UNN VC TASKS STAFF TO OVERCOME NIGERIAN FACTOR IN SERVICE DELIVERY

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Professor Barth Okolo has tasked academic and administrative heads of the institution to ignore and overcome the element of 'Nigerian factor' in the quest to effect changes as well as make UNN a global centre of learning.

Professor Okolo gave the charge during his opening address at the second UNN positive change leadership retreat. The four-day retreat was held at the Le Meridien Ibom Hotel with the support of the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Dr. Godswill Akpabio.

According to Okolo, the retreat was 'focused on developing positive leadership attitudes and developing team work skills for the leaders of our institution' by providing 'the leadership and learning tools to guide our strategic intent towards realizing our vision of becoming one of the leading institutions of higher education in the world'.

He said UNN had entered into about 20 partnerships and agreements with leading academic and private sector institutions locally and internationally to improve the teaching and learning environment in the university.

The VC disclosed President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan would formally launch the Wirelss Infrastructure project that provides always-on wires internet connectivity across the four campuses of the university. The project is lead-sponsored by Google Inc and involves work by MTN, HP, Wavion Inc, Cisco Systems and other major ICT organisations.

Okolo stated that UNN was poised to become a world class university in its next 50 years, having pioneered many academic disciplines in Africa as the first indigenous university in Nigeria in the first 50 years. UNN is the first full-fledged university in Nigeria, founded in Nigeria's independence year, 1960. The 50-year- old institution runs diverse programmes in arts and sciences featuring 15 faculties and about six directorates charged with special projects. It has a student body of 40, 000 in four campuses of Nsukka, Enugu, Ituku Ozalla and Aba.

The main campus in Nsukka houses programmes in agriculture, basic and biological sciences, engineering, arts and social sciences while the Enugu campus houses professional courses in management, architecture, law and environmental sciences. The College of Medicine, with a teaching and referral hospital, is located at Ituku-Ozalla, on the outskirts of the Enugu State capital, while the School of Languages is located at Aba, in Abia State.