It was a moment of joy for Deme Ketefe Johnson. When she painfully crawled out of the crowd, her face beamed with smile. All eyes of students and guests were fixed on the ground to see the diminutive Johnson. Hers was a life of pity.
Who will not pity the lame girl from Otuoke, the community of former President Goodluck Jonathan? She has crawled all her life. Her knees and hands had become numb. They are her objects of movement. She crawls on water, sand and wherever she finds herself.
But on the 6th Matriculation event of the Federal University, Otuoke, under the headship of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Seth Accra Jaja, Johnson’s life took a happy twist. She walked, not miraculously but by the aide of a wheelchair. Jaja and the school management lightened up the world of Johnson, Sodagwa Peter, Anwera Johnson, Albert Emmanuel and Dumono Oruama with five wheelchairs.
When Jaja called them out and said: “Come and enter your motor”. Some of them who had clutches threw them away and scrambled into their wheelchairs. Johnson, whose disability, was adjudged the worst, was helped to her chair by community folks.
In fact, it was a matriculation with a difference. It was loaded with social welfare services, portraying the university a responsible tenant. Since assuming office as the vice-chancellor of the university, Jaja has ensured peaceful coexistence between the university and its host communities.
At the matriculation ground, Jaja presented scholarships to some physically-challenged and indigent persons. Okafor Queen Samuel, Winifred Betterland and Festus Odogwu David, in the departments of Computer and English & Communication, we’re all beneficiaries.
Again, the beneficiaries jubilated. The 2,430 matriculants applauded the gesture. They were proud of their school and Jaja. Even the Deputy Paramount Ruler of Otuoke, Chief Moses Richard Otazi leapt up with joy. He said the current management of the university had brought the dream of the community to a reality.
Otazi said at the birth of the institution, they had a concept of family in mind. He said as a family, the people of Otuoke mobilised to site and built all the buildings with blue roofs at the main campus of the university.
“We dreamed of this day. We are happy that the family concept we dreamed of had been fulfilled in today’s matriculation. We are happy that the university had pit simeon on our faces”, he said.
Flanked by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Teddy Charles Adias and the Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Steve Nwabuzor; the vice-chancellor, said he was given the impressions on assumption of office that the community was hostile. He said he dismissed the notion describing it as a lie.
Jaja said he immediately looked into some of the challenges of persons in the host communities and decided to assist some physically-challenged persons and indigent students with wheelchairs and scholarships.
Jaja said when he assumed office in February 17, 2016, the university only ran 12 academic programmes, which he said limited the number of prospective students offered admission into the institution.
But he said: “On my assumption of duty as Vice-Chancellor, the first major challenge l faced was how to bridge this need-gap, the need-gap so highlighted is more in the faculties and disciplines of Engineering, Management Science and Education, which were hitherto not available.
“This challenge was overcome when the National Universities Commission, after due resource verification exercise, graciously approved 16 new additional programmes which increased the university’s carrying-capacity from 1,500 to 2000.
“This singular achievement enabled the present administration to frog-leap from a student population of 2000 to this swarm.
“This has helped to minimise among others, our challenge of meeting the university’s social responsibility of granting admission to deserving youths in Nigeria and our host communities in particular”.
Apart from expansion of departments and creation of faculties, he said the management was also updating and upgrading units to institutes where necessary to provide quality education to students. He said the federal government had approved the construction of some state-of-the-art lecture theaters and offices to further enhance quality teaching and learning.
He warned: “Students who cannot cope with our standard in terms of character and academic performance will be shown the way out. The watchword and guiding principle, therefore, is that students should take their studies seriously based on truth, faith, hope and the fear of God.
“In line with our vision of building a family university system, there is increased participation of students in vital decisions that affect their interests, anxieties and dedications”.
He warned the students to stay away from illegal associations and relationships in and around the university’s environment. He also advised the students not to allow themselves to be intimidated by any lecturer, urging them to raise the alarm when they noticed abnormality. The vice-chancellor warned that all academic and social engagements should be restricted within the internal environment of the university.
He said: “Be informed that our active security intelligence eye is at work and will spot students without any difficulty when they do otherwise. Besides, students should be courageous and not allow themselves to be intimidated by any lecturer, fellow students or staff of this university.
“No night parties or students’ group activities of any dimension by whatever name should be undertaken without the expression permission from appropriate quarters.
“If for any reason as a student you find yourself in the external environment of the university, ensure that you respect the customs of the community and thereby be a good ambassador of the university”.
