NUC Appoints FUTO To Supervise Hezekiah University

The Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) has
appointed the Federal University of Technology,
Owerri (FUTO) to mentor the first private
university in Imo State, Hezekiah University,
Umudi, FUTO Vice Chancellor, Prof. Chigozie
Asiabaka, has disclosed.
Briefing journalists on the achievements of the
institution under him, Asiabaka said the NUC
expects FUTO to provide academic and
administrative advice to Hezekiah for five years,
“as well as send periodic reports” to it.
Meanwhile, the Association of Vice Chancellors of
Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) has called for an
end to interference in the running of universities in
the country, especially by state governments.
Making the call during the association’s four-day
conference on “The Role of ICT in University
Administration and Curriculum Delivery,” chairman
of the group and Vice Chancellor of the University
of Port Harcourt, Prof. Joseph Ajienka, lamented
that vice chancellors work under difficult
conditions in spite of their sacrifices to the
nation.
Asiabaka attributed the new responsibility to the
feats the institution has recorded in “integrity,
professionalism, transparency and fairness in the
field of teaching, learning and research,” adding
that soon, the NUC would visit the Architectural
Department and others for assessment for
accreditation.
He further disclosed that the institution has
named its Engineering Department Workshop after
late Senator Uche Chukwumerije in recognition of
his efforts in attracting several infrastructures to
the institution through the Tertiary Education
Trust Fund (TETFUND) when he was chairman of
Senate Committee on Education.
Ajienka told the conference, which held in Rivers
State University of Science and Technology
(RSUST), Port Harcourt, with over 60 VCs from
across the country participating, to chart the way
forward for universities’ Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) policies.