■ Ugwuanyi commends ESUT, urges it to join in
providing solutions to economic problems through scientific, technological research
By Sam-Loco Smith
The Governor of Enugu State, Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, has commended the Governing Council, the management, staff and students of the state-owned university, Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), for keeping faith with their mandate, and for keeping the institution’s flag flying high despite many odds.
Governor Ugwuanyi who is also the Visitor to the university and an alumnus having obtained two Master’s degrees from the university, made this commendation at its 17th convocation held at the institution’s convocation arena, Agbani Campus.
On the challenges facing the university as lucidly highlighted by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Luke Anike, the Enugu State Governor assured that apart from other interventions his administration had made and is still making in the school, it will continue to work in concert with relevant ministries and agencies of government to, as far as available funds can permit, address the challenges adequately and satisfactorily.
Expressing his conviction on the critical roles that tertiary institutions in the country need to play in tailoring their research activities towards the development of new scientific capacities and technologies that would not only help to diversify our economy, create new jobs, and also spur rapid growth in every sector, he urged ESUT and similar tertiary institutions to rise up to the challenge, and in partnership with private sectors, deliver scientific and technological breakthroughs that could impact significantly on the economic profile and fortunes of our nation.
Earlier in his address, the Chancellor of the University Amb. (Dr.) Alhaji Hassan Adamu (Wakili Adamawa), while commending the management staff for the feat so far recorded, called on the stakeholders to work assiduously to ensure the realization and sustenance of the goal and aspiration of the university as per the dream of the founding fathers.
In his own address, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council, Prof. Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, confessed that since they came on board, the Governing Council and management had taken steps to plug existing loopholes so as to promote quality scholarship and provide a congenial academic environment adding that, although most of these steps are expected to yield long-term fruits, some of their positive results are already being felt.
Prof Onah who waxed historical on the record-breaking achievements of the institute since its establishment 36 years ago as ASUTEC commended the state governor, members of the state House of Assembly, chairperson of local government caretaker committees for their continued support and encouragement. He also commended the Federal Government for its assistance through TETFund and PTDF even as he called for timely release of funds from these agencies to ensure that their intervention projects are expeditiously completed.
Earlier the University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Luke Okechukwu Anike revealed that aside from giving honours to 12,714 graduating students from 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 academic sessions, the management of the university had taken some bold steps to ensure global visibility and excellent academic rating of ESUT.
This, he added, is being done through commitment to research, teaching and various approaches to staff development. The university staffs have been encouraged, he said, through their sponsorship to national and international conferences, workshops and seminars adding that the development had significantly increased the level of ICT competence and productivity amongst staff and even students.
Commenting on the ESUT rating amongst state universities, Prof. Anike stressed that “it was heart-warming to know that our University ESUT had assumed its rightful place as the first state university and the first university of technology in Nigeria and that due to the above humble efforts and more, our University was ranked number one state university and number seventeen university in the country in the recent web biometric survey rating of varsities based on quality of programmes and products.”