By Dennis Agbo

The Enugu state University of Science and Technology, ESUT, through its University press, on Thursday, presented five books published by the university lecturers whose publications were supported by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund.

The books were the third batch of TETFund supported books in a series being published by the ESUT press and the 10th volume of ESUT Journal of experimental research.

The five latest publications are: Contemporary Issues, Trends in Local Government Administration in Nigeria, authored by Prof S.C Ugwu and Okaibe K.O; Biomedical Research Methodology and Biostatistics, by Prof Chike Anibeze; A First Course in Linear Relationship Analysis, by Chinelo Igwenagu; Basic Organic Chemistry, by Charles Ugwu & others; and Political Behaviour, the Nigerian Experience, by Linus Nnamani.

Presenting the books before a TETFund representative, Deans of the university faculties, the authors and other academia, at the university’s college of Medicine, Parklane, Enugu, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Aloysius-Michaels Okolie, stated that publishing and research are what ESUT hold in high esteem and which he said was why the institution drives to integrate all the relevant components in the University in publications.

Okolie disclosed that the university was aware of ethical issues involved in publications and issues of quality, hence it makes collective efforts so that books published by the university must be books that reflect and represent the integrity of Tetfund.

According to the Vice Chancellor, “ESUT as a research center is transforming all instruments that will enable us to get to the highest level of publications. We thank the Executive Director of TETFund for sustaining publications, inventions, and innovations in higher education. The books’ presentation is to assist us improve our capacities for global visibility in terms of our publications and marketing of our products, including our patents.

“TETFund is assisting us in various ways, in terms of capacity building, in producing high quality publications and research findings; and we are not going to take it for granted, within our capacity we are going to help to sustain the ethics and we are not going to disappoint them.

“We will soon launch our broadband infrastructure and ESUT is determined to take the university from the present point to a global level where we are going to remain perpetually.”

The representative from TETFund and the Assistant Director, Education Support Services, Leticia Kor stated that the paucity of indigenously authored and produced tertiary level textbooks and related academic publications was among reasons the agency undertook support for such publications.

“Scarcity of tertiary level texts in Nigeria has reached a crisis proportion as evident not only in the quality of books available, but also in the quality of books produced locally. The need to tackle this crisis head-on resulted in the establishment of TETFund Academic Manuscript into Book and Academic Research Journals Intervention.

“The government is giving more attention to publication in a bid to provide adequate indigenous learning materials in our Tertiary Educational Institutions for national development and improve the global ranking of Nigeria’s Tertiary institutions,” Kor disclosed.

Chairman of the ESUT Press, Prof. Chike Anibeze stated that the interventions of TETFund have added value to the university’s education quality, the books it produces and in an overall global competitiveness of the ESUT as a reckoned citadel of learning.

Anibeze said: “The publication support of TETFund certainly adds value to the books because it has a standardized quality such as in the quality of materials for the publications in terms of the paper gram, gloss, which are well specified. Again, it must go through the processes of peer review, pass through a plagiarism test which must be less than 20 percent of internet content in the manuscript.

‘Then the next thing is to send it across to two reviewers, one of which must be outside the geopolitical zone where the institution is domiciled, which after certification, we go and get ISBN number, go to the Library and send it to TETfund before approval. 

So by the time you finish all these processes, you will be sure that any manuscript for publication will come out very standard. In fact some of our titles are on the net and after about two years you push it for open access,” Anibeze said