By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
The National Universities Commission has granted official approval for the reintroduction of management degree courses at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
The approval, according to a statement issued on Monday by the acting head of the Public Relations department of the institution, Mr Olasunkanmi Olajide, followed a recent successful Resource Assessment Visit to examine the proposed courses by the NUC.
Olajide stated that the cheering news was contained in a letter dated October 17 and signed by Abubakar M. Girei, Acting Director, Academic Planning on behalf of the NUC Executive Secretary, Prof Abdullahi Ribadu
It will be recalled that FUNAAB had sometimes in 2017 started offering the management courses until 2018 when the former Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu urged the specialised universities to focus on their core mandate and stop delving into areas which was not part of the reason for which they were established.
Olajide stated that “the approved programmes include B.Sc. Accounting, B.Sc. Banking and Finance, B.Sc. Business Administration, and B.Sc. Economics, alongside the newly introduced M.Sc. Agroecology.
“This significant development marks a major milestone in FUNAAB’s academic growth, as these programmes are returning after being delisted in the 2017/2018 Academic Session due to a Federal Government directive restricting management sciences in agricultural universities.
“It is noteworthy that in 2021, the University Senate renamed the College of Management Sciences (COLMAS) to the College of Entrepreneurial and Development Studies (COLENDS), in line with FUNAAB’s expanded vision of promoting entrepreneurship and development-driven education.
“With this approval, FUNAAB would soon commence admissions into the newly re-introduced degree programmes under COLENDS for the 2025/2026 Academic Session.”
It was reported that the Students’ Union Government of the university had sometimes in 2021 called on the Federal Government to have a rethink and consider reinstating management science courses earlier cancelled by the Minister, Adamu in 2018.
The President of the SUG, Comrade Michael Oloyede made the appeal while speaking at a news conference saying that restoring the college has become a matter of urgency.
Oloyede said the College of Management Sciences had during its existence, made agricultural courses competitive and appealing, by embracing the business and management aspects of agriculture.
He added that running management science courses in universities of agriculture was an acceptable global practice and this does not affect the ability of the university to train students in the area of its key mandate.
The College of Management Sciences is made up of five departments – accounting, banking and finance, business administration, economics, and entrepreneurial studies, and all have NUC full accreditation which validates the programmes.