The Vice-Chancellor Osun State University, Osogbo, Professor Clement Adebooye has disclosed that the university is a poor institution and has to think out of the box to survive.

He tasked the university bursary staff to device innovative ways of combating corruption with a view to ensuring that every money belonging to the school is accounted for.

Speaking at the University’s Bursary maiden annual lecture, themed, Securing the Future, held at the main campus in Osogbo on Tuesday, he said the school management’s prudent approach to financial issues gave it an outlook of a rich institution.

His words, “As an institution committed to academic excellence and societal development, we recognize the imperative of maintaining financial resilience in the face of challenges and uncertainties. The financial landscape of our Universities is multifaceted, marked by complexities and dynamic changes. In navigating these challenges, effective risk management becomes paramount. Our ability to secure the future of Osun State University hinges on our capacity to identify, assess, and mitigate financial risks while embracing innovative and sustainable financial practices.

“Over the years, we have been widely known for our prudent approach to financial management, which has given us the external outlook of a buoyant University. The truth, however, is we have only devised a working strategy which we religiously stick to by operating on a scale of priority. This University is not rich, it is a pool university. We have succeeded within our tight financial resources because we make the system not conducive to leakage, we don’t buy what we don’t need and we don’t invest in unproductive business,” he added.

In his remark, the University Bursar, Mr Feruke Bolarinwa, FCA, said financial challenges forced the team to embark on various innovative thinking which helped the institution recovered over N280million unremitted fund back to the University coffers, as well as over N10million excess bank charges from financial institutions.

“We have also ensured full computerization of and automation of the Bursary department from budget and expenditure control up to store administration. Numbering of University assets to avoid pilfering, automation of miscellaneous income and all collections in the University, timely audit of University financial statements and automation of graduating students’ clearance among others”, he added. (Vanguard)