Prof. Taiwo Asaolu, the Vice Chancellor, of University of Ilesa, Osun State has announced the agriculture section and palm oil processing factory of the institution’s integrated farm would soon commence operations.
Asaolu announced this during the official handover of a farm belonging to him to the university and the opening of its Faculty of Law buildings.
The vice chancellor revealed how he started the farm with four cows, four sheep and one ram a few month into the setup and considered it his personal property until January this year, when he decided to donate it to the institution.
Asaolu stressed that, the farm would be used for teaching and research purposes by the lecturers and students.
He also warned unauthorised persons against farming or engaging in hunting expeditions on the farm, adding that anyone caught would be appropriately sanctioned.
He said, “I took it upon myself to start something on a small scale, starting with four cows bought at N100,000 each, four sheep and one ram. With professional support from Dr Niyi Adegbite and some experts as our consultants, the farm started developing gradually.
“Up until January 2024, I still considered the farm as my own, but an incident occurred when the area commander of police visited the university. In line with our tradition, we took him on a guided tour around the campus.
“On getting to the Faculty of Law, we saw some herdsmen, who intruded into the campus and the police officer called them and warned them against bringing their herds to the university.
“The poultry and apiculture sections, the feed mill and the palm oil processing section will be up and running soon,” he noted.