UNICAL to partner CBN in project execution, says VC

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Florence Obi, says the institution is set to partner with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for execution of projects in the institution.

Obi disclosed this on Wednesday in Calabar when she visited the Faculty of Agriculture on the sideline of her tour across the faculties in the institution.

The VC said that the university farm was the intended beneficiary of the partnership.

According to her, as soon as the institution meets the conditions set by the CBN for the release of the facility, the state of the farm will be greatly enhanced.

She said that her administration would do her best to put the facilities in the farm in a more functional state, adding that the farm was the major practical aspect of teaching and learning in the faculty of Agriculture.

“This faculty is special because the world is turning its focus towards agriculture due to its income generating capacity and even the World Bank also key into it,” she said.

She urged staff of the faculty to render good services to the students by relating with them as major key players in the institution.

The VC also urged them to ensure that students graduate and leave the university as and when due for other future aspirations.

Obi, who said that staff welfare remained a top priority of her administration, expressed dismay over the prolonged duration of students’ academic period.

She attributed the ugly scenario to the failure of some lecturers to turn in their result promptly, adding that her administration will have to review the policy of duration of students in all the faculties.

Earlier, Prof. Walter Binang, the Dean of Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Wildlife Resources Management, commended the VC for taking time to tour the farm and access the challenges faced by members of the faculty.

Binang assured the VC that the faculty would offer its support and cooperation in enhancing her determination to rid the institution of all vices and repositioning it as a center of academic excellence.

“The faculty is currently running an oil palm plantation as well as poultry and piggery unit, while the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture can produce enough fingerlings to service the South-South market if adequately funded,” he said.

The Dean requested that approval for the allocation of the First Bank building situated opposite the Administrative block be issued to the Department of Food Science and Technology to accommodate the food processing and microbiology laboratories and bakery.

The VC also visited the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, among others.