In view of the up coming 2021 accreditation exercise, the College of Veterinary Medicine of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), has sought the attention of the University management to ensure that the College scales through in the forthcoming accreditation exercise.
The dean of the College, Prof. Maduike C. O. Ezeibe, who led a team of the College officers and lecturers on a visit to the vice-chancellor, yesterday, called upon the management to look into the needs of the College, to enable it meet the expected demands of the Veterinary Council of Nigeria.
According to Prof. Ezeibe, the College’s major challenges were in the areas of the lack of senior academics and resident veterinary doctors, office spaces and landscaping of the College premises. Others mentioned include the provision of an ambulatory bus, power generating plant, extension of library hours from 4pm to 6pm and the posting of security officers to the College.
In his response, Prof. Maduebibisi Ofo Iwe, who acknowledged that accreditation is paramount and unavoidable, expressed regret that the University cannot employ for now, to make up for the lapses in the College, nor engage the services of contract, adjunct or sabbatical staff, due to the Federal Government’s current conditions of employment and IPPIS peculiarities.
On the issue of landscaping the premises and lack of office spaces and lecture halls, Prof. Iwe clarified that the projects would be captured in the University’s 2022 budget, adding that the paucity of funds is a major challenge. He promised that the University management would make arrangement to provide an ambulatory bus. Speaking further, he advised the vistors to liase with the University librarian for the extension of the library hours as security personnel would posted to the College as required.
The VC further advised that as the Veterinary Council of Nigeria comes for the accreditation exercise, it should be briefed on the situation on ground at MOUAU, assuring the visitors that the Council would understand since all the Universities in the country currently face the same funding challenges.
The vice-chancellor was also visited, yesterday, by the executive of the Association of Nigerian University Professional Administrators (ANUPA), MOUAU branch.
Speaking during the visit, the chairperson of the association, Mrs. Nkiru Mbanasor congratulated Prof. Madu Iwe on his emergence as the 6th vice-chancellor of the University, expressing gratitude to him for accepting to host the association despite his busy schedule. Mrs. Mbanasor, who described the association as a training ground for administrators in Universities, used the opportunity of the visit to inform the VC of the association’s training programme scheduled for July this year. The ANUPA chairperson appealed to the VC to consider the sponsorship of its members for its annual conferences and trainings, stating that the association has faced challenges in this regards due to paucity of funds occasioned by the non-remittance of membership dues since the introduction of the IPPIS payment platform. Mrs. Mbanasor thanked the VC for his efforts since his assumption of office, assuring him that the association would support him in achieving his goals for the University.
The vice-chancellor, in his response, commended the association for the role it plays in training University administrators, describing the staff category as vital to the University’s growth. Speaking further, the VC assured the visitors that the management would look into its appeal to sponsor its members for conferences and training programmes, expressing delight at the successes so far recorded by the association. On the issue of non-remittance of membership dues, Prof. Madu Ofo Iwe urged the visitors to fashion ways to ensure that its members paid their dues, adding that the University management would make efforts to ensure that the association achieves its goals.
Highpoint of the visit was the decoration of the vice-chancellor as grand patron of the association. The registrar, Mrs. Jacinta Ogwo-Agu was also honoured.