Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) is not a rehabilitation ground for politicians, Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Aloysius Okolie has said.
Okolie who spoke during the 2023 Annual International Conference of ESUT School of Postgraduate Studies, with the theme: “Enhancing and strengthening the capacities of research supervision in universities,” declared that the place was an academic ground.
Therefore, he said that every academic staff of the institution must be involved in research, attend conferences/workshops and also belong to at least one professional body.
To enforce the order, the VC said that henceforth, there would not be promotion for any academic staff who is not a registered member of a professional association.
He noted that moving forward, any professor who does not engage in international conferences or workshops for research would be stagnated in his or her position.
He further said that reluctant professors who do not attend research programmes would no longer supervise postgraduate students in university.
Okolie lamented that some lecturers stop research activities once they become professors, noting that such academic conferences and workshops were intellectual harvests, a career review and an avenue for interface with other colleagues.
“I had told Deans to always have intellectual harvests; town and gown should also be harvested for the benefit of the university. Any Dean that is not academic conscious will be removed, you must be a member of a professional association or you don’t get promotion, you must have proof of being a registered member of a professional association. Any professor that does not attend conferences for research will henceforth be stagnated and will no longer supervise PG students,” the VC said.
He said that funding was a big challenge to the institution as the management struggles every month to source extra N200million to be able to pay staff salaries.
Chairman of the conference, Dr. Jeff Nnamani described education as the bedrock of development, stressing that a nation that toys with education has no future.
He decried the relegation of education in Nigeria, noting that the theme of the conference called for a deeper thought.
Nnamani identified lack of funding as a major challenge in the university education and research, while calling strategic investment in the area.
The conference host and Dean of Postgraduate Studies, Prof Sam Ugwu said the essence of university education and scholarship was hinged on teaching and research.
He stressed that research was a veritable instrument or barometer for re-engineering the socio-economic and political directions of societies, when its outcomes are adequately utilised.
Ugwu said that one of the reasons for the international conference was that for decades, the qualities of postgraduate theses/dissertations have failed national and global standards, giving most stakeholders in the academia much concern.
Source : The Sun