Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, has charged state-owned tertiary institutions to maintain a stable and predictable academic calendar to enhance educational quality and restore public confidence in the system.
Oyebanji gave the charge on Monday in Ado-Ekiti while receiving the senior management of Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology (BOUESTI), Ikere-Ekiti, led by its newly appointed Vice-Chancellor, Prof Andrew Babatunde Omojola.
The governor said frequent disruptions to academic activities undermine learning outcomes and place avoidable burdens on students, parents and guardians.
He noted that a stable academic calendar would boost academic excellence and make institutions more attractive to prospective students, researchers and development partners, adding that education remains central to his administration’s development agenda.
Oyebanji urged university management, staff, union leaders and governing councils to strengthen dialogue and adopt proactive conflict-resolution mechanisms to prevent avoidable strikes and prolonged closures.
He commended BOUESTI for its rising profile, describing it as one of the fastest-growing state-owned universities in the country, a development he attributed to its stable academic calendar.
The governor congratulated Omojola on his appointment as the second substantive Vice-Chancellor of the university and urged him to build on the achievements of his predecessor, Prof Adeoluwa, particularly in sustaining institutional stability.
Oyebanji expressed confidence in the new vice-chancellor’s capacity to consolidate existing achievements, noting that the appointment was based strictly on merit, and assured that his administration would continue to invest in infrastructure, staff welfare and institutional reforms.
Earlier, Omojola thanked the governor for the appointment and pledged to sustain academic stability, saying his vision was to position BOUESTI among the top ten universities in Nigeria, the top 100 in Africa and the top 1,000 globally through academic excellence, research innovation and institutional development.
