Caleb University VC advocates national policy on research
The Vice-Chancellor of Caleb University, Prof. Olalekan Asikhia, on Monday, February 9, 2026, urged the Federal Government to put in place a national research policy to improve the quality of research undertaken by the country’s universities and other institutions of higher learning.
Asikhia made the call at a media briefing heralding the university’s 15th convocation ceremony slated for February 18 at its campus in the Imota area of Lagos.
Also at the media parley were the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation, Strategy and Administration (RISA), Prof. Adetutu Ajayi, her Academic counterpart, Prof. Sunday Adewale, the University Registrar, Mr. Mayokun Olumeru, the Director of Public Relations and Marketing, Mr. Abimbola Olulesi, the Deputy Registrar, Academic Affairs, Mrs. Abiola Rabiu, and the institution’s Media Officer and Publication Officer, Mr. Wale Adekoya.
He pointed out that the essence of such a policy is to transform academic research into economic, industrial and social value.
This policy, according to him, will ensure that research initiatives contribute directly to solving national problems and enhancing national competitiveness.
The Professor of Business Administration stressed the need for greater funding of research to drive the country’s economic growth and job creation.
He also appealed for the extension of the National Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) benefits to students of private universities.
Asikhia lamented that the federal government excluded private university students from the loan policy because of the erroneous belief that students of private universities were from rich homes.
“One major issue in university management is funding and network support.
“There is a general impression, especially from the federal government, that students in public and state universities are more likely to be from less-privileged backgrounds.
“Therefore, many of the government’s interventions, including NELFUND, are directed mainly towards public universities.
“This is based on the assumption that students of private universities are not from less-privileged backgrounds, but this is not always the case,” the VC noted.
On the convocation, he revealed that over 2,000 students would be sent forth from the university after the completion of their various programmes in the university.
These comprise 1, 625 undergraduate students, 375 postgraduate students and 24 doctoral (PhD) students.
Asikhia expressed delight at the progress recorded by the university in the last few years and thanked the staff for their contributions to the successes.
“We are a university that moved from 66th to 18th and subsequently to 14th position in the university ranking. We are trusting that with the internal re-engineering process, we are going to have a better ranking going forward.
“We are collaborating with 22 universities across the world, including the Cambridge University in the United Kingdom and the North Carolina University in the United States.
“With the quality of faculties we have recruited recently, Caleb University is gearing up for the world ranking position, “the VC stated proudly at the gathering.
Earlier, the Registrar gave a brief history of the Caleb Group of Schools from its inception 40 years ago.
“Caleb started in 1986 with Jesus Christ, the foundation of our existence. The goal is to raise brilliant and uncompromising young minds who will make an impact in various fields.
“We were given a license to establish a university in 2007. The first set of students came on board in January 2008,” he stated.
Profs. Ajayi and Adewale spoke on the university’s research drive.
“We are trying so hard to ensure that researches do not end up on the shelves. They are publishable and solve societal problems, i.e. food security and climate change.
“In recent times, we involve stakeholders at the industry level in our research to ensure synergy and address problems besetting our society,” the duo chorused.
