Ekiti varsity will contribute to Nigeria’s manpower needs – VC

The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology and Environmental Sciences, Iyin Ekiti, Prof Gbenga Aribisala, has said the institution will contribute to energy and manpower development in the country.

Aribisala, speaking in Ado Ekiti, on Saturday, during a reception organized in his honour, said the new university had made progress in its few months of existence.

“We are creating a 21st-century university where we are going to convert waste to wealth and generate electricity from waste,” he said.

The reception was organised in his honour by a group, the Committee of Four Younger Brothers.

He said, “All the waste that you see around, either domestic or institutional or industrial, we want to channel to generate electricity.

“That is what happens in some of the developed countries where waste is a commodity.

“They are no longer waste as we have it in Nigeria and that is part of what we are going to do here.

We are going to ensure that we contribute our quota, especially in the area of energy and in the area of manpower as well as the quality of graduates,” he said.

The VC promised that recruitment, billed to begin soon, would be based on “merit and competitiveness” as the institution needed the best hands.

Aribisala said activities had commenced in the university, adding that, “What we have done so far is to begin to put the structure in place.

“Work has started on our permanent site and it is going to be progressive. We have started the design and it is at the completion stage.

“The academic brief is nearly ready, the masterplan is nearly ready. The course content is ready, we are working on the handbook and the laboratories that should be in place.”

He promised that admission would begin soon, after meeting the requirements of the National Universities Commission.

“We are working hard so that this coming academic session, 2025/2026 session, we are going to bring in undergraduate students. We want a residential university for both staff and students,” he said.

The VC thanked President Bola Tinubu; the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele and Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, for their love for education and making the dream of the university come true.