Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) has said it has over 20,000 certificates that are yet to be signed, following absence of convocations in the university in the past five years.
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Aloysius Okolie, made the disclosure in Enugu at the weekend during the orientation for the 2021/2022 academic session of new course participants/ students of the Institute for Peace, Conflict and Development Studies (IPCDS) of ESUT.
He lamented that ESUT held its last convocation in 2017, a development, he noted, led to the current backlog of unsigned certificates numbering over 20, 000.
Okolie said plans were afoot to partner the private sector in boosting operations of IPCDS.
He said no nation, whether developed or developing such as Nigeria could record a feat in an atmosphere of crisis and insecurity as currently being witnessed in the country.
The newly appointed VC, who hailed the Director of the institute, Prof. Felix Asogwa, on how he had been piloting the affairs of the centre since inception, expressed dissatisfaction about the inconsistency in organising convocations in the university.
Okolie said ESUT would soon embark on aggressive marketing of IPCD$ as well as seek partnership with the private sector with a view to strengthening its operations.
The VC, who advised the students, including those of post graduate, to brace for the challenges and take their studies seriously, warned that henceforth, his administration would not sign the certificates of students with less than 75 per cent attendance.