The President of the Ibadan College of Medicine Alumni Association (ICOMAA) Worldwide, Professor Emmanuel O. Otolorin has argued that funds and grants donated to public universities for research should not go through the Treasury Single Account policy of the Federal Government.
This is because most research is time bound, and accessing funds from the TSA might be problematic.
Professor Otolorin, who spoke during a courtesy visit to the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kayode O. Adebowale, mni, FAS, in his office, said donors are now wary to release funds for research because of the bottlenecks occasioned by the TSA.
Professor Otolorin advised Nigerian public universities to seize the opportunity of a new government to call attention to policy issues that are adversely affecting their world ranking.
He mentioned such policies as the TSA, overcentralisation of employment, and the payment of electricity bills.
He stated that public universities should be allowed to charge appropriate fees for their various courses.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kayode O. Adebowale commended the ICOMAA for all its efforts in meeting some of the challenges of the College of Medicine.
He disclosed that the Office of Alumni Relations was established to deepen the university’s relationship with its alumni community.
Professor Adebowale agreed that research is vital, but TSA makes it difficult to access funds.
According to him, research may be seasonal and needed to be done at a particular time, and where funds are unavailable on time, such a research would be truncated.
Professor Adebowale stated that UI is a research intensive university that holds the highest amount of grants among the Federal Government owned universities in the country, adding that such grants ought to be moved out of the TSA.
He said that the University intends to use the opportunity of its 75th anniversary to upgrade its Endowment Fund in order to generate more funds to meet the needs of the University.
The President of ICOMAA said the Executive Committee members of the Association are in UI to celebrate the Annual Week of the Association.
He said class sets would celebrate milestone graduation anniversaries, and the alumni would exchange ideas with the students through lectures and other activities.
