By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
Amidst euphoria of the 2022 Global Rating by the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects ( GRAS), Dean Faculty of Dentistry, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Professor Morenike Toyin Ukpong has said that it is encouraging to know that the little things they do add up.
Speaking on the rating, Professor Ukpong disclosed that the news came as a surprise as well as a morale booster.
The Dean stressed, ” we will only choose to do more by understanding this. This global achievement is a result of unconscious process, if we do things a lot more consciously; we can go far”, adding that she looks forward to many more landmark strides in placing the Dental school in a global map consistently.
“While this ranking is a commutation of many others, we as a faculty needs to seat, study, understand and do better. I look forward to the faculty being able to do many landmark things of international importance”, she said.
Prof Ukpong added, “as a collective, we are working to build a Dental Entrepreneurship Centre, it has been designed and sited. We will need about N180 million to build it. Once built, we will have the First Dental Entrepreneurship Centre in the country. So, I look forward to the faculty being the foremost Dental Research Grant recipient in Africa. We have all it takes to be in this best position. We just need to consciously drive the process”.
A past Dean of the faculty, Prof. Owotade John Foluso, said the news was quite encouraging and the feat is a combination of academic excellence.
The Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery maintained, ” there is no doubt that the news is encouraging”, saying, ” a combination of international visibility through academic output and the excellence that we have displayed in our teaching, research and community service,”
Another Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and also past Dean, Prof. Olawunmi Fatusi attributed the rating to total dedication of both students and staff, adding, ” we are very excited about OAU dental programme making the 201-300 ranking”.
” It is a validation of our hardwork and commitment in the past and a call to improved development in the future. Despite being the smallest faculty in the university, we have always been positive about the impact we are able to make in our students’ lives and the university at large”, she said.
Professor Fatusi added, “much more, we are excited about the products of this faculty and all that they have been able to achieve across the globe,”
Head of Department (HOD), OAU Department of Oral Medicine and Oral Pathology, Dr Oyetola Elijah Olufemi described the rating as ”
stimulating information and restorer of hope,”
“The news came as a stimulating information and I also see it as encouraging. It only restore our hope and reassure us again that when we put efforts on ground and when we have good leaders that are focused as we have our indefatigable dean, that good thing can still happen again”, he said.
Dr Olufemi added, “ in a nutshell, the global ranking came as a reassurance that when we put efforts and you pray; of course, we still have hope in this country. So, the news is a strong encourager for me and the whole department sees it as good news”.
“The faculty has been blessed with great and dedicated leaders who are desirous of leaving behind positive legacies. In this regard, we are talking of our present Dean, Prof. Morenike Ukpong, the past deans such as Prof. Olawunmi Fatusi, Prof. Owotade Foluso; not forgetting Prof. Bamire Adebayo Simeon who is the present Vice Chancellor of our institution (OAU),” an elated Olufemi said.
A Professor of Restorative Dentistry, Prof Temitope Esan said the faculty will not rest on its oars to make it the best dental school in Africa and the world at large.
“Our ranking is no doubt traced to the hard work and dedication put in by the dean and the entire staff of the faculty. In addition, the innovations, number of grants, the various academic and professional development programmes, the publications in highly rated journals all contributed to our success stories,”
