UNILORIN credits 99% programme accreditation to library resources

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, said that 99 per cent of the University's academic programmes have been accredited because of the high quality of its library resources and staff. He made the statement on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, during a courtesy visit by the National Executive Officers of the Cataloguing, Classification and Indexing Section of the Nigerian Library Association. The CCI executives were in Ilorin for the University's Library 46th Annual Seminar and Workshop, which runs from 26 to 30 October 2026. The Vice Chancellor, represented by Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research, Technology and Innovation Prof. Muhtar Adeiza Etudaiye, described the library as central to the University's existence, noting its role as custodian of knowledge and its vital contribution to teaching, learning and research. He welcomed the visitors and expressed hope that their stay would be fruitful, while reaffirming the University's commitment to support professional development, strengthen library services and improve knowledge management in higher education. Prof. Racheal Opeyemi Odunlade, leader of the CCI Section, thanked the University for its hospitality and support. She remarked that the University could have declined to host the event after recent engagements with the parent body of the NLA, but praised Prof. Egbewole for providing an enabling environment for the professional gathering. Speaking on the workshop theme, Universal Bibliographic Control: Exploring the Impact of AI on Global Coordination of Metadata, Prof. Odunlade highlighted the growing influence of artificial intelligence on information creation, organisation, discovery and preservation. She warned that AI adoption must address accuracy, bias, cultural representation, intellectual property, data privacy and language diversity, and urged information professionals to safeguard core librarianship values. In a keynote address, Prof. Adeyinka Tella at the University of Ilorin echoed the need to embrace technology while maintaining professional standards. He called for stronger AI literacy among cataloguers, adoption of linked-data approaches, development of institutional AI metadata policies and investment in open infrastructure such as repositories and persistent identifiers. Both speakers stressed the importance of representing indigenous languages, local knowledge systems and African scholarly outputs in global metadata frameworks. The ongoing workshop aims to identify practical solutions to emerging challenges facing the library profession.