The outgoing Vice-Chancellor of the University of Uyo, Enefiok Essien has presented the scorecard of his stewardship as his tenure comes to an end December 1 having assumed office same period in 2015.
Highlighting his achievements in many areas including physical infrastructure, staff development and promotion, peace on campus, and expansion of academic programmes, Essien, a lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) however, denied the involvement of the University’s bursar in a fee scam that rocked the Ediene Abak campus of the University.
The Vice-Chancellor who acknowledged that the students of the Ediene Abak campus paid their school fees to the wrong person and not through the proper channel as directed denied that the bursar was involved adding that an investigation was being carried out by the management of the University.
“It is not true that the bursar had absconded with the fees paid by the students, the person who was involved was not a staff member of the University, we have waded into to see how to address the issue,’’ he said.
Essien who expressed delight that the long-drawn face-off between lecturers and the federal government was over-explained in an answer to a question that Vice-Chancellors were not dormant in resolving the strike by University lecturers which began in March this year saying the committee of Vice-Chancellors met and made their input to the federal government.
‘We have maintained academic culture and programmes, I have operated an open-door policy, I met and addressed students to solve problems before they are out of hand, running a university is very tedious, it is not a tea party, we have held yearly convocations,’’ he said.
On new academic programmes and departments, he said during this tenure, the centre for deep dialogue and critical thinking, centre for excellence in computational intelligence had been created in addition to the directorate of procurement, directorate of quality assurance, directorate of environmental management, and institute for health, safety, security and environmental health.
He said a brand new faculty of basic clinical science has been established which has increased the number of faculties in the university to 13 adding that the department of pharmaceutical microbiology and biotechnology has been created.
Essien who also listed the construction and commissioning of the university’s filling station, “complete with tarred access roads for ingress and egress at the main campus explaining that it has been in the pipeline for years saying it has remained only a pipe dream of successive administrations but has become a reality in my regime,’’ he said.
Expressing the hope that the filling station would help to improve the university’s Internally Generated Revenue, he said a community computer department capacity centre at entrepreneurial students building, a donation by National Information Technology Development Agency has been established and inaugurated.
Essien who also listed many other projects “which are at different levels of completion,” bows on December 1 and would be succeeded by Nyaudo Ndaeyo, a professor of Agronomy who until his appointment was the deputy vice-chancellor in charge of administration.
