The Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Njala University, Professor Bashiru Mohamed Koroma, has on Friday, 17th March 2023 thanked His Excellency Brigadier (Rtd) Julius Maada Bio for accepting the honour of receiving an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Njala University.
The Vice-Chancellor and Principal made this remark during the Congregation for the Conferment of Honorary Doctorate Degree on His Excellency Brigadier (Rtd) Julius Maada Bio at the Forecourt of the University Guesthouse, Njala Campus.
In retrospect, the VC&P said that the University was founded in 1910 as the Njala Agricultural Experimental Station for the study of tropical crops, soils, poultry and pig production, and plant and animal diseases and pests. The Agricultural Experimental Station was upgraded to Njala Training College in 1939 after 30 years of fruitful operation, he continued.
Then, he said, the Training College was upgraded to Njala University College in 1964, and later in 1972, the University College became a constituent College of the University of Sierra Leone.
According to the VC&P, the University College did not become autonomous and take the name “Njala University” until 33 years later in 2005.
“At every stage of the transformation of Njala University, the mission has always been to serve and educate the people of Sierra Leone and to become a Center of Excellence,” the Vice-Chancellor and Principal said.
Professor Bashiru Mohemed Koroma informed His Excellency that the University has two Campuses and that a third Campus, the Bonthe Campus, will soon be established. He claimed that the establishment of the Schools of Basic Sciences and Basic Education during the 2022/2023 academic year is a step towards putting the University’s restructuring plan into action.
He revealed that the University’s constant struggles are meeting the staff and students’ needs for water and energy on the Campuses, stating that the University spends, on average, Eight Hundred Thousand New Leones (NLe 800,000) every month to generate water and electricity on its various Campuses.
He requested prompt action from the ‘Talk and Do’ Government, the Alumni Association, and Friends of Njala University.
Professor urged the Government to provide additional localised solar energy systems, especially for student hostels, classrooms, laboratories, and libraries as short term solutions.
Professor Koroma commended the First Lady for her ‘Hands Off Our Girls’ Project, which has enabled radical inclusion and a rise in the percentage of girls graduating from secondary schools and enrolling in STEAM programmes at the various Universities and other Tertiary Institutions in Sierra Leone.
He praised her for being the Lioness who milks the Lion to maintain his strength while he works to develop Sierra Leone.
The VC&P expressed confidence in the College of Medical Sciences’ establishment and revealed that the College will house three Schools in what would become KOWAMA CAMPUS for Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health in October 2023.
He commended the Government for its continued support to the University, especially with the donation of 500 KVA generators by NASSIT to Bo Campus and another to Njala Campus under the leadership of H.E. Brigadier (Rtd) Dr. Julius Maada Bio.
In addition to numerous other donations, he thanked the Government for providing 150 kilowatts of solar energy for the Njala University Hospital and the University Secretariat with the help of the Ministry of Energy.
