Exclusive Interview: Egwunyenga Vows To Make DELSU The Best State University In Nigeria

…. Says He’ll Priotize Welfare of Staff, Students

…. Plans to boost the University’s IGR

Professor Andy Egwunyengha is the new Vice Chancellor of Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka.

This interview was done days before he assumed duties at the helm of affairs in DELSU.

He spoke about the reasons that influenced his decision to run for the position, as he unveiled some of his plans to move the institution forward.

According to him, he is not on the look out for loyal people, but rather to encourage staff to be loyal to the system and give their best.

He reveals that his number one mission is the welfare of staff and students and says that he is very committed to making DELSU occupy the number 1 spot as best state university in Nigeria within the next 5 years so much that every Niger-Deltan that completes his or her secondary education will prefer to be admitted into DELSU rather than the prestigious UNIBEN.

He hopes to, in less than six months in office, make DELSU ICT compliant and make WiFi available to students and thus make them able to access any libraries in the world.

Read on!

What influenced your decision to vie for the position of Vice Chancellor, Delta State University, Abraka?

Well, let me start by saying that if you know my pedigree- I was the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for five years and I grew in my career being very sensitive to the welfare of staff. In fact, advancing the welfare or interest of students and staff has always been important to me. I became a professor almost 15 years ago and so when the advert came out, I saw myself quite qualified and ready for the job. Particularly, since I was also the Rector of Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashikwu and I enjoyed overwhelming support from staff across all ranks and very diverse backgrounds from different ethnic groups. So, when the position was advertised, I had a lot of people coming to me, friends (including students from the university), saying that the time has come for me to provide a new type of leadership in the university. So, that is why I applied.

Sir, you just talked about welfare of staff and students. From December 1, you will assume office. What can staff and students look out for from your administration?       

Our mission is to provide the highest quality of teaching and learning experience to our students. So, we would have to focus on teaching and ensuring that students have the best environment and the facilities to learn and then that the quality of teaching they are getting is comparable to anywhere else in the world and then secondly, is for those who deliver the services, that is the staff, have to be motivated. So, we also have to focus on their welfare and know what type of tools they have to do their job because if you have an unhappy and unmotivated workforce, you are not going to deliver on your mission. It is also important that we modernize the facilities of the university. We have to employ Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to improve the ranking of the university. We have to make Delta State University more robust in terms of presence on the World Wide Web so that for example a student that walks into the campus in the next few months should have Wifi and be connected to the world so that they can have e-library and not have to just manage the old outdated books we have in the library but connected to some of the best available libraries in the world. These are things that we must do. We must ensure that our staff as well have their publications and research known to the outside world so that the ranking of the university can improve. Then we must maintain our environment. If you have travelled to other universities the environment of a university inspires you to want to learn. The environment of a university should look almost like a gulf course with well trimmed grasses, beautiful flowers, neat environment and that is what makes a university different. You see, when you walk into the University of Ibadan or that of Obafemi Awolowo University environments you will begin to feel like learning. And then as a university we must have a strategic plan and be looking into the future…like what do we want to be in the next 5 years? My mission is that in the next 5 years, Delta State University will emerge as the best state university in Nigeria. That is a very modest one. I am not saying that we should be the best in Africa. We have about 48 state universities in Nigeria and in the next 5 years we will be clearly accepted as the best. That is what I am committed to working for in the next 5 years.

Our investigation shows that the outgoing VC is making some last minute appointments. We are aware that some have been replaced and transferred. We learnt also that over 100 persons have been employed. Would you maintain the status quo?

I would rather focus on what happens from 1st of December when I take over. Up to 30th of November, my senior colleague, Professor Victor Peretomode is in charge of the university. I don’t know the circumstances and will not interfere with what he does. But, from when I take over I will evaluate the situation and be able to move forward in the interest of the university.

In recent times, security has been an issue of concern to the management. What are you bringing to the table to tackle this challenge?

Security challenge in the university is not something that just disappears. What is important is what measures you have in place to reduce and if possible eliminate the security challenges. Like I said earlier, the more we modernize and use ICT for our operations the better and safer we will be. Take the case of the student who was allegedly murdered by ritualists, I heard that it was in the course of trying to seek help for accommodation that got her in the hands of her killers. But, when I take over and within a few months we have Delta State University mobile app, she doesn’t need to ask anybody but just use your own android phone to access different accommodation that can be found on the app. Modernization is the key. I don’t want to go into accusation of anybody. But the more you modernize and have a robust security policy like it is done in other universities across the world the safer the environment will be. We are in the era of technology and that is what every university must do and that is what I am committed to from the time I take over.

Also from our findings, we have discovered that the moral of many staff is very low and that is because of what has happened overtime in the university. What is your word to staff as you take over?

They know me very well. As an academic I don’t pride myself as an elite or having been DVC or this or that. Let me put it the way, I am coming from the street and not an elitist Vice Chancellor; so I feel what they feel and I will pay attention to addressing it. You need a very well motivated workforce with high moral. You must not toy with the welfare of staff. If you focus on the welfare of staff and students and they know that their welfare is at the heart of your operations they will be the ones pushing to even get things done better than you the leader. So, it is this principle of servant-leadership that I am coming with. I am not forcing anybody but will provide you with what will spur you to action. All my life fighting for staff and students welfare has been my passion. They know and that is why I enjoyed the support I had from all across boards….both staff, students, Senate, Council and as you know I was first in the interview because of the programme of welfare I put on the table. Welfare is number one to me. If you don’t have people whose welfare is taken seriously they won’t be able to give you results. From the day I step my feet as VC DELSU you will be sure that welfare is top on the agenda.

On the issue of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) would you want to talk about a few things that you will engage in to boost what accrues to the university?  

Yes, if you look critically at Abraka you will see that student population is in decline. If you don’t have students you don’t have money. We must make the university more attractive to students and scholars through the quality and type of programmes we run. So we will rejig the postgraduate school, JUPEB and look at the possibility of introducing the part-time programmes again. We are going to see that we raise the population of this university which is about 21, 000 now to 30, 000 within a short time because we have more facilities now. By 2009, the population of DELSU students was 36, 000, but here in 2019 ten years later it has dropped to 21, 000 and at that time we did not have the facilities that we now have in campus 3, those buildings, lecture theatres and laboratories. So, there is a paradox. While we have more facilities, we don’t have students. So, we must raise the carrying capacity of the institution by admitting more students because we have far more facilities. IGR is always related to how attractive your institution has become. And then don’t forget that DELSU of 1993 is not like DELSU of today. In 1993, DELSU was the only university then, today, we have eight universities in the state. So, you have other universities competing with us and so we must raise our game so that we can take the number one position that we have always been and people will begin to see DELSU as number one again. But, we don’t just want to be number one state university in Delta State, but at least in the South South region and then the nation. I want a situation where anyone that just finishes secondary school in the South South will be thinking of Delta State University even before UNIBEN. That is my dream.

I am aware that you are a comrade. When you come into office will you allow the SUG to be free to operate or act like some VCs that start playing the ethnic card when it comes to SUG elections and influencing what goes on in the student community?

Let me be fair to the current administration, I don’t think they have done too badly because I am aware that the last student election was electronic and they voted through the internet. So, it was transparent and no rigging. Let them conduct their elections as enshrined in their constitution. I was a student union leader before and so will not interfere with their operations and choice of leaders. If you remember, in 2002, NANS organized students from all over the country and invaded Delta State University. I was the ASUU Chairman then, everyone fled including the management, but we came out to address the students. Now some of them are in government. We don’t fear students. They are our boys.

When you come on board, will you be bringing in your supporters to actualize your dream; what should DELSU community expect?

They should expect what the law permits. Positions are tenured, others statutory.

No matter how I feel about an individual, I cannot remove an appointee of Council when they have not completed their tenure. That is barbaric. We don’t behave like that in academic. But, if there are positions that are within the purview of the VC, when the time comes I can make my choice based on my vision.

You have talked about what staff can expect from you as VC. What are you expecting from them and your demands from the staff of DELSU?

What I demand from them is result because they are privileged. A lot of people don’t have jobs and are even better qualified than us. So, it’s a privilege and the government is spending so much money paying you and taking care of you. So, the minimum you should give is your best and produce results. If you are an academic staff we are called to teach, do research and publish in very good journals. If you are a non-academic staff you are called to be a good administrator, produce results, be diligent and obey the system. Now, let me make a point. I don’t believe in loyalty to persons. I am not asking people to be loyal to me. What I want is that they should be loyal to the system, respect the laws and the positions and when I say the positions I mean everybody deserves respect. Even if you are a cleaner I will respect your position. As an academic for example, my primary loyalty is to Pathology because I am a Professor of Pathology and that is my discipline after that the university and the system where I work. Apart from that, I don’t owe any political person loyalty, not even a political party. So, if you have loyalty to your discipline, your calling and loyalty to the system where the hallmark is excellence, scholarship, research, knowledge. If you have loyalty to such things, you don’t have to be bowing down for anybody. We don’t do that in the university. I expect to preside over Senate where superior argument is the order, not where someone says he is from my place, or not from my place or my camp and not my camp. That’s the principle of ASUU where I am coming from.

Sir, you just mentioned ASUU now. You are aware that ASUU is not recognized anymore by the national body. What is your plan in bringing ASUU back to the mainstream? Some even said there is no ASUU in DELSU.        

There is ASUU in DELSU. What I know is that there are cases in court and one I know of that the elected chairman is not recognized by the national body and because of that we challenged the national body in court and the court gave some orders that are subsisting and every civilised person must respect court order. So, what I expect is that as an ASUU leader myself and many ASUU leaders in authority even the Honourable Commissioner for Higher Education, Professor Patrick Muoboghare is an ASUU leader; he took over from me as ASUU Chairman… what I expect is that we may be able to use our influence to create an atmosphere for out-of-court settlement. That is what I expect.

 Also, I am aware that there are a few aggrieved sacked DELSU staff who are in court with the university. When you come on board will you embrace out-of-court settlement like you plan to do for ASUU?

I will make a general statement. The more people have confidence in the internal procedure for settling issues, the less they go to court. We may be able to get more people having confidence in the system and not seeking redress outside.

If that confidence is built, perhaps we may be having proposals for out-of-court settlements on a lot of things. But, we must be sure that at the end of the day as Vice Chancellor, I owe it a duty that I defend the corporate image of Delta State University. I am not going to say because we want to get cases out of court, when there are very glaring cases of misconduct that should be punished then we step down because we don’t want court. We must keep the good image of DELSU and will not allow things that battered our image to be sustained.

There is this trend of cultism though it has been battled by previous administrations. How do you intend to tackle any attempt of cultism coming back in full force?

Cultism cannot come back in full force. When you have a very conscious and determined environment, who says they don’t want hooliganism and violence, they will not get a breathing space. Students can even arrest cultists and bring them to order. It is only when students are scared and don’t believe in themselves that such things will happen. It has never been a problem to address the issue of cultism. It’s a criminal act and we will not condone it. We need to have our strategies to ensure that all criminal behaviors are crushed. But, the only thing I know is that cultism is on a decline because we are now beginning to have a new phenomenon of yahooism which is overshadowing cultism.