. Set for radical changes

By Steve Oko

The Governing Council of the Abia State University Uturu, ABSU, has said that no fewer than 200 fresh academic staff had been recruited by the institution to bridge the manpower gap in its system.

Chairman of the Council and Pro-Chancellor, Rt. Hon. Agwu U. Agwu, who disclosed this while addressing newsmen after his maiden and 159th Council meeting of the institution, said the recruitment was in strict compliance with the directive of Gov. Alex Otti.

He announced far-reaching measures and radical changes approved by the Council to reposition the institution in line with its vision and mission statement.

The Pro-Chancellor said the vision of the Council “is to oversee the university as one where knowledge of science, information, communication and technology, social and management sciences , humanities and arts, as well as entrepreneurial and vocational skills are harnessed to help solve the problems of the nation.”

The Pro-Chancellor said the various challenges of the institution had been identified by the Council, assuring that spirited efforts are being made to address them.

According to him, some of the problems include poorly motivated workforce, infrastructural dilapidation, unhealthy learning environment, insecurity , gross misconduct among staff, low students enrollment and declining academic standards.

Agwu explained that Gov. Alex Otti was committed to restoring ABSU as a referral tertiary institution in the country, noting that the massive infrastructural renovation in the institution is part of the on-going efforts to address its challenges.

He disclosed that the Council set up various committees to attend to staff welfare, discipline and other matters affecting the university.

Agwu said the Council also interfaced various staff Unions on their demands in order to sustain existing industrial harmony.

Contributing, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Ndukwe Okeudo said that the university management was fully committed to overhauling the institution for academic excellence and research exploits

He said that N1 million was approved for the 42 students of the university who won 20 gold, 13 silver and nine bronze medals at the just -concluded all tertiary institutions sports fiesta in the state.

The Council later undertook inspection of the on-going projects on the campus including the giant students hostel and Faculty of Law Building projects.