Egwunyenga: I’ve Achieved My Pledge To Make DELSU One Of The Best Universities In Nigeria

By Daniel Dafe

Vice Chancellor, Delta State University, DELSU, Abraka, Professor Andy Egwunyenga, has said that his pledge at the inception of his administration to lead, inspire, advance and transform the institution to emerge as one of the best state universities in Nigeria has been achieved.

The erudite Professor of Parasitology said this while speaking to journalists on Tuesday as part of activities lined up for the 16th convocation of the institution.

Reeling out the achievements of his administration, the VC said: “We have provided high quality teaching to our dear students. We have focused on improving the morale of staff by creating harmony, addressing genuine cases of injustice and building a motivated workforce. We have expanded the infrastructure for teaching and learning and created new academic programmes, including, Dentistry, Biotechnology, Medical Laboratory Science, Entrepreneurship, Office and Technology Management; the Delta State University Business School and about to be inaugurated the Open and Distance Learning Programme of this University.”

He continued: “The student population of the university is about double what it was when I took over on 1st December 2019,” adding: “Our ageing facilities have been rehabilitated.”

Continuing, he said: “There is great harmony, cohesion, understanding and peace among staff and students.”

According to him, new Faculties of Management Science and Arts were built by his administration.

He said further: “The international visibility of the university has been enhanced and we are proudly in the top 10 percent of universities in Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, Prof. Egwunyenga disclosed that DELSU was ranked in the 61-70th bracket of Universities in Sub-Saharan Africa by the Times Higher Education (THE) Ranking of 2023,” saying that in “the recently released 2024 World Ranking by the THE, Delta State University Abraka
is among the four State Universities listed in the Reporter Status, which is a pointer to being fully rank-able in the next edition.”

Furthermore, he said that “in the highly prestigious SciVaI ranking of Universities in Nigeria based on total number of articles in Scopus between 2020 and 2023, DELSU came 22 overall, number 3 among all State Universities and number 1 among State Universities in the South- South and South – East.”

“These are indeed products of the commitment of all stakeholders in DELSU and the ever motivating leadership style of the current Administration,” he averred.

Prof. Egwunyenga said that the institution “has remained a stable community with uninterrupted academic programmes in the last five years.”

While stating that the University’s relationship with the community and the state government remains excellent, he said: “We have remained true to our mandate of quality teaching, research, enterprise and community service.”

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“Delta State University has continued to foster international collaboration and partnerships with scientists and institutions all over the world,” he said.

Speaking further, he said that DELSU has hosted international conferences on Artificial Intelligence (Al), Gender Development, Science and technology and other professional learned societies.”

Adding: “We have pursued innovation through the use of information and communication Technology (ICT) and other digital tools to remain competitive as a 21st century university.”