a universal phenomenon that is either divinely inspired or out of deliberate effort by the dreamer to recreate the world.
While there are dreams with no specific meaning or purpose, there are those that are crafted in the secret recesses of the mind of the dreamer, and which takes time to germinate,and when they do, they have positive outlook on life. This is the story of the dream University, Confluence University of Science and Technology, CUSTECH,Osara.
Like the Sunflower that displays its beautiful petals with the emerging early morning sunrise, CUSTECH is the story of a dreamer, Yahaya Adoza Bello, immediate past Governor of Kogi State who is motivated by a strong desire to impact positively on the next generation of Kogites through the establishment of a world class University that will be a reference point to generations yet unborn.
Created in the mould of two American Dreamers and “possibilitarians”, Walter Disney and Martin Luther King Jr, Yahaya Bello thought of an enduring legacy to bequeath to the next generation of Kogites. He saw into the future, the need for a University of Science and Technology that arrest, if not totally extirpate the unpleasant experiences of thousands of qualified Kogi State Students seeking admission into older Universities to pursue science and technology based courses. They are often denied admission because Science and Technology based programmes are considered elitist, reserved for only the privileged students of a catchment area, or those who even though are not from the catchment area, overshoot the entry qualification bar. A lot of Kogites find themselves in this avalanche of denials as demands for University education is higher than what the only University in Kogi State then, Prince Abubakar Audu University could cope with, especially in the area of professional programmes rooted in Science and Technology.
Over the years, access to such programmes as Medicines and Surgery, Architecture, Marine Engineering, Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Material and Metallurgical Engineering and others in this category kept dwindling for Kogi secondary school leavers. It is against this backdrop that Dreamer Yahaya Adoza Bello thought of a uniquely different university, a legacy University that drives a 21st Century ideas that will advance the frontiers of knowledge beyond what was already obtainable in Kogi State. The future belongs to those that make Science and Technology the cornerstone of their development, and Kogi must be enlisted amongst such states.The dream.
My first contact with CUSTECH was at the 5th matriculation ceremony of the young University which held recently in Osara. The first attraction was its sprawling landmass that is a scenic beauty, adorned with modern infrastructure that is comparable to the best facilities of any first-class University in Nigeria. The Dreamer Yahaya Bello must have worked extra hard to put in place such magnificient structures, complemented by TETFUND. It can only be a product of visionary leadership to actualise such dream in five years.
Probing further on the magic that is CUSTECH reveals it was started by a pioneer Vice Chancellor that is a first class academic whose academic qualifications remain amongst the best in the country, Engr. (Prof) Sadiku Salawu, a Structural Engineer is a man who has eyes for details and knack for excellence. This explains why the University has taken off on a sound footing, parading some of the best programmes only older Universities in the country can boast of.
CUSTECH has indeed benefited from the aggregation of Visionary leadership. From the first Visitor, to the first Vice Chancellor, to the first Pro-Chancellor who is also an academic of distinction. Prof Olu Obafemi, the Council Chairman has erked his name in gold as a man of letters who has a reputation of success as a literary giant. He has held visiting professorship at various universities, home and abroad,with a vast experience that is transformative.
CUSTECH is an idea whose time has come. The baton of transition from the first Vice Chancellor to the incumbent is a transition that is invaluable as the present Vice Chancellor from all intents and purposes has carried the banner of transformation of the young, vibrant University to another level. Engr (Prof) Abdulrahman Asipita Salawu is a young, dynamic Materials Metallurgist that is turning the fortunes of the university around by the careful and meticulous choices he is making in the introduction of “blue chip” programmes and attraction of the best brains into the pool of academics.
In my few days in the saddle, I have found distinction in the quality of the fifty four degree programmes offered in the eight Faculties of the University which includes but not limited to Medical Science; Environmental Sciences; Computing and Informatics; Sciences; Science and Technology Education; and Engineering.
In five years, the University is reputed as one of the fastest growing Universities in the country, having one of the largest Engineering Faculties in Nigeria today with not less than eleven programmes approved by the National Universities Commission, NUC namely Agricultural Engineering; Chemical Engineering; Civil Engineering; Computer Engineering; Electrical/Electronics Engineering,Materials and Metallurgical Enginnering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering, Marine Engineering,Mining Engineering and Petroleum and Gas Engineering. These programmes in Engineering will no doubt benefit from the technical environment in which the university is located–the Ajaokuta Steel Company, National Iron Ore Mining Company, National Iron Ore Mining Company,NIOMCO, Dangote Cement, Obajana, Ceramic Company at Ajaokuta and other mineral enterprises that abound in the state.
Recently, the Reference Hospital in Okene, with some of the best medical facilities in Nigeria is re-designated to serve as Teaching Hospital to the fledging College of Medical Sciences, with a world class gynecologist, Prof Solomon Avidime recruited to serve as the first Provost of the Faculty while the University is still shopping for the right personnel to man the facilities in the Teaching Hospital.
There is indeed unassailable transition in the positioning of this great citadel because of the uncommon political will even to do more by the incumbent Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo. By his investment in the University, he has succeeded in striking a balance between the infrastructural development and the academic programmes to make the institution a University of destination.
The high demand of students for admission into the university by the recent UTME application figure of three thousand, four hundred and forty-six is symbolic acknowledgement of Public good which CUSTECH represents. It gives our youths a future as it continues to climb the ranks in pursuit of its motto which is “Knowledge for Advancement of Mankind”.
Austyn Ochu Is Head, Information, Public Relations and Protocol Unit, CUSTECH,OSARA
