Professor Olusola Kehinde, the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, has revealed that the university plans to convert the residence of the Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, in Ijegba, Abeokuta, Ogun State into a state-of-the-art library and writers’ research haven.
The Vice-Chancellor condemned the declining reading culture among Nigerian youth and said the university was ready to back any initiative that would change the trend.
According to a recent statement, the VC spoke while hosting the executives of the Association of Nigeran Authors, Ogun State chapter, who visited him recently.
The Vice-Chancellor, represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic, Professor. Olukayode Akinyemi, said the university would soon create a world-class bookshop to complement its electronic library with a facility for 24-hour study to ameliorate the reading culture.
Kehinde said: “FUNAAB does not joke with creativity and it’s in the process of turning Professor Wole Soyinka’s Ijegba residence into a Library and Writers’ haven for research.”
Ogun ANA Chairman, Dr. Chris Omotosho, earlier commended FUNAAB for integrating culture into its educational curricula despite being a science-based institution.
He said: “I was pleasantly surprised when I heard about the FUNAAB Theatre Group. This is something novel; it is a laudable initiative that will further enrich the minds of students through the graphic dramatisation of information.”
