The Engineering team in the Centre for Sustainable Energy of the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, has converted a petrol engine bus to an electric-powered one.
The acting Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Jimoh Shaykh-Luqman, disclosed this on Tuesday during a news conference heralding the 10th and 11th combined convocation ceremony for 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 academic sessions.
The acting vice chancellor said the achievement came on the heels of the removal of subsidy on petrol and the resultant increase in the price of PMS.
“With this success, the institution has been placed in the lead of rethinking the environmental culture and developing new paradigms for solving problems and ensuring global environmental sustainability.
“We consider it a major achievement, not just for our Green Initiative, but for our determination to add value to the economy of the state and the populace.
“This initiative ensures higher efficiency in powering automobiles, helps our environment to be less polluted and has attracted partnerships with the Kwara State Government and private institutions,” Prof. Shaykh-Luqman said.
He said that three vehicles, namely Sedan, Hilux and 22-seater Coaster bus, had been converted to use electricity, adding that investors had started to show interest in the product.
He called on the state government and individuals who had scrap vehicles to bring them for conversion at moderate charges.
The KWASU vice chancellor also said that the institution had commissioned a plastic recycling plant of the Centre for Entrepreneurship.
”With the initiative, tons of plastic wastes that would have polluted our environment, are currently being converted to pavement stones,” the acting vice chancellor said.
He said 16,315 graduates were produced by the institution in its 10th and 11th combined convocation ceremony for 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 academic sessions.
The vice chancellor said 183 graduates bagged First Class, 5,145 were in Second Class Upper division, 8,420 got Second Class Lower division and a total of 1,455 were in Third Class division in both sets.
He also said that 11,096 graduates were in first degrees and 767 in higher degrees for the 2021/2022 academic session as well as 4,107 in first degrees and 345 in higher degrees for the 2022/2023 academic session.
Prof. Shaykh-Luqman, however, called on Kwara Government to renovate the access road to the university from Shao to Malete and the existing intra-campus road network.
He called for the composition of a land review committee to look into the threat by encroaching communities and individuals.
”The committee will review the status of the land mass ceded to the university at inception and enforce appropriate government policy and sanctions from all forms of encroachment,” he said.
