WHILE WE ARE AWAY
By: Elom Iyke Ubochi

SA to VC on Documentation

On 27th February, 2020, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported the first case of corona virus in Nigeria. An unnamed Italian who transited from Europe to Nigeria through Lagos State was reported as the first index case of the virus in Nigeria.

Owing to the havoc the virus was already wrecking in Europe and America, the Nigerian government announced some measures which included the closure of all schools in the country in order to curtail the devastating effect of the pandemic on the populace. Since that announcement in March 2020, academic activities in all tertiary institutions in Nigeria have been at a standstill. From then till now it has been one long deafening silence in our citadels of learning.


The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it not only tales of sickness and death but also serious socio-economic problems that have impacted negatively on every aspect of our human lives including access to quality education at all levels. However, in spite of these daunting challenges, it has not all been doom and gloom. There have also been pockets of good news in different places, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State inclusive. The University has shown leadership by refusing to be held down by the unintended intervening variables brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The management of the University led by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba, has continued to re-position the University, to blaze the trail in the comity of Nigerian public institutions even as efforts are in top gear to make it a world-class citadel of learning reputed for intellectually rigorous research. So, in spite of the enormous challenges caused by the pandemic, AE-FUNAI has recorded some feats while we were away even as the lockdown continues to ease.


VC, Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba
While we are away, the National Universities Commission (NUC) released the results of the 2019 accreditation exercise. The University had presented 12 academic programmes: Banking and Finance, Theatre Arts, Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Agribusiness and Management, Business Education, Education Biology, Education Chemistry, Education Mathematics, Education Physics, Education English and Literary Studies and Physical and Health Education, to the regulatory body for accreditation in 2019. From the result of the exercise released while we were away, 11 of the programmes have full accreditation while one -Fisheries and Aquaculture has interim, making it 92% success ratio.

While we are away, the result of the accreditation exercise for the Faculty of Engineering and Technology programmes by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) was also released and it was another round of success story. The University, had on Monday, 16th December, 2019 received an accreditation team from COREN where it presented 5 Engineering programmes for accreditation – Civil, Mechatronics, chemical, Mechanical, Electrical/Electronic Engineering. The result shows that Civil Engineering and Electrical/Electronic Engineering secured full accreditation from the professional body while the remaining 3 programmes have interim accreditation. With this, our engineering students are assured of being mobilized for National Youth Service Corps programme when they graduate as their programmes are both NUC and COREN approved and accredited.


AE-FUNAI campus road at night
As we are still away due to the increase in number of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria, the result of the accreditation exercise of the University MBBS programme by the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council was released, and like the other accreditation exercises, it was an outstanding success. The Nigerian Medical and Dental Council, had on Monday, 18th November, 2019, visited the University for the purpose of MBBS Programme accreditation. It could also be recalled that the AE-FUNAI commenced the MBBS programme in the 2017/2018 academic session.

This litany of good news at a time of serious pandemic will definitely be cheering to staff and students of the affected programmes including the parents and guardians of our students, who are now expected to be irrevocably committed to their studies having seen that the University management has kept their part of the bargain by ensuring that their courses were accredited by both the NUC and relevant professional bodies. The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nwajiuba had on assumption of duty in 2016 vowed to ensure that all academic programmes of the University were fully accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and other relevant professional bodies before the expiration of his tenure in 2021. And he is walking the talk.

The excellent performances of the University in all NUC and professional bodies’ accreditation exercises it embarked on since the emergence of Prof. Nwajiuba is an irrefutable testament to the fact that the institution is on the right track. Prior to his assumption of office, the University had only two fully accredited programmes (Computer Science and Geology) and 15 other programmes were on interim accreditation. However, as at August 2020, the University has an additional 37 programmes with full accreditation and 3 on interim. The breakdown of the figure shows that the University presented 28 academic programmes in 2018 to the NUC for accreditation out of which 26 had full accreditation and two interim. And in 2019, 12 programmes were presented for accreditation out of which 11 secured full accreditation while one has interim. This is in addition to the accreditation of MBBS and engineering programmes by their professional bodies.The fact is that AE-FUNAI is on the right trajectory.

And while we are all away, the Vice-Chancellor and his team are still working. They are not resting on their oars neither are they leaving anything to chance.