Director, Centre for Project and Revenue Development, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike (MOUAU), Abia State, Prof. Nnamdi Anigbogu, speaks with Special Correspondent, ONWUKWE EZERU, on efforts of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Hillary Edeoga, in taking the institution to the next level.
Vice Chancellor, Prof. Hillary Edeoga, in financial scandal
If one is to talk of Prof. Edeoga’s standard in MOUAU, it will be incomplete without the inclusion of the Pro-Chancellor, Prof. Anya O. Anya, and the entire Council members. This is because they in totality created a new, peaceful, decent and worth emulating atmosphere in the system to achieve what is today’s MOUAU. The MOUAU was a rot before the team came on board. These men are the great achievers of MOUAU, and needed to be commended and emulated.
Moral and ethical standard was not in place in MOUAU before now. There were Mafioso that hijacked the office of the Vice Chancellor for a long time now.
They had great influence in the mismanagement of the system before Prof. Anya/Prof. Edeoga came on board. Members of this cabal had been recycling themselves within the tenure of one administration to the other. To worsen things, they determined what happened in MOUAU before now. They were mutants that mutated from within the system.
When they were neglected, and changed for better qualified and intelligent young managers that are of digital age, this resulted to what we are seeing now – fighting and creating lies on Edeoga, Anya and the entire governing Council.
Students paying N60,800 for hostel without accommodation
There are laid down rules guiding the universities in Nigeria. Also, it is the Senate that makes the law and deliberates other matters of the university as the case may be. I am aware that when the hostel was completed, the amount of N60,800 was fixed. There was rush for individual students to pay for accommodation, on which the allocation was based on first come first serve bases for the new as well the old students.
The over payment was as a result of extortion on the students by the village landlords which has been going on for some time. Insecurity on the students living off-campus is another factor. So, the students needed accommodation. The hostel allocation was not influenced by any person, not even the Vice Chancellor/the Pro-Chancellor in any funny way.
At present, many hostels are being built by the university. Others are completed at the moment, and are about to be commissioned. Therefore, the problem of accommodation will soon be a thing of the past.
Assessing the VC
To my candid judgement, the Vice Chancellor is not to take the glory alone; I mean the total achievements in the campus. The totality of the Council members will not be left out. They in their totality created the atmosphere that brought the current wave of development/achievements in MOUAU.
It is to the credit of the VC and the entire MOUAU Governing Council that the current student registration/enrolment came up from below 2,000 to about 7,000 now. This shows that, more students were given opportunities to study in this part of Nigeria as well as in the areas/fields the students and their parents are much interested on.
Previously, the institution was a one Faculty University with five-unit colleges. I am happy to be identified with the present MOUAU and these achievements. We in MOUAU and Nigeria as a whole need to appreciate their achievements.
Indiscriminate employments in MOUAU under Edeoga
No, it is not indiscriminate. The employment of men like Prof. V. E. Asor of the Mathematics Department helped make things possible in the campus. He was promoted into the professorial cadre from the rank of a senior lecturer because of his great contributions and hard work. This is because he merited it; he is in a rare area which the university needed highly qualified personnel. He is not the only one that had been treated like that. I remember that such was done in the past during the immediate past three VCs before Edeoga came on board. This was based on the need of the university.
Does the VC have the right to employ staff without following due process?
The University Governing Council oversees the management of the institution and the senate helps in the laws and other functions as deemed fit by the articles establishing the institution. This is not applicable in MOUAU alone, but in all the universities in Nigeria. The university is not a military outfit. The VC has no such powers/orders or to overrule the Governing Council or the University Senate. He cannot administer by decrees as the case of the military dictators.
Achievements of CPDRG
I am just about seven months as the Director of Centre for Project Development and Revenue Generation (CPDRG). I have to extend my thanks to the VC for appointing me into that position. I also have to extend my sincere thanks to my predecessor, Chris Chukwurah and his deputy, Solomon Nwadinobi, for the enabling environment created, as the standing pad for my take off.
It will interest you to know that the MOUAU Pure Water is in production at present with at least 4 lines of products; the MOUAU Bakery with more than 15 lines of products is in production. Other products in line about to be approved by the VC are; the production of Smart Enzymes and Direct-Fed-Microbes with an America Representative; MOUAU Transport Ltd. with fully air-conditioned 20 buses to convey 42 passengers at N50 per drop Umudike/Umuahia; MOUAU Transport Limited, with fully air-conditioned 20 car-buses to carry six persons at N80 per drop Umudike/Umuahia; MOUAU Energy Drink with a German Representative; MOUAU Rice and Abakaliki Farmers Association; MOUAU Palm Oil to be produced with the collaboration of the Integrated Farmers Incorporated (IFI); and with at least 15 other businesses on line all under private public partnership as required by laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
CPDRG does not depend on the MOUAU to finance its projects. Our projects and profit depend on our negotiating ability. That is ability to outsmart our partners for better profit.
This partnership is informed by the need to effectively mobilise private sector resources for MOUAU development, in line with the national development.
