FUTO Will Soon Produce A Car Fit For Africa – VC

According to Sun Newspapers, Prof. Cyril Asiabaka, the outgoing Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), the nation’s premier University of technology in this interview says that anyone who has attended the institution already has the mark of excellence stamped on the their foreheads because of the administration’s mantra the “Quest for Excellence”. He said the mantra  has not only instilled a culture of excellence in both staff and students but has been responsible for the transformation which has been witnessed in the university both in the infrastructure and academic programs .

Four and half years  down the line how has your mantra  “the quest for excellence” impacted on the institution?

I assumed duty as the 6th substantive vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Owerri. I started my first day of work in office with my inaugural state of five years address on Monday June 20, 2011, where I laid down the road map for following the part of transparency, accountability, probity , zero tolerance for corruption and equity in the daily activities of the university. As a result some people were visibly unhappy. Obviously those who were unhappy  had no regard for university rules and regulations.

I stopped the exploitation and abuse of our students through the sales of handouts, textbooks and insisted on the release of examination results four weeks after the end of every semester examinations. I also put an end to the exploitations of parents and guardians and indeed candidates wising to gain admission into FUTO, by putting an end to admission racketeering.

I equally put  an end to the exploitations of our graduates within and outside the country by ensuring that they get their transcripts within 48 hours after application without coming to the University and they collect their certificates immediately after convocation.

All my efforts are simply for the common good of the staff and students and indeed our stakeholders are all overwhelmed with joy at my courage in ensuring that there is a high level of discipline in the university. However, few people who do not have the interest of students at heart are unhappy. They want business as usual to continue . For instance the admissions and post UTME placements of prospective students , payment of school fees and processing of students ’ clearance transcripts are now done on-line, similarly, I introduced automated staff pay-roll system and the use of Electronic payments for the settlement of fees.

All these measures were aimed at stopping leakages of university funds and to make the system more efficient.

Now, it has been alleged that in the four and half years of your administration  that majority of both academic and non academic staff have remained on the same grade level which had created low morale among the staff university?

It is on record that this administration has promoted the highest number of academic and non-academic staff in the history of the University. A total of 563 academic and 2,205 non-academic staff have been promoted in the last four years. The quest for excellence cannot be achieved in a vacuum or under an atmosphere in which the well-being of the staff is been neglected. We instituted  long service awards, most outstanding staff awards and academic excellence awards and rewarded the recipients with handsome gifts. We procured more buses to ease the transportation of members of staff. Our staffs have access to loans from the Micro Finance bank owned by University of which I am the chairman.

As a matter of policy we have recruited all first class and some second class upper degree graduates of this university through the policy of graduate assistantship scheme to create a new set of young and vibrant generation of academic staff.

The university was recently ranked 12 out of 144 universities in Nigeria and 71 out 106 universities in africa. Now are satisfied with that rating?

It is our desire to be among the first 10 universities in Nigeria in 2016. However, I am glad that after four years  we have started to reap the harvest of the mantra. Our university was ranked 48 among Nigeria University in 2011 when I assumed office as the Vice-Chancellor and I had stated that my mission is reposition FUTO to be a top-ranked world class University of excellence in Technological knowledge production and dissemination , through teaching, research and service to mankind . To achieved this we decided to review the academic programmes and to put staff that can think out of the box , not in terms of sorting or extortion. It took collective efforts of both the academic and non-academic staff to get where we are today with the full accreditation of 39 out of 41 while effort is been made to ensure that the remaining two programs in the university have full accreditation this year.

Today FUTO is a global brand because of the quality of our products And anyone who attended FUTO already has the mark of excellence stamped on his or her forehead.

What is the research and technology park that is under construction all about?

As the premier university of technology  in Nigeria, this administration decided to initiate the Research and Technology Park which is a project that support University-industry and government collaboration with the intent to create high technology; economic development, generate employment and technological advancement. The FUTO Research and Technology Park which is being funded by TETFUND when fully developed will offer a number of shared resources such as technology incubators, programs and collaborative activities, uninterrupted power supply, telecommunications hub , reception and security, management offices, hotel and conference centre, banks .

The first phase of the project that is the core administration Research and incubator/start-up laboratories have commenced and will be completed in the first quarter of 20126. The second phase will involve construction of more laboratories, researcher’s residences international conference halls, Hotels so, we are hoping on the benevolence of the Federal government to make more funds available for the realization of the project.

The university recently applied for a medical college what is delaying the approval of the commencement of the medical school?

The university already has the following well established Departments: Public Health, Optometry, Dental, Biomedical, Biochemistry, Biology, Orthopedic and Orthotics all recently accredited. The Senate of the university has also approved new programmes of Physiology and Human Anatomy.  Additionally, the university has entered into a collaborative MOU with the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri to use its facilities for the proposed Medical school. This Medical school will also boost the medical facilities in the region and the entire country. So, we are hoping that the federal government who are the owner of the university will give its approval for the commencement of the medical school because we have put all necessary requirements in place and I am very sure that the federal government will soon gives its approval.

Interestingly, the university now has its own radio station how did it happen?

The university management mandated the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering to establish a FUTO  FM. So, the staff and students of the department through their own research efforts installed an FM Radio Station for the university. In order to allow the station to start broadcasting we applied for license to the National Broadcasting Commission. I am  glad to tell you that the initial approval has been given by NBC and very soon the station will commence broadcasting.

At what stage is car project embarked on by the university?

The university entered into partnership with Technical University, Munich, Germany and a sister institution, the Imo state Polytechnic to develop a Car for the Sub Saharan Africa. The prototype of the car was unveiled in Germany last year. More research is on going to perfect the final product. Our constrain is funding for the final production of the car. So, the university is seeking for assistance of both the federal government and the private sector for the full realization of the this project.

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