Omar Bongo University (French: ''Université Omar Bongo'') is a

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

which was founded as the National University of Gabon in 1970. It was renamed in honor of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Omar Bongo Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second president of Gabon from 1967 until Death and state funeral of Omar Bongo, his death in 2009. A member of the Gabonese De ...

in 1978. It is based in

Libreville Libreville (; ) is the capital and largest city of Gabon, located on the Gabon Estuary. Libreville occupies of the northwestern province of Estuaire Province, Estuaire. Libreville is also a port on the Gabon Estuary, near the Gulf of Guinea. A ...

, and was the country's first university. It is Gabon's largest university and around 30,000 students are enrolled there (2020). Yves Laurent Goma
Gabon: l'université Omar-Bongo n'attire plus les étudiants
''Rfi.fr'', 17 August 2020 The university is under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education.

History

The Omar Bongo University has been the epicenter of demonstrations and riots since the early 2000s. In 2010, the university was in an advanced state of deterioration: swamps and weeds had spread all over the campus where reptiles inhabited, and maggots covered the dorms' floors. In 2010, the Minister of Education Séraphin Moundounga launched a project of renovation but the

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...

never backed up the initiative, leaving the university in an advanced state of degradation. In 2020, the state of the campus was still deteriorated : Old buildings, obsolete computers, no wifi network. In February 2020, the dean of the university Marc-Louis Ropivia resigned. In August 2020, the university announced some renovation work aiming to clad the external walls of the campus' buildings, a work that had already been done in 2013. The university was designed to host 8,000 students, but 30,000 to 40,000 students are enrolled, which causes a great stress on the infrastructures and the quality of the education. The library only has 200 seatings (2020). In 2019 a large building on campus called the "bunker", which was supposedly a rogue haunt, was demolished. However, the drug dealers moved from the "bunker" to the dorms to pursue their business on campus. In March 2019,the campus' cafeteria reopened after several months of renovationand with an innovation : the meals can be purchased only with mobile cash. In June 2019, the Portuguese

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of the wealthiest charitable founda ...

donated 5000 books to the university. In April 2021, following the COVID-19 pandemic in Gabon, the university announced that registrations for the next year will be exclusively online. Rudy Hombenet Anvingui
UOB : Inscription et réinscription uniquement en ligne
''Sonapresse.com'', 13 April 2021

References

External links

*
Profile of Omar Bongo University
bc.edu Universities and colleges in Gabon Universities and colleges established in 1970 Buildings and structures in Libreville 1970 establishments in Gabon {{Africa-university-stub

History

See also

References

External links