The Imo State governor, Hope Uzodimma, has decried the moral decadence at Imo State University in Owerri, charging the governing board to be more pragmatic in finding solutions to the endemic problem currently besetting the institution.
Uzodimma gave the charge when he received the chairman and members of the institution’s Governing Board in his office in Government House, Owerri.
The governor, who lamented the rate of corruption in the school, maintained that the old order must change, adding, “What is very endemic is corruption and lack of commitment on the part of the staff.”
He wondered why the school will give admission to students who cannot graduate after four years of completing their academic programme and called for thorough investigation into such malpractices as well as streamline the admission process.
He further charged the Board to develop a work plan that could encourage investment in the university and equally address moral decadence by taking care of the students.
Uzodimma assured that the state government was willing to provide the needed intervention to the school, and incentives to the staff provided the environment is right and clean for investors to come in. “I can even allow you fix your salary, but there must be money. It is not charity.”
He further explained that if there is a functional system, investors may come under Public Private Partnership (PPP) and boost the revenue of the school. This, he said, “will provide a win-win situation and everybody will be happy.”
Uzodimma resolved that automation and computerisation are the way out to get a system that can give accurate data that provides a nominal roll of students and the number of staff on the payroll of the government.
He, therefore, enjoined the Board to do a needs assessment to determine what the cost of running the school will be and the revenue capacity in order to give the university a firm footing.
He charged the board and management to go back to the drawing board and seek proper solution to the problems of the school. “Any sick man who goes to the hospital and starts taking injection without laboratory test is taking a risk.”
In his address, the Chairman of the Imo State University Governing Board, Prof. Philip Anyaehie Ogbonna, thanked the governor for finding them worthy of the appointment, noting that the visit was to inform him of the progress made by the Board since its inauguration in January 2025.
Prof. Ogbonna disclosed that the Board has made some findings and provided insight that will propel the institution to greater heights. These include, but are not limited to, the overhaul of the system, accreditation of Colleges of Medicine and Engineering, staff promotion and welfare, and employment, among others.
He requested the governor to help them computerise the university system to check corrupt practices as well as encourage digital skills training in the school, a way that will guarantee employment of the students after graduation.
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