Caleb University Holds Maiden Architecture Seminar

Caleb University, Imota, Lagos, says its investments in academic programmes have placed its graduates on a high pedestal both locally and internationally, as it plans to push the frontiers of collaboration further.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics), Prof. Adedeji Daramola, stated this during the maiden town and gown seminar organised by the Department of Architecture recently.

The professor of Nomadic Architecture noted that the institution would not rest on its oars in pushing the boundaries of academic excellence that would produce the much-needed workforce that would transform the country for good.

According to him, architecture, like most other programmes in the university, has received both local and international recognition following the quality of graduates produced.

“Caleb has invested so much in architecture, for instance, as we have about five professors in that field at the moment, with the curriculum, making it one of the highest obtainable in any Nigerian university.

“We are also engaging a major number of visiting architects that come in from time to time from the world of practice to teach and interact with our students. We want a situation whereby our students can have their industrial experience, even in the UK or the US,” said Daramola. “They will have six months for their SIWES.”

The don added that architecture has come to a stage where conscious efforts to inculcate in the students that there are two levels of training, academics and practice.​

“In the first place, the essence of being trained as an architect is because one is expected to practice the profession, build houses, service the community, the country in terms of infrastructure and others. So, to that effect, we deem it wise to bring n practising architects to come into the academic space, do that at the end of the day, we will have balanced training for the students,” he stated.

The Head of the Department of Architecture, Prof. Oladipo Dare-Abel, said that the department had attracted recognition from reputable organisations from the international community, going by the pedigree of its graduates.

According to him, since 2017, the department has gone to be one of the leading departments in Nigerian universities, adding that they have delivered on their promises in terms of quality of students’ performance and staffing.

“But as we grow, we are working towards increasing the number of professors in the department from the six that are currently available. A number of our graduates outside Nigeria have been making us proud through their performance,” he stated.

On the reason behind the constant collapse of buildings, he said faulty design, substandard materials and sabotage are some of the causes. As a result of these, he said the university goes the extra mile in exposing its students to all they need to know in architecture and other disciplines.

The Dean of the College of Environmental Sciences and Management, Prof. Oluwole Alagbe, said the seminar would continue to be held in the department from time to time to broaden the students’ horizons further.

“This initiative is a way of bringing the town to the gown. We cannot learn everything within the walls of the university. The universities are guided by the curriculum provided by the NUC and there are some limitations to it,” he said.

The guest speaker, Mr. Jide Ololade, Chairman of the Students’ Affairs, Nigeria Institute of Architecture, said top architecture schools prepare students to combine the principles of utility, durability and beauty.

He said one key message is for the students to begin to carve a niche for themselves in architecture, even while in school, to fit in properly in the world of work.

February 08, 2023