-The Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo, UNIUYO, Prof Enefiok Essien, produced 250 professors in 5 years.
-The Vice Dean of Art, Dr. Emenka Ude, lauds the outgoing VC on staff development.
The Vice Chancellor, University of Uyo, Prof. Enefiok Essien has received accolades for giving attention to staff promotion and development throughout his administration.
The Vice Dean of Art University of Uyo, Dr. Emenka Ude, who made the assertion in Uyo revealed Prof Enefiok Essien has produced 250 professors in 5 years.
Speaking against the background of the recent 55 professorial promotions made by the outgoing UNIUYO VC, Dr. Ude described the feat as unprecedented.
Dr. Ude who was recently promoted to the cadre of Associate Professors acknowledged that Prof Enefiok Essien inherited accumulated promotions arrears.
“The Vice Chancellor (Prof Enefiok Essien) has done so well; within his five year-administration, he has been able to promote about 250 academic staff to the rank of associates and professors,” he said.
He, however, admitted the general delay of staff promotions across the Nigerian Universities.
According to him: “If my promotion was timely, I was supposed to have been promoted in 2017. I submitted papers for assessment on February 2018 and the result came in 2020 September; so there was some kind of delay.
“There are some people that submitted with me, there are some that submitted before me and theirs are not out, it is a very big problem.”
Speaking on his early years in service at the University of Lagos, Dr. Ude blamed the delay experienced on policy.
“When I started my lecturing work in the year 2000, I should have been promoted in 2003 but the VC made it categorically clear that if one does not have PhD, such cannot be promoted as an academic staff.
“Relatively, my promotion was delayed from the year 2000 to 2008 when I completed my PhD programme, he narrated.
In another development, Dr. Ude urged students to be serious with the academics, maintaining that students are the investment of teachers.
He admonished them to work hard and where it does not pay off, they should not quit but rather add more work.
According to him, when students are able to define their memory circuit it will help influence their academic life.
He described the non-payment of academic staff in Federal Universities as unfortunate development, noting that the revitalization fee will help limit mediocre graduates.
