Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos, has urged the Federal Government to restore its scholarship programmes to encourage foreign students to enrol in Nigerian Universities.
Ogundipe who gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja, noted that Nigerian education sector was producing candidates that could compete favourably with their counterparts anywhere in the world.
“In the past when we are in the university, Cameroonians always come to our universities but now we don’t have them any longer,’’ Ogundipe said.
He, however, said that on his assumption in office, he has been trying to encourage countries in Africa to send people to come to the University of Lagos.
“Also I know the Federal Government gives scholarships to some citizens of other countries to come to Nigeria.
“We encourage them to do that often so that we can attract foreign students to come to Nigerian universities and I am sure they will want to come,’’ Ogundipe said
According to him, it will also add value to the education sector and increase the internally generated revenue of the university.
“We know that the University of Lagos is better located and accessible to many of our neighbouring countries.
“The University of Lagos is a brand name in and outside Nigeria; it is a cosmopolitan university and located in the commercial nerve of the country.
“If you look at the universities in Nigeria, the University of Lagos has better academic stability because we hardly have internal problems.
“This is because vice-chancellors of the institution had been able to handle internal problems,’’ he said.
The VC also said that the university was standing on three tripods of teaching, research and community services.
He stressed the need to do more in research and community projects in order to contribute to the development of the country.
Ogundipe promised to improve on its brand through research, innovation and the university’s contribution to the community.
He added that the institution had maintained its minimum cut-off point at 200, saying that admission would only be given to students who meet the institution’s requirements.