“We Must Maintain Our Premiere Status:” Professor Asagba Outlines His Vision For DELSU

…Pledges Scholarship Schemes For Students

By Daniel Dafe

Vice-Chancellor, Delta State University, DELSU, Abraka, Professor Samuel Asagba has outlined his vision for the institution.

Professor Asagba who takes over from Professor Andy Egwunyenga today, spoke to Oasis Magazine on Thursday in an exclusive chat.

In his words, “I see DELSU as a university that will be the university of first choice for Deltans and other Nigerians.”

“I see DELSU as a university that will be populated with the right type of students who will be morally, educationally and mentally sound; students that will make sure that cultism, indiscipline and sexual laxity will not be what will be in vogue among them.

“I also see DELSU as a university that will be ICT and innovation driven. I see DELSU with students that will have skills that will be useful to the society. I also see DELSU as a university that will be aesthetic; that is, the environment will be beautiful. I also see DELSU as a university that will have facilities that will improve its programmes. I also see DELSU as a university that can generate revenue internally and externally that will run its programmes. I also see DELSU as an institution that can collaborate with sister universities in Nigeria and abroad and also partner with the private sector to produce graduates that are sound.”

“So these are my visions and my mission is the implementation of my vision. It is the blueprint of my vision,” he added.

According to him, before he came up with his mission, he did a SWOT analysis of DELSU while preparing for the position.

“I looked at our strength, our weaknesses, our opportunities and our threats. We know our strengths; we have enough capacities in many areas. We also know our weaknesses. I don’t need to state it out publicly. We also know our opportunities and our threats like the new emergent universities like UNIDEL. They pride themselves as the fastest growing university in the south of the Sahara. They started with ninety-eight (98) programmes. So, if we are not up and doing, we might lag behind. We must maintain our premiere status.”

“So I have taken all these into account and I have also looked at the vision of our founding fathers and the foundation that has been laid by past administrations. So putting all these together, I have come to see that there are some critical areas we need to look into,” he said.

He stated that his administration will focus on producing quality graduates, revenue generation, tackling the problem of power and welfare for staff and students.

His words: “The quality of graduates from many universities, not just DELSU, is falling every day. Like I said earlier on, I have been going to accreditation of other universities and I have been very impressed with Covenant University and Afe Babalola University. You see graduates that speak confidently. They have good communication, problem solving and critical thinking skills because of the way they are trained.

“Thank God the NUC have liberalised our curriculum. We can now bring in things we want in our curriculum. Thirty percent (30%) of our curriculum can come as input from the university. So, we will look at our curriculum again and bring in courses that will make our students acquire skills that will make them employable.”

He added: “Like in Covenant University, at all levels, the students do computer courses in collaboration with some computer tech companies. Sometimes they even write foreign examinations to get certifications. There is no field that does not require computer knowledge. So we will bring in courses that will make our students acquire skills that will make them more competitive in the labour market. We have to overhaul our curriculum to produce better graduates.”

On revenue generation, he said: “We have four universities in the state. A time will come when the government will not be able to cater for all our needs. We must think outside the box and look for ways to generate money to sustain ourselves. So, I will go into ventures that will create wealth. DELSU Investment Limited that ought to be the business arm of the university will be overhauled and be made to go into other revenue yielding fields like farming.”

He disclosed that while seeking for the position of VC, he met the two kings in Abraka, saying that they both pledged hectares of lands for farming purposes to the university.

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Speaking further, he said: “We can open more departments like Faculty of Environment Science which was established in Asaba campus but was lost cause that place is now a university. So, we will reestablish it here. They have good courses like Survey, Architecture, Estate Management, Urban and Regional Planning, etc. Then, courses like Software Engineering and Cyber Security will also be introduced.

Asagba also hinted at establishing a Microfinance bank for DELSU.

“We have a very vibrant cooperative society in the university that has a strong revenue base. We can go into partnership with them. So imagine if all the cooperative money is coming through the microfinance bank. Salaries can be paid via the microfinance bank. It is going to be profitable. These are some of the ways we can create wealth and we will create wealth by the grace of God; wealth that will sort our needs as a university not just relying on the government alone. Massive farming will come, thank God the Commissioner of Agriculture is my friend. He has agreed to give us tractors,” he said.

He also vowed to address the power issue in DELSU.

He continued: “This is a big problem. We are now in band A and it is consuming a lot of money from the university. So we are thinking of how we can challenge our engineers in the Faculty of Engineering for other alternatives.

“Welfare of staff is another issue I will address in my mission. We will be looking at housing. Abraka is getting very difficult in terms of housing. Some staff come from Warri every morning while some even sleep in their offices. So housing is a big problem and we will see how we can build more housing units through direct labour.

“We will look into building houses for staffs and also car loans for staff welfare. Then there are many little issues that are agitating the minds of staff. When I assume office, I will reverse those issues with immediate effect. Things like excess work load and many other welfare issues because when they are motivated, their productivity will also increase.

“So in a nutshell, these are some of the things that I will look into and also things that will increase our visibility.”

On welfare for students, he called on the students to expect some welfare packages, adding: “Better facilities, hostels and classrooms will be improved. We will use technology to drive the learning and teaching process. I don’t see any reason why a lecturer will be taking manual attendance in the classroom. We were almost getting it right when Pere was here. At least, we were able to stamp out impersonation. There was this biometric machine which captures the students before you go in for an exam. All you have to do is to just put your face, your eye or even your thumb. So, all these kinds of things will be brought back and even extended to class attendance so that seventy-five percent (75%) attendance will be enforced. If you don’t attend classes, nobody can sign for you.

“So technology will drive the process and even the teaching process and the library will be worked on. I don’t see any reason why students cannot access the E-resources of our library from the comfort of their hostels through the internet. I have seen that even in the Niger Delta University they have a digital library.”

Furthermore, he promised to initiate scholarship schemes for students.

“For every level, the best student will be given a scholarship to motivate other students. It is done overseas in many UK universities.” the VC said.

He also vowed to ensure that students are representatives in boards that are relevant to them so that their voices will be heard, just as he hinted that he will also set up suggestion boxes so that all their complaints will get to the university management.