By Debbiemuse
The University of Ibadan has commissioned a 650-seater lecture theatre complex and other facilities at its Distance Learning Centre (DLC), in an investment aimed at expanding teaching capacity and strengthening the delivery of open and distance education.
The facilities, commissioned by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kayode O. Adebowale, mni, FAS, fspsp, include a memorial park honouring the late Professor Olushola Gloria Adedoja, a new bus and an e-learning studio.
Speaking at the commissioning, Prof. Adebowale described the lecture complex as more than a new building, saying it reflected the university’s commitment to widening access to education and responding to the changing needs of higher education. He disclosed that the lecture theatre would serve the wider university community, rather than the DLC alone.
He also highlighted the importance of combining physical learning spaces with digital tools, arguing that modern infrastructure and technology should complement one another in the provision of quality education. He thanked the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for its intervention and commended the centre’s immediate past director, Professor E. B. Omobowale, and Jimi Fakoya, Chief Executive Officer of Edutech Portal Solutions, for their contributions to the project.
The lecture complex, completed under TETFund’s 2024 annual intervention and subsequently upgraded through its 2026 intervention fund, contains two 100-seat lecture halls, a 150-seat seminar room and four classrooms, each accommodating 50 students. It also houses eight offices, a business centre, 32 toilet facilities and a 30-kilovolt-ampere inverter system with lithium batteries.
For the DLC, the new facilities mark another stage in a development that began with modest administrative and operational activities in a wooden structure on the university’s main campus in 1988. The centre moved to No. 20 Awolowo Avenue, Bodija, Ibadan, in 2005 before relocating to its previous head office complex in 2008.
The earlier property was bequeathed to the university by the late Chief Samuel Olasupo Moroundiya and commissioned during the university’s 2008 convocation ceremonies by the then Chancellor, the late Alhaji Ado Bayero, Emir of Kano. Adebowale said the university was exploring ways to reactivate and maximise the property’s use while respecting the conditions attached to the bequest.
The DLC has since developed into a technology-driven open and distance learning platform serving thousands of learners through mobile classes, online tests, audiobooks, video lessons and virtual classrooms.
Earlier, the centre’s Director, Professor O. F. W. Onifade, said the new facilities would complement its digital infrastructure by providing spaces for lectures, examinations, conferences, professional development and academic engagement.
Prof. Onifade maintained that the future of distance education depended on integrating technology with physical infrastructure, rather than choosing one over the other. He said the centre’s priorities extended beyond student enrolment to improving academic quality, learning experiences and operational efficiency.
A separate part of the commissioning honoured the late Professor Adedoja, whose influence on Fakoya’s career was recalled by the Edutech Portal Solutions chief executive. Fakoya said an early recognition of his potential while he was in the university’s then Department of Teacher Education had significantly shaped his professional journey.
He explained that an initial plan to beautify the outdoor space developed into a memorial park containing 243 trees. The planting includes Araucaria, King’s palms, bougainvillaea, sweet orange trees, hybrid oil palms and what he described as mainly Cameroonian phycos.
Fakoya also highlighted the e-learning studio, developed through a public-private partnership between the centre and Edutech Portal Solutions. He said the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission had described the facility as the best among Nigerian universities.
Speaking on behalf of the Adedoja family, Reverend Professor I. O. O. Aiyelaagbe thanked the university management for approving the memorial park and said the family would support its maintenance and gradual improvement.
The commissioning brings together expanded lecture capacity, digital learning infrastructure and a memorial to an academic whose contributions remain significant to colleagues, mentees and family members. For the DLC, the facilities represent an effort to strengthen the physical and technological resources supporting its work of making university education accessible beyond conventional classroom settings.
Source: UI Directorate of Public Communication
