Date: 2014-07-30

About 105,000 candidates applied to the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) this year although the university can admit only 9,000, the Vice Chancellor, Prof AbdulGaniyu Ambali, has said.

He told reporters at the weekend in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, that the institution’s stable academic calendar and quality make it the most-sought after in Nigeria.

Prof Ambali said “this year, we had 105,000 applicants. UNILORIN is the most sought-after university. University of Benin, which is second to us, had over 60,000 applicants.

“Unfortunately, we have capacity for 9,000. We just concluded the last batch of post-UTME screening. In the next few days, we will sit down and analyse the results.”

The vice chancellor said his administration is  renovating classrooms and lecture theatres to make them conducive for teaching and learning.

“The classrooms are being renovated. We are building four lecture theatres. Through the NEEDS assessment we hope to build more lecture theatres of about 600-seating capacity. This will enhance teaching and learning.

“We want to improve the quality of staff. We are training more staff. In fact through TEFUNDS, we are sending about 14 abroad for their doctoral degrees in various disciplines.

“The disciplines include library and information, engineering, pharmacy, bio-sciences, industrial microbiology, law, mathematics, health service management, nursing etc.

‘’The more doctoral staff the better the quality of teaching and research. We encourage our staff to attend international conferences and seminars. Forty will soon embark on international conferences.”