LIFE OF A QUINTESSENTIAL EDUCATIONIST

 CHAT UP WITH MAYE OF YORUBAKINGDOM

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The Maye of Yorubaland, and the President, Oduduwa University, Ile Ife, Osun State, Dr Ramon Adedoyin,tell segun packagerz about his strides in the education sector and other issues

Q.You have many educational institutions within and outside the country. What inspired you to venture into this line of business?

A.I have been in this business for almost three decades. I started while I was an undergraduate at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). A professor identified my talent and asked me to teach some children, and after some time, other parents brought their children. When I left the university, I continued teaching and I converted part of my mum’s house to a tutorial centre and so many students enrolled. I have been doing this since then. When I converted part of my mother’s house to a tutorial centre, many people in the area also started turning their parents’ houses to tutorial centres. But by the time I changed from a tutorial centre to a polytechnic, other tutorial centres had left. The metamorphosis from a tutorial centre to universities can be explained by God alone. It has been by His grace.

I am presently the only Nigerian that has three universities and polytechnics within and outside the country. And, I still have ambition for another one.

Q.What are the names of the universities?

A.Oduduwa University, Ile Ife, Osun State; Unique Citizens University, Accra, Ghana; and Our Saviours University, Delaware, United States of America.

I also have two polytechnics–The Polytechnic, Ile Ife; and Oduduwa Polytechnic, Lagos.

Q.Why did you establish that many universities?

A.The way I see it is that I have one institution with various faculties. But, the three universities are separate institutions in the real sense of it. I believe that God has blessed me to the extent that I don’t need to sit down on the campus to run any of the universities. The institutions are even progressing faster than those whose proprietors are there all the time.

Q.How many of your programmes have accreditations?

A.There is no programme we run that does not have accreditation. They are all accredited by the appropriate authorities, and there is no institution I have that is not approved by the government; whether those in Nigeria or the ones outside the country.

Q.You travelled to Russia recently to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between St Petersburg Electro-Technical University and Oduduwa University, Ile Ife. Can you let us into details of the MoU?

A.The MoU is all about exchange programmes. It means that some of our lecturers and students will go there to teach and learn, while some of their lecturers and students will also come to OUI for the same reasons. Our agreement is that their students wouldn’t pay any fees and their lecturers won’t be paid by us, and vice versa. They will just spend a semester or thereabouts and go back.