By Ben Nwanne
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has given full accreditation status to all forty (40) programmes spread across several Faculties in the Delta State University Abraka (DELS), in the November/December 2022 Accreditation of Academic Programmes in Nigerian Universities.
This was communicated to the University in a letter dated 9th March 2023 to the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andy O. Egwunyenga. The 100% performance of the University in the November/December exercise came barely six months after it had also obtained a 100% score in the 20 programmes presented in the May/June cycle of Accreditations.
With the latest endorsement from the Regulatory Body, DELSU now has all its 84 programmes including Medicine, Law, Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, Agriculture, Banking and Finance, Education and others fully accredited.
Expectedly the heart-warming result from NUC has set the University Community agog. An elated Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Egwunyenga described the results as ‘’very gratifying and a sign of appreciation and recognition by the NUC of the high quality the University has become known for, in terms of efforts to improve infrastructure quality and the general environment of the University.
It is the first of its kind in the history of the University that has become known for excellence’’ he noted. ‘’The credit should go to staff who have shown commitment, the Accreditation Committee, Senate, the Director of Academic Planning, the Governing Council and importantly, the Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi A. Okowa, who has provided the enabling environment and funding support as well as the provision of quality staff”.
Professor Egwunyenga who is giving the University an enlightened and committed leadership said the approval by the NUC was very reassuring, remarking that the University had been repositioned to provide the best quality in terms of Teaching, Learning and Research to Deltans and Nigerians in general.
In his words, ‘’We can say confidently that we are building one of the best Universities in Nigeria that can compete with any other University anywhere in the world’. He expressed confidence in the internal processes of the University which showed clearly that ‘’we are embedded in excellence, competitiveness, suggesting that the University has come of age’’.
He, however, observed that there were challenges on the road to accreditation success, since, in his words, accreditation is a ‘’peer review mechanism to determine the suitability of the Universities to deliver on their mandate for those courses they offer, so they have to put up the best quality staff, infrastructure, laboratories, libraries, workshops and the general environment’’. He drove home the point by stating that ‘’DELSU has to worry about high-quality teaching materials, enhance its research capability and keep all the necessary academic regulations.
All these must be of high quality for a University to have full accreditation. With these positive results, all our programmes are now permitted to run for the next five years before another accreditation would be due’’. He praised the NUC for carrying out its duties diligently and in fulfilment of its mandate. ‘’It is a very impressive exercise to continue to ensure quality in our Universities and assure competitiveness’’.
Other senior academics who spoke on the good news from NUC include Professor Patrick Egbule, a former Director of Academic Planning at DELSU and Prof. (Mrs] Otete C. Okobiah. Prof. Egbule congratulated the Vice-Chancellor and those who contributed in one way or the other to this success story. ‘’This is amazing. We give God all the glory, more wins for DELSU under a transformational leadership!’’ he remarked.
Prof. (Mrs) Otete Okobiah, a former Vice-Chancellor at the Western Delta University, Oghara, spoke glowingly of the achievements, congratulating the Vice-Chancellor, his Management team, Deans, Heads of Department and the entire staff of DELSU on the marvellous achievements.
–Professor Ben Nwanne is Director, Ceremonials, Information & Public Relations, Delta State University, Abraka.
