Owamah: Prof. Asagba Focused On Financial Accountability, Probity, Digitalisation Of The System, Collaborations

By Daniel Dafe

Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Delta State University, DELSU, Abraka, Prof. Hilary Owamah, has said that the Prof. Samuel Asagba-led administration is focused on financial accountability, probity, digitalisation of the system and collaboration with relevant agencies and institutions in order to attract more funding to the university, adding that these are the cardinal points of his vision and mission as he pilots the institution.

Prof. Owamah said this during an exclusive chat with Oasis Magazine recently.

Accessing the journey of the university so far, he said that by the last SciVal ranking, DELSU is the best State University in the South-South and South-East, Number three among all state universities in Nigeria and Number 22 in the country.

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Adding: “We did a lot to achieve the present ranking by commitment to improving our infrastructure and other critical areas.”

According to him, it is difficult to see a state university that will beat DELSU, noting that the previous administrations of Professor Eric Arubayi, Professor Victor Peretomode and Professor Andy Egwunyenga did very well in making the university very visible but stated that Prof. Asagba has said that he wants to leverage on what they have achieved to do more.

He continued: “So when you look at it, within few months of coming in, he has already tarred the road linking Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences to the Faculty of Arts. The Faculty of Agriculture Complex is already coming into scheme. The Faculty of Social Science Annex is about to come into play. So, the Vice Chancellor within five months has done a lot.”

Continuing, he said that Asagba has also shown that he is the man of the people and not an Urhobo Vice Chancellor.

His words: “I am the first big appointment he made; the biggest so far from Delta North and from Oleh. This is the first time Oleh campus is producing a Principal Officer since the campus came on board. This is the first time the Faculty of Engineering is dancing magnificently at the centre. So, I am sure that within one year in office, the university will experience much more development in terms of human capacity, infrastructure, digitalization and efficiency”

Prof. Owamah said the new administration has come up with a whistle-blowing policy to deal with issues of harassment, extortion and exploitation.

Speaking further, he said: “DELSU is one of the best in terms of living above board among universities in Nigeria and I must give the kudos to the immediate past administrations, but this administration wants to reduce it to the barest minimum.”

Furthermore, he promised to operate an open-door policy, saying that staff and students are free to walk in anytime to present their complaints on any issue.

He disclosed that Prof. Peretomode sourced and brought him in as a lecturer in DELSU in 2016 from Landmark University where he was working then and then after seven months, appointed him Acting Head of Department (HOD).

“He appointed me Ag. HOD of Civil Engineering just 7 months after I assumed duty; that was in March 2017 and renewed the appointment twice. Hence, I was Ag. HOD from March 2017 to March 2020, courtesy of Professor Victor Peretomode,” he said.

“He also stood behind me when some haters in my faculty tried to pull me down even as a new staff. I owe Prof. Peretomode a lot,” he added.