The Kwara state governor, Alhaji(Dr) AbdulFatah Ahmed has charged Universities in Nigeria to promote academic excellence for students and academic communities to be able to make valuable contributions to the development of the country.

Governor Ahmed who gave the charge Wednesday during the founder's day ceremony of the Al-Hikmah University, Adewole, Ilorin, also felicitated with the management, council, staff and students of the University.

The State Commissioner for Tertiary Education Alhaji Aliyu Abdulwahb Opakunle who represented the governor stated that, research and development had always been pivotal to development.

"It is my view that our country's advancement will be considerably enhanced when we imbibe excellence as a national ethic. I hope Al-Hikmah University will play a pivotal role in this regard", he said.

Governor Ahmed also charged private universities in Nigeria to continue to provide quality university education despite the challenges confronting them.

However, the governor urged Al-Hikmah University to identify innovative ways of overcoming these challenges so that private universities would become as reputable as their publicly owned precursor.

"I am confident that privately owned universities in Nigeria have the capacity and capabilities to become centres of academic excellence and groundbreaking research", he stressed.

He noted that funding was a major challenge confronting universities all over the world, be it public or private.

In his remark, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Sulaiman Age Abdulkareem acknowledged the enormous contributions of the founder of the University, Alhaji (Dr) AbdulRaheem Oladimeji.

The Vice Chancellor also appreciated the support by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the institution, Alhaji(Dr) Ibrahim Ahmadu Coomassie among other leaders of the school for their purposeful leadership.

In an interview with journalists shortly after the event, the Registrar of the school, Hajia Rasheedat Oladimeji attributed the success recorded by the University to proper planning and good leadership.

Hajia Rasheedat emphasised the importance of proper planning to the development of the University, again our founder , Dr AbdulRaheem Oladimeji is also the brain behind our success story".

The Deputy Director, National University Commission, Mr Ashafa Ladan in his lecture at the ceremony said that private universities contributed to manpower production and human capital development.

He regretted that there was no intervention by both State and Federal Government for capital projects, equipment supply, library development among other relevant supports.

The event was attended by the founder of the University, Alhaji(Dr) AbdulRaheem Oladimeji, the former ICPC chairman, Justice Mustapha Akanbi, the chief Imam of Ilorin, Sheikh Muhammed Bashir and Olomu of Omupo, Alhaji Muhammed Adebayo Buhari.

Others included, the former Vice Chancellor of Al-Hikmah University, Professor Musbau Adewumi Akanji, the representative of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin and other universities, friends of the university, staff and management of the Al-Hikmah University.