Egwunyenga Presides Over Last Senate, Congregation Meetings, Presents Prices To 20 Top Tier Scholars

The outgoing Vice-Chancellor of Delta State University, Abraka, Prof. Andy Egwunyenga, has expressed profound gratitude to the university community for their unwavering support in advancing the institution during his five-year tenure.

Egwunyenga shared this sentiment on Tuesday and Wednesday in Abraka while respectively presiding over the final Congregation and Senate meetings of his administration, ahead of his hand-over his successor, Prof. Sam Asagba, on Saturday, November 30, 2024.

In his address to Congregation of the University on Tuesday, the Vice-Chancellor highlighted that the seamless operation of uninterrupted academic calendars over the past five years was made possible through the committed cooperation and support of staff and students across all categories.

He expressed special gratitude to the university’s workers and students’ unions and associations for presenting their demands with compelling arguments and logical reasoning.

This approach, he noted, significantly facilitated prompt and effective responses from the state government, the university’s Governing Council, and the management.

Egwunyenga emphasized that his administration prioritized fostering a motivated workforce and student community by implementing impactful welfare initiatives.

These included a tuition rebate for staff pursuing studies at the university, prompt resolution of grievances related to unlawful denial of promotions, expansion of the Students’ Welfare Insurance Scheme, and the introduction of the Students’ Work-Study Scheme and the Indigent Students’ Scholarship Programme.

He pointed out that the numerous successes recorded under his tenure were results of the support from adequately motivated workers and students and enjoined the new Vice-Chancellor to maintain the culture.

He equally charged the university community to extend the same level of cooperation to the next administration because, in his words, “If you support me and do not support the new VC, then I would have failed”.

In the 207th Senate Meeting of the university and the last in his tenure that held on Wednesday, the The-Vice Chancellor extended his heartfelt gratitude to the institution’s highest academic decision-making body for its commendable contributions over the past five years, particularly in advancing student welfare and discipline, as well as ensuring a seamless transition to the incoming administration.

He praised the Senate for its remarkable achievements, including the introduction of over thirteen new academic programmes, the unbundling of Mass Communication to align with global best practices, the expansion of admission quotas for Medicine and Surgery and Nursing Science programmes, and the establishment of the Valedictory Lecture Series and Emeritus Professor appointments.

Egwunyenga equally appreciated the contributions of lecturers in the university whose research and publications in world class academic journals during his tenure contributed to the ranking of the university by reputable ranking bodies as the best state university in the South-South and South-East regions, the 3rd best state university in Nigeria, and the 18th best among the 284 universities and research institutes in the country.

In recognition of this, the Vice-Chancellor presented certificates of recognition and cash prizes to first twenty lecturers with the highest publication citations.

Notable among them were the Delta State Commissioner for Higher Education and Professor of Biochemistry with special interest in Biotechnology at the university, Professor Nyerhovwo Tonukari, the Director of the University Advanced Research Centre, Prof Maxwell Iwegbue, the Director of Academic Planning, Prof Hillary Ijeoma Owamah and the Head of Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Dr. Cynthia Ojianwuna.

Others were Prof. Patrick Igbigbi, Prof. Eze Nwangwa, Prof. Akpovwehwe Anigboro, Prof. Godwin Nwajei, Dr. Ben-Azu Benneth, Dr. Moke Emuesiri, Dr. Ominde Shitandi, Dr. Henry Orugba, Dr. Sunday Ikpeseni, Dr. Anthony Eduviere, Dr. Kesiena Owebor, Dr. Samuel Sada, Francis Edoziuno, Mr Jerome Asiwe, Mr. Victor Enwemiwe, and Gracious Ezekiel.