Nigeria’s first Manufacturing Technology University Innovation Pod (Manu-Tech UniPod) was formally launched on Monday at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), Abia State.

The landmark project is a joint initiative of the Federal Government, the United Nations Development Programme, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund and the Abia State Government.

Speaking during the inauguration, Vice President Kashim Shettima, represented by the Minister of Education, Olatunji Alausa, said the establishment of the Manu-Tech UniPod reaffirms the Federal Government’s commitment to repositioning higher education as a catalyst for innovation, entrepreneurship, research commercialisation and job creation.

Describing it as a “strategic investment in Nigeria’s future,” the Vice President said universities must evolve beyond traditional teaching and research to become hubs for enterprise development, technology transfer and industrial competitiveness.

According to the Vice President, “This initiative represents far more than the commissioning of another university facility.

“It is the unveiling of the broad national vision that positions our universities as agents of industrial transformation, innovation, enterprise creation, and sustainable economic development.”

According to him, “Let me reaffirm the unwavering commitment of the Federal Government to creating an educational system that develops talent, drives innovation, accelerates industrialisation, and contributes meaningfully to the achievement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision of building a $1 trillion Nigerian economy by the year 2030.”

In his keynote address titled, Science Meets Enterprise, Abia State Governor Alex Otti said the siting of the UniPod in Abia speaks to the confidence the UNDP and the Federal Government have in the state’s potential as an engine of growth and economic prosperity in the region.

He noted that the confidence reposed in Abia by the partners was yielding tangible results, adding that the event demonstrated that confidence, and appreciated the siting of the project in the state.

According to the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, H.E. Ahunna Eziakonwa, “This Innovation Pod—this UniPod—is one thread in that grand tapestry. Here, in Abia State, Nigeria, we believe in the impossible.

“What this Innovation Pod represents is more than a physical space. It is a commitment to unlock the creative and innovative potential of Africa’s youth. Here, engineering meets art. Business meets social enterprise. The boundaries between disciplines dissolve. Here, failure is a critical step in innovation. Here, diversity of thought is our greatest asset.”

Also speaking, the Resident Representative of UNDP Nigeria, Ms Elsie Attafuah, described the occasion as “a remarkable journey of innovation that is unfolding across Nigeria,” adding, “Today’s launch is one important response to that vision. It is also a response to the confidence that His Excellency placed in our partnership when he challenged UNDP to help position Abia as Nigeria’s leading hub for innovation-driven industrial transformation.”

While acknowledging the contribution of TETFund under the leadership of Arc. Sonny Echono, she said, “Across Nigeria, TETFund is helping to deliver strategic infrastructure in our universities.”

She added, “UNDP is mobilising US$1 billion to help build Africa’s largest innovation ecosystem, supporting 10,000 startups, enabling 1,000 high-growth ventures to scale, improving the livelihoods of over 100 million people, and generating US$10 billion in value across the continent over the next decade.”

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of MOUAU, Prof. Ursala Akanwa, described the commissioning as a defining moment in the university’s history.

She said the project represents the fulfilment of the institution’s mandate to deploy science, technology and innovation in advancing agricultural development, manufacturing and enterprise.

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A visually impaired freshman at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Ogunsua-Dixon Tijesuni, has recounted how she survived a brain tumour, multiple surgeries and years of rehabilitation to emerge as the country’s best matriculating candidate in the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Equal Opportunity Group for Persons with Disabilities.

Tijesuni, a 100-level Mass Communication student, spoke exclusively with The PUNCH on Monday, after she was recently honoured at the maiden Rite Foods National Academic Excellence Awards, where she was recognised alongside six other outstanding matriculants from the 2025 admission exercise.

The Ondo State-born student scored 288 in the 2025 UTME and recorded an aggregate score of 81.2 per cent to emerge top in the disability category.

She said her ordeal began at the age of 11, when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour while in Junior Secondary School 2.

Tijesuni said, “I was diagnosed with a brain tumour at age 11. At that point, I had lost partial function of my left limb. My parents did not want to disrupt my education, so they asked me to wait until after secondary school before undergoing surgery,” she said.

Tijesuni said her condition worsened in Senior Secondary School 3, when she began to lose her sight gradually.

“While writing my WAEC, I knew I was struggling to read the question paper, but I pushed on. I didn’t think it was blindness. I later wrote JAMB and scored 225 to study Law at the University of Ibadan,” she said.

She added that shortly after the examination, she collapsed at home, prompting urgent medical intervention.

“Not long after writing the examination, I fainted at home, and doctors said the tumour had been there for too long and I needed surgery immediately,” she said.

Recounting the moment she was first diagnosed, Tijesuni described it as the most traumatic phase of her life.

“I was 11 years old when they told my parents I had a brain tumour. I remember looking at the brain scan and seeing the mass. I told the doctor, ‘I am not mad.’ I told my mum the same thing. I kept saying there was nothing wrong with me,” she said.

She added that, despite her initial denial, she was deeply frightened by the diagnosis.

“I was shaking so much because I was actually petrified. My self-esteem dropped a lot because I could no longer participate in sports. I was stumbling, dragging my leg. I was a wreck of myself. That was the life-changing moment,” she said.

Tijesuni recalled that her early symptoms had been persistent migraines and weakness in her limbs, which were initially misunderstood.

“The initial symptoms were headaches – serious migraines. It was what my nurse in the US would describe as migraines that only affect adults. She would ask what I was thinking. I remember using a lot of medications. I noticed weakness in my left arm, and I wasn’t able to use it,” she said.

She underwent brain surgery in January 2018 at the age of 16, by which time her sight had deteriorated significantly.

Before the diagnosis, Tijesuni said she had been actively involved in sports.

“I was captain of the female basketball team in primary school. I also played football, badminton and was learning how to swim. Then my left arm stopped functioning well, and I started walking awkwardly,” she said.

After three years of rehabilitation in Ibadan, she was moved to the Blind Centre in Oshodi, Lagos, where she received training in mobility and independent living.

She also underwent hospitality and broadcasting training before deciding to return to formal education.

“At that point, I decided that I needed to go back to school. So I wrote another WAEC in 2025, sat JAMB again and started processing my admission,” she said.

According to her, doctors believe there is a possibility of regaining her sight, but the required neurological rehabilitation technology is not available in Nigeria.

“My consultant said there is a chance for me to regain my sight, but unfortunately that technology is not available in Nigeria,” she said.

Tijesuni noted that she had always aspired to become a medical doctor or lawyer, but had to adjust her academic path due to her condition.

“I come from a long line of teachers, so there were expectations. I wanted to be a doctor. Later, I wanted to be a lawyer—an advocate really. It’s not that I gave up law, but I had to adjust, and I chose Communication,” she said.

She added that losing her sight changed her outlook on life.

“I didn’t really feel anything losing my sight at first. But years later, I began to say, ‘God, I just want to see again.’ Sometimes I would pick up a book and wonder why I couldn’t just read it myself,” she said.

On how she had been attending to her studies, Tijesuni commended UNILAG for its disability-friendly environment and support system.

“God bless UNILAG. There are ramps in different parts of the school. My classmates and lecturers are very supportive whenever I need assistance,” she said.

She also expressed gratitude to JAMB’s Equal Opportunity Group for providing accessible arrangements for candidates with disabilities.

“Thanks to Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, they started this programme where we are lodged and taken to the examination centre. Each person with a disability was allowed to come with a carer. We wrote the examination at UNILAG using laptops, Braille slates or typewriters,” she said.

Tijesuni described receiving the Rite Foods award as a moment of surprise and validation.

“The day I confirmed I had been selected for the Rite scholarship was a shock. I had never been so honoured in my life,” she said.

She urged government and employers to create more opportunities for persons with disabilities, lamenting what she described as weak welfare and employment structures.

“There is no welfare structure for people living with disabilities in Nigeria. Very rarely do companies employ persons with disabilities. Once you show up with a disability, you are judged as unable to do anything. If there was more support, people would see what we can do because there are many talented persons with disabilities,” she said.

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The suspended Deputy Dean of Student Affairs at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Dr Banji Olaleye, has claimed his suspension over alleged extortion was orchestrated long before the investigation, alleging that the university’s current administration had been seeking his removal since February.

The school’s spokesperson, Dr Sunday Saanu, said on Sunday that “those claims are false.”

The university management had announced the suspension of Olaleye alongside the Director of the Directorate of Educational Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Olanrewaju Ogunjobi, and the Students’ Union Government President, James Adio.

The university said a petitioner accused the trio and others of extorting students through the unauthorised collection of N1,000 from each 100-level student.

However, in an exclusive interview with our correspondent on Sunday, Olaleye maintained that his suspension, which came before the commencement of the investigation into the allegations, was part of a calculated attempt to tarnish his reputation.

According to him, the current administration had made it clear from the outset that it did not want to work with him because of the belief that he did not support the emergence of the incumbent Vice-Chancellor.

“We have had a new administration since February. Since then, the present administration has always told people that it doesn’t want to have anything to do with me because it feels I did not support its emergence.

“I am not a kingmaker. I don’t put somebody there as the VC,” he said.

Olaleye explained that he had expected to leave his position as Deputy Dean of Student Affairs at the end of July when the tenure of political appointees was due to expire.

He said the controversy over entrepreneurship fees arose from a disagreement between the Directorate of Entrepreneurship and the Dean of Student Affairs over practical sessions for students, stressing that he had no official role in the programme.

He said his involvement began only after the Dean of Student Affairs, Professor Temitope Babalola, requested that he intervene to resolve the dispute between the directorate and student leaders over the collection of N1,000 from students.

According to him, following meetings with the Students’ Union Government and faculty executives, he contacted the Director of Entrepreneurship, who explained that the fees were being collected directly from students because funds meant for practical sessions were not released by the university management on time.

Olaleye said he was thereafter asked to help ensure that class representatives remitted the money already collected to the directorate.

He said that after directing student leaders to recover outstanding funds from class governors, about N2.5m was recovered.

According to him, the Director of Entrepreneurship later instructed that N1m should be paid to student representatives as appreciation for their support, while the remaining N1.5m should be transferred to “a designated account provided by the Directorate of Entrepreneurship.”

Olaleye said he merely conveyed the resolution by the directorate and ensured money in the custody of class governors was retrieved.

“Meanwhile, my involvement was after the Director of the Entrepreneurship Centre mentioned that he had approval, and he even spoke with the VC on maintenance to undergo it at the directorate.”

He added that he was later invited before an investigative panel over allegations of extortion despite having only facilitated the recovery and remittance of the funds.

According to him, the panel initially questioned claims that students received only N35,000 instead of the approved N1m but later confirmed that the students had indeed received the N1m.

“I said, ‘How can I give the students N35,000 out of N1m? The N1m had been communicated to them. There is no way you can spend students’ money.’ Eventually, they confirmed that the students got the N1 million.”

Despite this, he said he was suspended on June 10 alongside the Director of the Entrepreneurship Centre and the SUG president.

He also alleged that other staff members who directly handled the funds were excluded from the investigation.

Olaleye further faulted the university for announcing his suspension while investigations were still ongoing, saying the development subjected him to public ridicule.

“My name circulated over something they had not been able to investigate. They had not finished their investigation.”

He maintained that he had never collected or diverted students’ money and insisted that the allegations were being used to justify a decision already taken against him.

“I never had any issues with any student. I never collected any money. There is no way you can find any offence against me. Instead, I support students with my own personal money.”

Olaleye also questioned the disciplinary process, noting that he was issued a query five days after he had already been suspended.

He said he responded to the query, appealed the suspension and petitioned the Chairman of the Governing Council, asking the university to allow the investigation to be concluded before taking disciplinary action.

He added that the reinstatement of the suspended SUG president had further raised questions about the basis of the sanctions.

“The SUG president has been called back. They have reinstated him. People started asking, if this is the student who really spent the money, then what is the offence of the staff who tried to protect the interest of the management?”

Meanwhile, a senior member of the school management who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution told our correspondent that the management had been misled by the probe panel.

“The office where Olaleye belongs was only called to intervene in the crisis. His office even advised the Directorate of Entrepreneurship to seek other means to fund the said practical.

“The Deputy Director (Olaleye) has been intervening in similar cases. So based on that, it was against that background that he was directed to intervene.

“Let me just put it this way. The members of the panel that investigated have had issues with students in the past. It’s like telling somebody’s enemy to be the judge in the case. So definitely, they will mislead the system.

“They definitely misled the system. I see this more as… the members who conducted the investigation actually misled the university on this matter.”

Reacting to the allegation, the Director of Public Relations of FUOYE, Saanu, however, dismissed the allegations, insisting that the university’s actions were based solely on its anti-extortion policy and not on political considerations.

According to him, since the current Vice-Chancellor assumed office, the administration has made it clear to all stakeholders that misconduct, particularly the extortion of students, would no longer be tolerated.

He said the policy was endorsed by the university Senate and later strengthened by the Governing Council, which approved the dismissal of any lecturer found guilty of extortion.

He added that Heads of Department and Deans who fail in their oversight responsibilities would also face sanctions.

Saanu maintained that a prima facie case had been established against the lecturer before disciplinary measures were taken, adding that the matter was reviewed by the university’s management committee, where it was resolved that the Dean should also be sanctioned because leadership carries responsibility for misconduct under its supervision.

He rejected claims that the suspension was linked to the lecturer’s alleged opposition to the emergence of the Vice-Chancellor, describing the allegation as “blackmail.”

“The evidence against him was overwhelming. The university set up a committee, and the committee established that he was culpable. It found that he directed that money be collected from students,” Saanu said.

He also referenced a previous case involving the immediate past Students’ Union president, Alao, saying management decided to pardon him because the practice predated his tenure and opted to treat the incident as a deterrent.

“For this lecturer, however, the situation is different. It has nothing to do with politics or whether he supported the Vice-Chancellor. Many people did not support the Vice-Chancellor, so that allegation does not hold,” he added.

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