Babcock University Graduates Are Job Creators - Prof. Akintayo
"Babcock University graduates are well-baked and trained to become job creators in the society."
These statement is credited to the Vice President, Communication, Media and Branding, Babcock University, Ilishan Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria, Prof. Johnson Akintayo during a courtesy visit to his office, he stated that the institution is poised towards providing world-class educational standard for students in the institution. Excerpts:
Q: During the swearing-in ceremony of the new Vice Chancellor of your institution last year, he made several promises to parents, staff and students, in the areas of implementation. How far has he gone?
A: By the grace of God, this great citadel of learning was established to build future leaders in the society; therefore we teach students to be more knowledgeable as regards leadership. We have a social media angle in the institution where we relate vital information as it affects the institution.
In terms of promises made by the Vice Chancellor during his inauguration, a lot has been done entering into partnership with reputable organizations to make things happen. Immediately he assumed office he heat the ground running and in one of the mandates we have what is called Grace Agenda 'G' stands for globally relevant, 'R' stands for research focused, 'A' stands for Adventist rooted, 'C' stands for competent community, 'E' stands for entrepreneurial society.
In terms of being globally relevant, how do we relate with students - we have done a lot more in that regard. In terms of being research-focused, a lot has been done to build the confidence and encourage lecturers in the faculty to build more in terms of IT research to encourage lecturers and students to do more in the area of research. Incentives were given to the best research writers. A lot of effort is being put into that aspect and we also encourage students to publish their research.
A lot more has been done to ensure that the institution is Adventist rooted by reflecting on the Seven Day Adventist Church so that it does not lose its heritage. A lot is being done in that direction to keep the heritage for a competent community so that students will be proud they graduated from Babcock. In terms of entrepreneurial society, we organize entrepreneurial week where students showcase their potentials and creative ability, running on that Grace Agenda and translating all the alphabet in the acronym into reality is what I will say the Vice Chancellor has tried to do within the space of seven months.
Q: Are you of the opinion that graduates of Babcock University are job creators in the society?
A: I will say we are not there 100% but we have been able to make significant progress towards ensuring that graduates of Babcock University are marketable and we made them understand the fact that there is reward in hard work. There is this general belief in the society "get rich quickly syndrome"no success is made overnight; you have to get the required training and take a bold step to achieve success in your career.
We have made our students understand that life is not as arousing as they think it is but they need to make impact in life. Formally I lectured development communication for many years and I made my students understand that if they have a parent who has a company that will be an added advantage after graduation.
If they also have a parent that could give them connections after graduation so be it, but if that is not in position they need to look at areas of investment and strategies to achieving excellence.
I have succeeded in mentoring a lot of people and they are doing very well in their endeavour.
Babcock University students after graduation are job creators and we made them see things that can be done because it is the entrepreneurs that build the society.
Q: Babcock University has one of the best medical facilities in Nigeria, do you have the intention of extending your services to the less privileged in the society?
A: A lot of resources were used to establish Babcock University Teaching Hospital and if you look at the services that are being provided to patients you will conclude with the fact that our services are pocket friendly considering converting naira to dollars for health care abroad.
Babcock University Teaching Hospital is not funded by the government and the days are gone when we get subventions from internal sources.
I will say we do a lot when it comes to helping people to get adequate health care. Patients are referred to Babcock Teaching Hospital from government hospitals in South West Nigeria and we do everything possible to ensure that we maintain our standard.
Because of critical nature of patients they get attended to before making payment considering the economic situation in the country where you have to pay your consultants, in a country where 70% of medical personnel have JAPA.
Looking at all this perimeter I will say Babcock University Teaching Hospital have not done badly in ensuring that the people of Nigeria have access to quality medical care.
Q: What has been the contribution of Babcock University to its host community, more importantly in the area of power supply?
A: That is a big question. Yes, the university generates and transmits its own power supply but we have not extended that to our host community. Maybe in the nearest future that could be a possibility when we have enough power to generate because we are not where we ought to be and we need to do more.
The institution has grown so big and availability of 24 hours power supply is very key. The facilities that require power supply are numerous, for example the Babcock Teaching Hospital. There are some facilities that require uninterrupted power supply like the heart surgery section so when you look at all of that being in place we will continue to expand our power generation capacity.
It takes a lot to sustain power generation and we must be able to power all our facilities before extending such gesture to the outside community, but in distant future we should get there.
We count on God and other institutions that will partner with us in the area of power generation and distribution.
Babcock University has a lot in the area of corporate social responsibility. We make service available to the people at very reduced cost; we sponsor indigenes in our host community, most especially those that cannot pay fees - they get sponsorship from Babcock.
For the whole of Remo we provide support in case of any fire emergency. We have firefighting equipment which is at no cost to the people. It is a safety protection scheme that is being sustained and managed by the institution.
Judging in that direction Babcock University is trying its best towards providing selfless services to the people.
Q: What is your message to the graduating students in the university?
A: My message to graduating students of the university is that everything they have learned they should make very good use of it in their private space. Yes, there will be challenges and challenges are stepping ladders to success.
They need to help build the society and strongly believe that Nigeria will be great again. Elections are coming; they need to vote for competent candidates into the various elective positions.
