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Salem Varsity Scales Major Hurdles
Lagos, Feb 10, 2010 (This Day/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --
The quest for a suitable learning environment usually poses a major challenge for proprietors of tertiary institutions. Salem University, Lokoja, Kogi State had a dose of these teething problems at inception, but it is gradually overcoming its obstacles.
The challenges faced by pioneer students at the inception of Salem University, Lokoja were numerous, as attested to by some of them. Recalling those early days, one student, names withheld, remarked that it was as if they were being groomed to suffer rather than acquire formal education.
A 200 level student of Micro Biology, Miss Peace Agbo said: "Life was so uncomfortable that we had to be sleeping in the classrooms. We were there for one month until the school authorities moved us to the boys' hostel. It was after the completion of the girls' hostel that we were then relocated.
She said further, "We also had the challenges of water and students had to take their buckets to the water treatment plant to fetch water and brush their teeth. Life in the school is just there, we are not allowed to go out, the sports fields are not ready, and the boys had to make do with jogging around every morning. It was very boring."
Another student, Master Paul Abutu, 18, a 100 level student of the department of Peace and Development Studies, said, "I felt lonely when I first got to the institution, but I was able to overcome it later. Though the quality of life is okay here, but the environment is not friendly enough, the recreational facilities are not in place yet. We don't have the opportunity to browse in our rooms."
Among these numerous challenges however lie its achievements. Two years after its establishment, the university, located on a rocky terrain, with a population of about 230 students, can now boast of facilities such as laboratories, library, medical complex, among others, to make academic life worthwhile for its students, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Paul Omaji told newsmen who visited the campus recently.
He corroborated some of the students' remarks saying, "the terrain is very challenging, if you work with nature, you are more likely to conquer. The sporting complex is in Phase Two on our development master plan. We have relocated the place to a level area based on the challenges of the terrain and created a temporary playing field."
Asked how many of its programmes had been accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC), Omaji explained that the institution got the license to operate on May 17, 2007, but took off formally in February last year.
The NUC approved 29 programmes, but the institution is running only 17 courses, which students applied for.
The Vice Chancellor said, "We have recruited staff that will work effectively. We have sufficient classrooms to deliver lectures without overcrowding. We are also developing a library that is world standard so that our students can get connected to the world through the internet. We are also developing the Electronic Management System (EMS) to enable students borrow books electronically. We are living up to our dreams to be ICT-driven. The library is a key strategy to ensure full accreditation when the time comes."
The Professor of Criminology and Penology from the Australian National University, Canberra, said the institution, was in the process of making a case to the NUC to enable it commence its post graduate programmes. "There is sufficient supervisory capacity to enable us start post graduate programmes. In our academic brief, which we submitted to the NUC, we intend to pursue academic research that will engage actual human needs. It will be supported by a proportion of every revenue that comes into the institution. Part of the strategy is to bring in professors and staff that have their Masters degree and are preparing for their PhDs, so that their research will count."
Omaji also announced the institution's readiness to introduce a double degree, which would enable academically strong students to enroll and run two programmes simultaneously, so that they can graduate within six years. This plan, the VC noted, would cut down the cost and time of running an eight-year programme.
Aside ensuring academic excellence, he said the institution was also committed to raising global leaders that would change the world for good, adding, "We are taking on board not just the intellectual development but also moulding their character. The product we are seeking is such that calls for academic revolution, and the institution draws moral parameter for students who we refer as 'our global leaders'."
Prof. Omaji said the institution's aspirations had been spelt out in the handbook for students and with consequences. Within four weeks of its take-off last year, he said the institution suspended seven of its students for their 'inconsistent behaviours', which negated the expectations stated in the handbook, They were however reinstated after much plea from their parents. "We had to remind them that if we didn't send them away from here, their behaviour will contaminate others."
On the difference between the university and other faith-based institutions, Omaji said the students were trained on leadership skills and allowed to use mobile phones, rather than 'caging them for disaster'.
"People ask me why students are allowed to bring in GSM phones, I tell them we are producing students for the real world. We allowed them to have access to this thing and help them to deliver the capacity to handle these things responsibly, especially when they are on their own."
Perhaps, needless to say, the Vice Chancellor said industrial action is non-existent at Salem University. No student will spend a day beyond the stipulated number of years for their programmes.
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