The Pro Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Delta State University, Abraka, General Alexander Odeareduo Ogomudia (Rtd) has promised to support the management of the university to sustain the successes so far achieved by it in the areas of quality teaching and research, staff and students’ welfare, infrastructural development and upward mobility in university rankings.
The Pro Chancellor made the promise recently during his maiden official visit to the university in Abraka Campus.
General Ogomudia (Rtd) commended the University’s management for effectively utilizing resources to advance the institutions vision and mission of excellence in teaching, research, and community service.
He emphasized his commitment to improving the well-being and morale of both staff and students, recognizing their pivotal roles in upholding the institution’s achievements and future progress, even as he stressed the need to uphold academic integrity in the university so that its graduates can continue to command respect in the industry globally.
He promised to focus on ways to increase the positive impact of the university on the host community and the state in general, noting that the ivory tower will stand out as having solved a definite social problem in his tenure as Pro Chancellor while urging all stakeholders in university to collaborate with him in unity and sincerity of purpose, emphasizing his commitment to inclusive decision-making.
The Governing Council Chairman expressed his intention to thoroughly assess the university’s current status to guide strategic decisions and initiatives aimed at leaving a commendable legacy by the end of his tenure.
Earlier in a welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Andy Ogochukwu Egwunyenga, informed the Pro Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council that the university is very happy and excited to receive him.
Prof Egwunyenga informed him that the university is the premier higher institution in Delta State having evolved from a teachers institute in the early days of the colonial era to College of Education (1971-1985), a campus of the defunct Bendel State University (1985-1992) and a full-fletched university on April 30, 1992.
The Vice Chancellor further revealed that the university currently has thirteen faculties and one institute and offers eighty-three programmes with full accreditation from the National Universities Commission (NUC) and said the university currently ranks as the best State University in the South-South and South-East regions, the fourth best State University in Nigeria, the eighteenth best among the 284 universities and research institutes in the country and in the top 10% of over two thousand universities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The University Don, equally informed the Governing Council Chairman that the student population of the university has increased from about nineteen thousand when he assumed office in 2019 to over thirty-five thousand and that the university has been enjoying uninterrupted academic calendar for over five years because of the competitive salaries and working conditions of staff facilitated by the state government.
Professor Egwunyenga stated that the university is currently collaborating with several foreign universities in research and with Colleges of Education in the state in running affiliate degree programmes to promote education and enhance social development, even as he pointed out that, in addition to newly introduced courses such as Dentistry, Bio-Technology, Medical Laboratory Science and Entrepreneurship among others, the university recently received NUC approval to run Open and Distant Learning (ODL) programmes which will commence with a first degree in Nursing Science soon.
The Vice Chancellor pointed out that the university faces challenges in the area of infrastructure because of the relocation of the Faculty of Management Science and Faculty of Agriculture from the defunct Asaba Campus, increase in both staff and students population, and infrequency of Tertiary Education Trust (TET) Fund interventions in the last three years.
He said his administration was able to address some of the challenges by building the Faculty of Management Sciences Complex within eleven months from internally generated revenue but can no longer do the same for the Faculty of Agriculture and other areas because of inflation.
While appreciating the state governments financial support to the University, he appealed to the Governing Council Chairman to help facilitate the completion of the University Senate Building which has been ongoing for about 20 years.
Led by the Vice Chancellor and other Principal Staff, the maiden visit by the Pro Chancellor and Chairman of Governing Council was rounded off with a tour of the campus facilities.
