The Tunji Olowolafe Foundation has pledged to provide solar power, virtual learning facilities and digital infrastructure for the Postgraduate College of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife.
Its founder, Dr Tunji Olowolafe, disclosed this in an address at the grand finale of the Postgraduate College Week, organised as part of the university’s 65th anniversary celebrations.
He said the foundation would instal a dedicated solar power system for the college’s administrative offices, ICT centres and examination facilities, provide a fully equipped virtual learning and oral defence facility, and digitise and modernise the college’s boardroom.
Olowolafe added that the foundation would fund preliminary research and pilot studies on a case-by-case basis to strengthen researchers’ capacity to secure international grants.
It would also sponsor specialised training in grant writing, donor compliance and institutional advancement.
Speaking on the theme, “Promoting Research Excellence and Innovation in Postgraduate Studies: Charting the Future,” Olowolafe described research as a systematic process of correcting societal mistakes through evidence, urging universities to challenge conventional wisdom and develop solutions to national problems.
He called for wider access to research opportunities, including partnerships that would enable people with practical expertise, such as experienced farmers, to participate in university research under proper supervision without compromising academic standards.
Olowolafe also advocated expanded digital and flexible learning, stronger university-industry partnerships, and a greater emphasis on practical research outcomes, including patents, commercialised products, and solutions to industrial challenges.
He urged Nigerian universities to subject indigenous knowledge in medicine, agriculture, construction and food preservation to scientific validation, citing Chinese scientist Tu Youyou’s research into traditional medicine, which contributed to the development of artemisinin, an important malaria treatment.
Highlighting OAU’s research achievements, he cited a $5 million Gates Foundation grant secured by Professor Ibraheem Awowole to help reduce maternal mortality in Nigeria and more than 70 patents secured by campus researchers with support from the university’s Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Office. He also challenged alumni to increase financial, institutional and mentorship support for university research at least tenfold.
Olowolafe commended Vice-Chancellor Professor Adebayo Simeon Bamire for advancing research and technology initiatives and urged the university to scale up its efforts to prepare students and researchers for emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.
He also stressed the importance of public education in social mobility, drawing on his own educational journey from the University of Ilorin to his professional career.
SOURCE: LEADERSHIP NEWS PAPER