IMT, ESUT’s Institute Harp On Societal Peace

The Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) Institute for Peace, Conflict, and Development Studies (IPCDS) has stressed the importance of peace in any nation, including Nigeria, positing that no positive feat could be achieved in a conflict-ridden society.

A lecturer on good Governance, Peace, and National Cohesion at the IPCDS, Dr. Ben Nwoye, stated this weekend when he led Phd students of the Institute on an internship visit to the Rector of the Institute of Management and Technology, IMT Enugu, Professor Gozie Ogbodo, in his office.

Nwoye, accompanied by the Institute’s Academic Coordinator, Dr. Chiedozie Nwafor, averred that peace remains paramount in human existence and development and has no alternative.

The politician turned classroom teacher noted that conflict has never done any nation any good, be it developed or not, hence the need for all to embrace peace.

He said the visit was part of the learning process for the Phd students, who are led by Professor Felix Asogwa.

“It is an outstation internship visitation by the Ph.D. and Course Lecturer of Advances in Peace, Governance, and National Cohesion of the Institute”

Nwoye further explained that the visit was “in line with the mission and vision of the Institute, in line with the course description,” stating that they embarked on the visit to engage with the IMT Rector on good governance, leadership, and national cohesion.

The former Enugu state Chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress said that it was also designed to explore potentials and challenges for the development of the state and the nation.

According to him, “The programme is not a mere place for theorising, but a place where practical experience and aspiration of the National needs, experiential learning is focused, and also about Taking Gown to Town”, Nwoyed stated.

In his remark, the IMT Rector applauded IPCDS for its commitment to grooming students who would serve as Ambassadors of peace to society upon completing their studies.

Professor Ogbodo, a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) of Godfrey Okoye University, expressed readiness to partner with IPCDS to advance peace in Enugu and elsewhere through the institution.

Professor Ogbodo, however, advocated for the need to evolve a modern way of resolving conflict because of the technological advancements in the present-day world.

The Rector regretted that unresolved conflicts have wreaked serious havoc on nations across the globe, including Nigeria.

Professor Ogbodo used the forum to highlight some of the innovations his administration has brought to IMT since taking over the leadership of the foremost institution six months ago.

He said he met the expired curriculum and programmes on the assumption of office, “but as I speak, all the academic programmes have been restored because I declared a state of emergency.

“Upon assumption of office, I discovered that over 70% of our academic programmes were expired, overdue for accreditation and re-accreditation and consequently, I declared a state of emergency in respect to the academic programmes”

“Then by the special grace of God, the governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, was very supportive and we were able to subject the programmes to accreditation on April 4th, 5th and 6th.

“They came here and subjected all of them to accreditation. The officials of the National Board for Technical Education, NABTE, came here this week.

“On Tuesday, I received the official notification that we scored 100% on the accreditation.  And more importantly, we were granted full accreditation.  The first in IMT. It was not partial but full accreditation for all the programmes,” he hinted.

“The essence of any tertiary institution and indeed any institution is academic programmes, which is what we are here for.

“In addressing your academic programmes, we look at them from two perspectives, the quantity and quality. What is the amount, and how many courses are you offering? Here we are offering 65 programmes.

“That is the quantity, and I can tell you that we are good quantity-wise. Quality-wise, I still have an ongoing task of ensuring that the lecturers attend lectures and teach on time.

“I have started enforcing students’ attendance and enforcing that any student who does not attend lectures for 70% of the term will not be eligible to write examinations”.

“I want to ensure that, as students are encouraged to attend lectures, the lecturers are encouraged to come and teach them.  It takes two to tango in any academic institution. If students come and the lecturers don’t come, it doesn’t make sense and vice versa”

He added, “I have set up two monitoring teams now. Every day, they must monitor the lecturers, make sure they are there, and write me a report if they are not there. And the students make sure that they are there.

“Every student in IMT today must enter the gate in his departmental uniform.  In November, when I came here, they could come in with anything they liked.  And so today, that one is settled. You will not enter the gate without wearing your departmental uniform.

“In my experience, any student who endeavours to attend lectures for 50% of the semester will have enough material and confidence to enter the examination hall without looking for anywhere to sit.

“There was a menace that I also inherited. That menace is called sorting. Today, I have also banned sorting, and there is a popular cliche that the sorter and the sorted will be punished because it takes two to tango.

The professor disclosed, “I have about 28 cases of people who have attempted to sort, and we are handling them.”