The newly admitted students into Maduka University Enugu
Maduka University, located in Ekwegbe, Enugu State, has successfully upheld the standards it established in 2024, as evidenced by the matriculation of 664 students during its second Matriculation ceremony held on Friday, April 11, 2025.
In the previous academic session of 2023/2024, Maduka University set a remarkable precedent by matriculating over 600 students, marking a first for a new private university in Nigeria.
At the ceremony, held in the university’s stadium, the Chancellor and Founder, Dr. Samuel Maduka Onyishi, stated: “Maduka University remains a highpoint of the pact I made with God on the occasion of my 50th birthday to alter my society significantly and in a positive way…”
Dr. Onyishi elaborated that in alignment with their motto, ‘…The place for the transformation you seek’, all courses offered at the university “explore the realities of training deficits in our educational institutions. These realities fuel our enthusiasm and commitment in joining other well-intentioned individuals and groups to think through the processes of creating value-based education. Incidentally, this is the type of education that rides on the wings of entrepreneurship, which is our focus.”
Expressing his pride in the university’s reception from students, parents, and the wider community, Dr. Onyishi acknowledged the growth rate as a reflection of their commitment to quality education.
In a message of congratulations to the new students, he wished them success in their academic endeavours and extended gratitude to the parents, sponsors, and partners for their faith in the institution.
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Charles Ogbulogo, emphasised their “intentional” approach to providing learner-centric perspectives in their programmes and lectures to meet students’ needs and aspirations, stating: “We engage quality teachers with rich enthusiastic, interactive and transformative learning experiences.”
Prof. Ogbulogo further highlighted that their courses across the College of Medicine and six schools of health sciences, nursing, pharmacy, law, business and social sciences, engineering, and computing “have continued to enjoy the kind consideration of the National Universities Commission,” adding, “We have never commenced any programme without due authorisation.”
He said that the university “would easily qualify as one of the fastest growing private universities in Nigeria. It is gratifying that in our first one year and five months, we have been blessed with close to 1300 students. These figures testify to the acceptance of our brand of education at the tertiary level.”
In a lecture he delivered at the Matriculation ceremony, Chief John-Nnia Nwodo, the former President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, lauded the Chancellor and his team for the “unprecedented speed, with which you have driven the development of this university,” adding that “the speed with which this development was accomplished is phenomenal.”
Expressing concern over the declining quality of education in the country, Chief Nwodo lamented: “It pains me that children of our contemporaries in the university cannot get the quality education that we received during our time.”
He recalled his experiences at the University of Ibadan, noting that “the taps ran 24 hours and showers had cold and hot taps. They ran all day and night,” adding that there was an air-conditioned room in the hostel for entertaining guests with refreshments.
He further recalled that the university laundry washed ten items of clothing for each student every week, with subsidised food prices: “Breakfast was 20 kobo, lunch and dinner were 25 kobo, respectively.”
Chief Nwodo also reminisced about the university’s transport system, stating, “The university buses left from the Main Campus to the Teaching Hospital Campus every 30 minutes, carrying students and staff members who had lectures.”
He added that they had “departmental libraries as well as a Central Library,” where any book published in Europe or America was available within a month of publication, and that “we hardly experienced any power failure in the three years I spent in Ibadan.”
He concluded by saying, “It pains me so much that you, as our children, cannot get the quality of education we, your parents, got, but those of you in Maduka University are privileged. You have good buildings, power and water supply, and lecturers hungry and anxious to teach in an institution with facilities.”
In their goodwill messages, the Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, represented by the Commissioner for Environment; the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Azuka-Mbata; the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Sen. Mohammed Daggash; and a representative of the JAMB Registrar all congratulated the students and urged them to remain focused and pursue academic excellence by taking their lectures seriously.
