The Vice-Chancellor of Wigwe University, Professor Marwan Al-Akaidi, has emphasized the importance of making quality assurance and excellence a matter of habit and discipline, rather than a mere item on the institution’s checklist.

Professor Al-Akaidi made the call during the university’s weekly seminar held yesterday, where he delivered a paper titled “Wigwe University Quality Assurance: Benchmarking with the UK Quality Assurance Agency” to a cross-section of university staff.

He stressed that quality assurance at Wigwe University must never be reduced to a box-ticking exercise, as doing so would diminish its power and purpose. The Vice-Chancellor underscored the institution’s commitment to global best practices through benchmarking with the United Kingdom Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). He emphasized that quality assurance is central to building trust in the university’s degrees, boosting the confidence of parents and partners, and ensuring international credibility.

Professor Al-Akaidi noted that robust quality systems are vital for long-term sustainability, continuous improvement, and the realization of Wigwe University’s vision of igniting Africa’s potential by nurturing thoughtful, fearless leaders who can compete globally.

He outlined vital elements for maintaining quality assurance, including secure academic standards, well-designed programmes, fair assessment, strong student support, staff development, academic integrity, and effective governance involving the council, senate, management, staff, and students.

The Vice-Chancellor highlighted the strategic nexus between the QAA and Nigeria’s National Universities Commission (NUC), noting a shift from minimum compliance to continuous improvement. He concluded with a call for shared ownership of quality across all roles, reinforcing the university’s drive to build a strong, evidence-based quality culture.

“There is no academic excellence without professional excellence. Admissions accuracy, effective timetabling, IT systems, student records, wellbeing support, libraries, laboratories, and careers services are not just support functions—they are core to our quality assurance endeavours,” he stated.

Professor Al-Akaidi challenged the university’s staff to reflect on their individual roles in driving quality in the institution’s academic space, and to consider how their actions or inactions enhance or weaken the overall goal of realizing the founding vision of the university, not just in Nigeria, but across the African continent and beyond.