Roland Iwuchukwu
As part of efforts towards contributing to the development of humankind in Nigeria, Wesley University, Ondo, has announced a 50 per cent discount in tuition fees for some of its courses in the departments of Natural & Applied Sciences, Education, Agriculture, Finance & investment and Economics.
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Rt. Rev. Prof. Samuel Sunday Obeka said that the courses “are very significant to national development but are not well subscribed to by students due to their high tuition fees and assumed abstract or ambiguous nature.”
However, he pointed out that the gesture was implemented to encourage parents to allow their children and wards to enjoy the benefits and endowments inherent in the institution. This is also done in fulfilment of the promise made at the inception of our university to give opportunity to all Nigerians for professional and academic development, and thereby, contribute to national development.
The Methodist Church Nigeria thought it wise to establish Wesley University, Ondo as part of her efforts to midwife effective and robust national ethos and practical implementation of national development policies.
Wesley University, Ondo offers 44 academic programmes spread across nine colleges, all approved and accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC). The programmes are in the Colleges of Law, Arts, Education, Natural and Applied Sciences, Environmental Design and Management, Agriculture, Food Science & Technology, Health Sciences and Social and Management Sciences. Wesley University also boasts a School of Postgraduate Studies, a School of Continuing Education, as well as an Institute of Agricultural Research & Training, all ready to develop the skilled and well-informed manpower needed to move Nigeria forward in her quest for giant developmental strides, and to take her pride of place among the comity of progressive and developed nations. Programmes in these colleges include – Community Health, Early Childhood Education, Special Education and Library and Information Science, as well as Law and Nursing Science.
In the Postgraduate School, Wesley University runs the full range of programmes such as PGD, MSc and MPhil/PhD. in Biochemistry, Business Administration, Accounting, Computer Science, Hospitality Management & Tourism, Mass Communication, Nutrition & Dietetics, Microbiology and Education at Postgraduate levels only. The BA/BSc. programmes are: Theatre Arts, English & Literary Studies, International Relations & Diplomacy, Sociology, Geography & Environmental Education, as well as Social Studies Education. The university also has Part-Time and online degree programmes, diploma and certificate courses in the various colleges. Some of the diploma and certificates programmes in the College of Agriculture are – Poultry Management & Production, Beekeeping & Honey Production and Fisheries Production & Management. In the College of Social and Management Sciences, we have – Peace Management & Conflict Resolution, Safety Management & Security Studies, and in the Department of Mass Communication, we have – Video-Editing, Media Studies and Photography, Public Relations and Advertising, Scriptwriting and Editing. In the department of Business Administration, we offer short courses on Customer Service & Relationship Management. It is very important to note that the Methodist Church (Nigeria) was founded in 1842 and since then, it has made a lot of contributions to the development of the Nigerian educational sector, the agricultural sector, the health sector and other sectors of governance.
The Vice-Chancellor further counselled that instead of government owned institutions increasing their school/tuition fees, one would have thought that the federal universities through their appropriate unions would have addressed the issue of fuel subsidy removal and the realities of the proposed palliative measures first, which the government should have aimed at alleviating the suffering of the teeming masses.
The implications of this on private universities are obvious as it would increase their student enrolment figures, because despite the increment in tuition fees in federal and state institutions. The exit date for any enrolled course or programme in every academic calendar remains uncertain due to strikes, riots and protests during every semester or session. Many students may start to prefer private and church-owned varsities because of the absence of industrial actions that truncate the academic calendars. The private universities such as Wesley University have no distortions in their academic calendars and their students graduate in a timely manner. Secondly, there may be possible adjustments in the school fee structures of some private universities because human needs and wants are insatiable.