Shaykh-Luqman Jimoh, the acting Vice Chancellor of Kwara State University (KWASU) says the State-owned institution has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chartered Institutes of Taxation (CITN) on community development and entrepreneurship.

Jimoh, a professor of Islamic Medicine and Theology, stated this in his address delivered at the 10th and 11th Convocation Ceremony of the institution, noting that KWASU partners CITN in order to deepen community development effort and entrepreneurship education and practice among the students.

The Vice Chancellor, who stated that the university is focused on academic programmes to strategically position their research and graduates to meet current and emerging challenges, noted that the CITN “will assist the university in linking the gown with the industry.

“We established the university-industry relation committee which among others, identifies industries within and outside the state for mutual interest between us and identified industries.”

He equally stated that the University had commenced 24 new academic programmes following NUC’s approval, saying, “We have commenced 24 new programmes in the 2022/2023 academic session following NUC approval.

“The programmes are, MBBS in Medicine and Surgery; B.Eng in Food Engineering; B.Sc in Aquaculture and Fisheries Management; B.Sc in Taxation; B.Sc in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution; B.Ed in Educational Management; B.Sc/Ed in Agricultural Education; B.Sc/Ed in Biology Education; B.Sc/Ed in Chemistry Education; Ph.D in Electrical Engineering ,among others.

“To us, we believe that it is only through proper, efficient and consistent education that we can surmount the onerous tasks that confront Nigeria as a nation. Using science and technology, we are concentrating on filling gaps in society which may impact on the quality of human lives. These programs will help our students to compete favourably with their peers around the world”, he added.

While announcing that the university is open to industry and private partnership to support the effort of the state government in developing the Institution for quality education, he however said that the university produced 16,315 graduates for the 10th and 11th combined Convocation Ceremonies of 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 academic sessions.

But, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State, the university visitor, who was represented by Mary Ronke Arinde, Commissioner for Tertiary Education, said that education is the bedrock of any nation and the pivot upon which development rests , adding that “Our administration will continue to invest significantly in the education sector.”