The students of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) will be among those to benefit from the United States (US) Government Fulbright Scholarship Scheme just as the university authorities and the US government have entered into discussions on exchange programmes.
Another team of US officials from the Public Affairs Section of the US Consulate in Lagos visited the university to offer skills for effective internal research to FUTO workers to improve their internet search experience.
The Cultural Affairs Assistant, Mrs Chinenye Uwadileke, who represented the US Consulate, told the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Chigozie Asiabaka that the Consulate intends to reach out to selected universities to take advantage of the education opportunities offered by the US government.
She said besides the 400-Level students recommended for the programme, the scheme would also accommodate academics who intend to pursue their doctorate and post- doctorate degrees in the United States, as well as the FUTO International Secondary School.
Prof Asiabaka thanked the US Consulate for choosing the university for the Fulbright scheme.
He said his vision was to transform it into a world-class institution.
Prior to the selection, Asiabaka said the university had established exchange programmes with the University of Georgia, Athens, USA, Dillard University, New Orleans, Louisiana State University, Barton Rogue and Wayne State University Detroit, USA.
The Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) has held its 23rd inaugural lecture with the topic: Chemical pathway: Small changes that made a difference.
The lecture was delivered by a professor of Chemistry, Prof Goody Onuoha.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Chigozie Asiabaka, said the lecture was in line with the current developments in chemical technology and how it affected living organisms and the environment.
The lecture was centred on the relevance of chemicals to industrial, residential, commercial, agricultural and other outfits.
In conclusion, Prof Onuoha said government should provide support to ensure that basic sciences were adequately taught in primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions. He called on corporate bodies to finance scientific research and turn them into ventures that would create employment and alleviate poverty.
Vincent Chimezie, who attended the programme, said: “I have learnt a lot and now appreciate the importance of chemicals in our life and how research and development can unearth beneficial chemical compounds to support our ever- growing needs.”
For Victor Uchenna, a student, the lecture was inspiring and a platform to better appreciate the role of chemistry to humanity.
Afirm, Wisdom Computer Technology, in collaboration with National Association of Information Technology Students (NAITS), Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) chapter, has held an Information and Communication Technology summit and entrepreneurship workshop for students.
Tagged 21 computer secretes that give money in the 21st century, the seminar, held in USB Lecture Hall 3 in the School of Management Technology, was geared towards making students self-reliant and productive after graduation.
For students to achieve prosperity in the absence of white-collar jobs, Francis Uzor, a guest speaker, said the solution was to embrace entrepreneurship while in school.
Uzor said information technology was widely acknowledged as jobs dispenser. He urged students to take advantage of abundant human and natural resources in Nigeria to enhance their living standard. He explained that the biggest economies in the world achieved growth through the utilisation and development of small-scale medium enterprises, adding that it was vital for Nigeria to embrace such a concept to enhance its own development in the Information technology (IT) world.
To address the problem of unemployment in Nigeria, Uzor urged the students to embrace Information Technology, which he said was capable to drive job creation to power the engine of the economy.
The programme was attended by members of the NAITS executive among who included Christian Esomofor, president and Uche Agomuo, Financial Secretary. The staff adviser of the association, Mr Cosmos Nwakanma also graced the seminar.
The Scripture Union Campus Fellowship (SUCF), Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) sent forth its final year students last Sunday. The programme, which kicked off by 1pm at the FUTO Hall of Mercy was attended by many students.
Seventeen final year students, known as the ‘Triumphant Generation’ were sent-forth. The finalists were so full of joy. In his welcome address, the co-ordinator of the Triumphant Generation, Chigozie Ndukwe, a final year student of the Department of Project Management, thanked God for His mercies and grace upon their lives from their first year till now. He stressed that life in FUTO was not a bed of roses that they faced challenges, but God saw them through. He said: ‘There were storms of various magnitudes but we are grateful to God for keeping us and helping us to triumph after five years in this citadel of learning.”
Highlights of the send forth programme included a message entitled ‘Grace and Unity’ which was presented by Elder (Dr) Emma Ndukwe, the National Council Secretary of the Scripture Union Nigeria. Others were a choral presentation by the fellowship choir, thanksgiving and special performance by the final years, presentation of gifts and awards and refreshments.
A final year student Ogochukwu Ofoma, of the Department of Biotechnology, expressed gratitude to God. She said:”It had not been easy, there have been many stumbling blocks, but we thank God for His mercies.’
Another final year student, Kelechukwu Chioke, of the department of Civil Engineering said, ‘My heart is full of mixed feelings now. I’m a little bit sad that I will be missing some persons very close to me after now, but I thank God for everything.”
Also during the programme, the newly elected executives were inducted. The induction was conducted by Elder Solomon Esukpa, the SUCF National Director. They were prayed for and inaugurated.
Among the new executives include; Onyekachi Iroh, 200-Level Environmental Technology, as President; and Blessing Asonye, 200-Level Maritime Management Technology, as Vice-President. Owei Johnson of the Deparment of Electrical and Electronics Engineering became the General Secretary, Howells Nworie, 200-Level BiochemistryPrayer Secretary; among others.
Also present were Engr. Ekpo E. Ekpo, Scripture Union (SU) Nigeria National Chairman; Engr Joe Igbokwe, former Owerri Area Chairman, SU Nigeria and so many other officials and dignitaries of the Scripture Union Nigeria and the Scripture Union Campus Fellowship.
All that is required for evil to prevail in a society is for the good men to do nothing.
A wise man said the above words and one can’t help but wonder what could have informed the expression. Had he been a victim of some unjust treatment so perverted that no other word could be employed to aptly describe it except evil? Had he been a brother, son or father to the victim or perhaps a spouse or a friend? Had he been a spectator, a passerby who watched with mixed feelings of subdued rage and helplessness? The wisdom behind the words seems to lead one to believe that whichever of the above scenarios, the man still considered himself a victim. The same way students of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) feel right now.
The debate on state police rages on in the nation but the governors looking to win will not be getting much help from the students of FUTO. As one of them recently stated when the issue came up, “FUTO’s ‘state police’ is a mess, so why encourage it?” By FUTO state police, he meant the Man O’ War (MOW), FUTO Command.
The MOW motto states: “Build the man, build the community”. The average FUTO student will however, not be able to relate with such noble values as the guiding motto of the MOW. Not when he lives among them and sees different.
The MOW, as FUTO students believe, is a bully – a loud and overbearing brute who armed with a shaven head and bulging biceps, manipulates hapless Nigerian students for selfish gains while laughing in their face and daring them to resist.
They see no law enforcer in the MOW; they rather see an ‘authorised’ law breaker. They see no security officer; what they see is a threat. Most times, the cadets will man-handle students and force them to ‘bail’ themselves with certain amount of money.
Every suspect is innocent until proven guilty, we hear repeatedly but this does not hold in FUTO especially in the hostel environment where the MOW is believed to be supreme. Students live in fear of being picked up because often, staying on the right side of the law doesn’t even save you.
The fact that the general outcry by students against MOW code of conduct and ethics has gone unnoticed by the Students’ Union Government (SUG) and university administration clearly shows that all is not well in the university. There is not even in existence, an active constitution with clear testaments of punishable offences.
As a result, the MOW are a walking law of their own picking up offenders and dishing out punishments when and as they consider fit. They are despised by the guys, the ladies abhour them, lecturers and even officers of the SUG just ignore them.
Their methods are not in the least endearing either. A report carried on these pages on the 29th of March detailed an account of the brutal assault and stabbing of a student by men of the MOW Nigeria, FUTO Command. I noticed that the reporter was very careful about being objective, accommodating the points of view of all the parties involved; most FUTOites who read the report thought of its purported objectivity as politically motivated. The MOW in that report, responded to the allegations by stating that they had been attacked and only acted in self defense. They also denied the assault claims of Ebuka, the suspect who spent hours in their detention cell before eventually embarking on the escape that sparked the resulting fracas. As tempting as it is to point out the ridiculously puerile loopholes in the security outfit’s side of the story, these lines will refrain from resurrecting the gory details; my aim is to ask pressing questions viz:
On whose side is the school management? On whose side do official and moral responsibilities demand that they be? If memory serves right, a similar scenario occurred in Onyia Towers – another off-campus lodge in FUTO – last year, also resulting in theft, trauma and woes of blood first, then tears; why did the school authorities keep quiet then? And why have they remained quiet on this burning issue? Who gives weapons and the authority to use them to the MOW outfit without proper monitoring of how those weapons are used? Who watches over the students to ensure that their rights are not trampled upon and war brought upon them by their very own ‘knights of peace’? Where is the code of conduct that guides the Man O’ War, FUTO Command, their member admission standards, in-house disciplinary framework and modus operandi? With what constitution, do they maintain law and order?
For a long time, these question marks have been making the rounds but nobody seems to be interested in clearing them. Students have even adapted to the life, occasionally rousing to speak up – in the privacy of their rooms within circle of friends – only when the ‘latest’ slap, squat or frog-jump directly affects them. Rather than the exception, the life of tiptoeing along the hostel corridors face-down and hunched has become the norm; lest your harmless glance or worded response annoy the powers that be.
There is an old Chinese saying that smashing the mirror is no way to make an ugly person beautiful. There is a concurring Igbo adage that translates to mean that the madness of one cannot be cured by joining the craze, pun intended. The English say it plainer: Two wrongs don’t make a right. And in truth, FUTO students have in the light of events, both recent and past, acted with maturity. The line that separates sanity from insanity is however reed-thin and the dam, no matter how sturdy, is sand against water after all.
The current Dean of Students’ Affairs, Prof J. N. Ogbulie, could be given the benefit of doubt having only come into office after all of the major outbursts involving the FUTO MOW story. He however, cannot claim ignorance of the students’ constant repression underneath those toothed para-military boots. Neither can he delude himself into thinking that his presence alone has made the difference. This is his chance to make things right. These issues demand that one look beyond ‘good publicity’ or bad – if there even exists any such distinctions – and instead, look into urgent damage control. Forget about diplomatic whining and politics, teach our future leaders how to do it right.
Every day might belong to the thief but one fine, glorious day of justice and reprisal always falls to the house owner.
