By Mustapha Alhassan
Accreditation exercises afford universities the opportunity to learn from one another, the Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Prof. Abdullahi Bala FSSSN has said.
The Vice-Chancellor stated this when he received members of eight accreditation panels from the National Universities Commission (NUC) on a courtesy visit today at the Senate Chamber, Main Campus, Gidan Kwano.
His words: “ The fact that you have people coming from different universities for an accreditation means you are likely going to have different views. As such, we learn from each other. “
He further said that the University was ready for the exercise as the programmes undergoing the accreditation have full accreditation.
While noting that part of the benefits of accreditation was the fact that the University would be kept on its toes, he assured members of the panels of the University Management’s full cooperation.
Prof. Bala also expressed appreciation to them for having the courage to come to Niger State given the current security concerns, describing it as a sacrifice to make Nigerian University system better.
Earlier, leader of the accreditation panel to the Department of Building Technology, Prof. Fredrick Job from the University of Jos who spoke on behalf of the eight accreditation panels, likened the exercise to a peer review which is to help the University grow.
Prof. Job said accreditation exercises were important as they help draw attention of university managements to areas they might have overlooked.
He thanked the University for the warm reception accorded them.
The departments undergoing the accreditation cut across three schools. In the School of Environmental Technology (SET), the departments are: Building Technology, Estate Management, Quantity Surveying as well as Urban and Regional Planning.
Agricultural Engineering, Civil Engineering and Material and Metallurgical Engineering are the departments facing the accreditation in the School of Infrastructure, Process Engineering and Technology (SIPET), while industrial and Technology Education is the only programme up for the exercise in the School of Science and Technology Education (SSTE).
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) ,Prof Emmanuel Emeka Udensi, fnip; Registrar, Mr. Amos Nmadu Kolo and Deputy Bursar, Mrs. Rebecca Adams were present at courtesy visit.
Deans at the event were: Prof. Oladiran Abubakre, Postgraduate School; Prof. Remi Olagunju, SET; Prof. Zinash Osunde, SIPET and Prof. Amosa Gambari, SSTE. The respective Head of Departments were also present.
Photos: Elijah Yisa