The National Universities Commission (NUC) has granted full accreditation to 26 academic programmes of Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo in Ebonyi State.
This followed the inspection visit of the commission’s accreditation panels which lasted from Monday, October 22 to Wednesday, November 14, 2018, during which 28 programmes were presented for accreditation.
According to a statement issued by the university’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Iyke Ubochi, out of the 28 programmes presented for accreditation, 26 received full accreditation while two got interim accreditation.
The 26 included Accounting, Business Administration, English Language, History, Music, French, Igbo, Philosophy, Anatomy, Fine and Applied Arts, Chemical Engineering, Electrical/Electronic Engineering, and Civil Engineering.
Others were Applied Geo-Physics, Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Mass Communication, Criminology and Security Studies.
The two which got interim accreditation were Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering programmes.
Ubochi said that the feat was in line with the avowed commitment of the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba, to ensure that all academic programmes of the institution had full accreditation before the expiration of his tenure.
The statement partly read: “This rare and historic achievement is unarguably the first of its kind in the history of Nigerian university system. It is also a bold testament to the commitment and determination of the vice-chancellor to reposition the university to meet global academic best practices.
“The feat is made more poignant taking into cognisance the fact that 17 of the fully-accredited programmes had interim status before the arrival of the vice-chancellor in 2016, which means that the programmes would have been closed if not for the recent success.
“The NUC accreditation panels had during its visit to the university in 2018, commended the vice-chancellor for the massive improvement in the institution’s infrastructure and academic activities as well as in the provision of critical teaching and learning equipment.
“It maintained that the university had made bold steps in the various programmes presented for accreditation and urged the vice-chancellor and his team to sustain the tempo, as academic excellence is not a destination but an on-going process,” it added.
While expressing happiness on the feat attained by the university, Ubochi quoted Nwajiuba as saying that accreditation exercise is an important peer review and quality assurance process for the university which is meant to improve the quality of its academic activities, not only to meet the minimum benchmark set by the NUC but also global best practices.
He further explained that the university was doing its best in the area of quality assurance, noting that a directorate had been created in that regard. He maintained that all necessary academic facilities, equipment and staffing would be put in place to ensure that both Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering programmes received NUC full accreditation in 2020.