24/07/2017
University not for poor – VC
The Management of the state-owned Edo
University, Iyamho,(EUI), says the institution
was established to essentially cater for
academically-endowed students and the
wealthy in the society.
The Vice Chancellor(VC) of the institution,
Prof. Emmanuel Aluyor, told the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday, in
Iyamho-Uzairue, in the Estako-West local
government area of Edo that “the idea
behind the establishment of the University
by the founding fathers is neither to replace
nor compete with the existing Ambrose Alli
University, Ekpoma”.
“But rather, to complement it in terms of
providing world-class education with the
best of infrastructure to academically-gifted
students and the rich, who can afford the
fees.
“People have questioned why former Gov.
Adams Oshiomhole did not upgrade AAU,
than establishing a new university
altogether.
“Apart from its being capital-intensive to
either renovate or bring in the needed
infrastructure, the idea was to provide a
different brand of education to the people.”
He said that the university offers world-class
infrastructure and state-of-the art facilities
hence the high fees.
According to him, the fees range from
between N400, 000 and N450, 000 a
session.
“And that depends from which perspective
you are looking at it.
“If it is from the perspective of a private
university, our fees are very low indeed,
because there is no private university that
charges anything lower than what we offer.
“And only one or two public universities
charge the same fees as us and that also
depends on the quality of infrastructure and
programmes on offer.
“The idea of the founding fathers is for
anyone to have an ambiance of everything
he desires abroad in any university
environment here,’’ Aluyor said.
According to him, the university authority
has also assembled first class academic and
non-academic staff to complement the
infrastructure and facilities, to ensure that
the students are well groomed in character
and in learning.
The VC added that management had
introduced an entrepreneurship
programme for its students to prepare them
to “become employers of labour rather than
those seeking for labour.
“We have, therefore, set up facilities for
entrepreneurship training for all our
students, irrespective of their course of
study, to make them to become
independent on graduation.
“We are proposing a grant of between N5
million and N10 million for any graduating
student with the best entrepreneurship
proposal.
“The University Council is still trying to fine-
tune the modalities,’’ he said.
Aluyor disclosed that management abhors
indiscipline among staff and students, hence
the withdrawal of some pioneer
undergraduates and erring staff.
“I am proud to mention that we have a
dress code among our students, while all
our lectures are multi-media assisted.
“We may not be proud of this information
that in our first year, we had less than 80
students admitted. But I can tell you that we
had cause to expel four of them.
“We may be young; but it does not mean we
will accept every Dick and Harry as students.
I think what we did was showing capacity
to instil discipline.
“We have also had cause to sanction three
members of staff. We are not happy to have
sent them into the unemployment market.
“But we are saying that if you can not
measure up with the standard we have set
down, you certainly can’t be part of the
vision of the founding fathers of this
university,’’ he said.
The VC disclosed that at its inception in
2016, the National Universities Commission
(NUC) only approved two faculties, namely
the Arts and Social Sciences and the
Sciences, respectively, to offer courses such
as English, Mass Communication,
Biochemistry, Mathematics, Microbiology and
Computer science.
He said that the NUC later approved for the
university, three additional faculties namely
Law, College of Medicine and Engineering,
but added that “we will only admit students
into the Law department this new session.’’
Edo University, Iyamho, is a state
government-owned tertiary institution
founded in 2016. It is located in Iyamho, a
town in Etsako-West local government area
of Edo State.
On March 23, 2016, the university was
approved by the NUC as Nigeria’s 41st state
university. It offers undergraduate,
postgraduate and research programmes.
On March 27, 2014, the Edo State House of
Assembly passed a bill for the establishment
of a University of Science and Technology at
Uzairue.
The University was, however, changed to
Edo University and its location to Iyamho.
(NAN)