On Wednesday, March 19th, Professor Toyin Falola, Africa’s most decorated humanity scholar and Nigeria’s most preeminent historian, will inaugurate the Founders’ Day lecture at Atiba University. When contacted, he said he considers it an honor for the privilege the Management of Atiba University, Oyo State, Nigeria, extended to him to deliver a lecture to a team of highly cerebral teachers and students. On March 19, 2025, at 10 a.m. Nigerian Time, Falola will speak on “Rethinking Tertiary Education in Nigeria through Private Universities for Sustainable Development.”

In a paper already released to the media, Falola considers inadequate finance, crammed classes, declining quality, and a widening discrepancy between graduate competency and industry standards as the most significant or major challenges plaguing Nigeria’s public tertiary education ecosystem. Against the backdrop of the faltering inability of public universities to meet the demands for their offerings, he argues that private universities offer a viable alternative or substitute. Private universities provide students with contemporary facilities, a disciplined study atmosphere, and a curriculum tailored to worldwide standards.

In this significant maiden, Falola considers how private universities may support sustainable development through innovation, increased research possibilities, and closing the talent gap, thereby fostering private institutions. He looks at how they may improve access to educational options, fix government institution inefficiencies, and help the economy grow. This major lecture further discusses policy options for enhancing the quality of education given by private universities in Nigeria. He shows how policy actions will guarantee that education is reasonably priced and encourage alliances between the public and commercial sectors to raise educational standards.

He divided his talk into six parts. He briefly overviews the challenges in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector, with private universities emerging as a viable alternative and the importance of aligning higher education with sustainable development. He then moves to Part II, where he examines Nigeria’s state of tertiary education. Here, he looks at the challenges facing tertiary education in Nigeria, such as inadequate government funding and its impact on public universities, overpopulation in public institutions, declining academic quality, and the disconnect between academic curricula and industry demands. In Part III, Falola’s lecture analyzes the role of private universities in addressing these challenges. He considers some selling points of private universities, such as smaller class sizes and better learning environments; investment in modern facilities and technology-driven education; stronger links with industries for practical training and employability; and research and innovation contributions to national development, and how these make private universities a viable alternative to their public university counterparts.

Falola situates private universities within sustainable development, looking at how they contribute to sustainable development by producing graduates with relevant skills for Nigeria’s economy, encouraging entrepreneurship and self-sufficiency, fostering innovation through research and development, and enhancing global competitiveness in education. He offers policy recommendations: the government should support private universities through favorable policies, public-private partnerships to improve access and affordability, strengthening quality assurance and accreditation system, and encouraging investment in research and development. The lecture closes by making a call to action on stakeholders, including government, educators, and investors, while emphasizing the need for a collaborative approach to redefine tertiary education for Nigeria’s sustainable future.

Professor Sunday Olawale Okeniyi, the Vice-Chancellor, has invited all the members of the public to attend the lecture.

Lead City University, Ibadan, is set to host an inaugural memorial lecture in honour of the late renowned scholar and public intellectual, Prof. Ayo Olukotun.

Olukotun, an activist, public intellectual, erudite scholar, accomplished journalist, professor of Political Science, and a dedicated columnist for The PUNCH died on January 4, 2023 at age 69.

The event, scheduled for Tuesday, March 18, 2025, will hold at Adeline Hall within the university’s premises, starting at 10:30 a.m. The lecture, themed “Ayo Olukotun and the Nigerian Nation,” will be delivered by globally acclaimed historian and professor at the University of Texas at Austin, Prof. Toyin Falola.

According to Prof. Falola, “Ayo Olukotun was the voice of our nation. He has repeatedly screamed warnings into the ears of Nigerian leaders and citizens through his pen to rouse the nation from its slumber. The symposium aims to reflect on Olukotun’s intellectual prowess and its impact on nation-building.”

Speaking about the upcoming event, the Vice-Chancellor of Lead City University, Prof. Kabiru Adeyemo, said the lecture was a way to immortalise the legacy of Prof. Olukotun, whose works shaped the discourse around governance, media, and national development in Nigeria.

“Prof. Ayo Olukotun was a towering intellectual whose writings and contributions consistently challenged leadership and society to do better. This memorial lecture is not only to honour his memory but also to inspire a new generation of scholars to follow in his footsteps,” Adeyemo stated.

The Chairman of the occasion, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora, a former senator and seasoned public servant, commended Lead City University for hosting the event, describing Olukotun as “a scholar who combined academic brilliance with practical engagement in national discourse.”

The Registrar of Lead City University, Dr. Ayebola Ayeni, emphasised the university’s commitment to intellectual excellence, noting that “the choice of Prof. Toyin Falola as guest lecturer reflects the high intellectual standards the university upholds.”

The Chairperson of the Organising Committee, Dr. Igho Fayomi, encouraged both students and the general public to attend physically or join via Zoom, saying, “This lecture is a valuable opportunity to reflect on the life of a man who left an indelible mark on Nigeria’s intellectual and political space.”

A former presidential spokesperson Dr Doyin Okupe is dead . He was 71 years old.

Okupe’s death was confirmed by family sources.

He served as a senior adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan and later as the Director-General of Peter Obi’s 2023 Presidential Campaign.

In December 2022, he stepped down from Obi’s campaign after a money laundering conviction.

He later resigned from the Labour Party after the 2023 general elections.