Give us our takeoff grant, Unizik VC begs FG

[Sunexx360]

AWKA- VICE chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Professor Boniface Egboka  Thursday  passionately appealed to the federal government to extend the takeoff grant given to federal universities at their inception to his institution, arguing that the grant would enable the institution complete some on-going projects.
Egboka, who spoke when members of the senate committee on education visited the university as part of its oversight function, however commended the national assembly for the support to the university, adding thatwithout such support, the university would not have recorded some achievements.
The university was taken over by the federal government in 1992 barely after one year it was established as a state university, but to date, has not received the takeoff grant which other federal universities received.
The vice chancellor said that despite cases made by the various past ministersof education in favour of the university, the issue had remained unattended to.
He said that even monies allocated to theuniversity over the years were not fully released; adding that the only year it received full allocation was in 2008. According to him, only 47.75% of the allocation to the institution for 2012 hadbeen released, while only N28.26 million out of N99.32 million appropriated for overhead cost for this year had been released.
In his speech, the chairman of the senatecommittee on education, Senator Uche Chukwumerije said the senate would do whatever it could to assist the university,adding that if there was any evidence that other universities which suffered the fate eventually got their takeoff grant, Unizik would also get it.
He commended the vice chancellor for exhibiting transparency in the running of the university, noting that it explained the reason for the enormour success achieved in project execution in the institution.
He said: "I feel moved and challenged by what I saw when I moved round the university. I feel 10 feet tall as an Igboman because I saw what a good leadership can do. I also saw what prudent management can do and the management of university is backed with sincerity.
"This is the first institution I have been to that adopted a collective way of running a university where both the students and the management at all levels are fully involved."                                           ThisDay Newspaper

[Sunexx360]