Omar Bongo University (French: ''Université Omar Bongo'') a
public university which was founded as the National University of Gabon in 1970. It was renamed in honor of
President Omar Bongo in 1978. It is based in
Libreville
Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon. Occupying in the northwestern province of Estuaire, Libreville is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea. As of the 2013 census, its population was 703,904.
The area has been inh ...
, 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 manifestations 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
Séraphin Moundounga (born 29 February 1964 in Tchibanga) is a Gabonese politician who served in the government of Gabon as Minister of Justice from 2014 to 2016.
Biography
A member of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party, he was first elected t ...
launched a project of renovation but the
African Development Bank 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 donated 5000 books to the university.
In April 2021, following the
COVID-19 pandemic in Gabon
The COVID-19 pandemic in Gabon was a part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Gabon in March 2020.
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, 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
See also
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Education in Gabon
*
Joseph Tonda Joseph Tonda (born 1952) is a sociologist and anthropologist of Congolese and Gabonese background. He is a specialist of Congolese and Gabonese culture, society, and politics, and is currently professor of sociology at Omar Bongo University in Libr ...
References
External links
*
Profile of Omar Bongo Universitybc.edu
Universities and colleges in Gabon
Educational institutions established in 1970
Buildings and structures in Libreville
1970 establishments in Gabon
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