‘Our farm, not for RUGA,’ MOUAU VC clears air

[From BONIFACE OKORO, Umuahia]

Authorities of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), in Abia State, have explained that the expanse of land being cleared by the school was for development of the university’s farms, and not for the Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) settlement programme of the Federal Government.

MOUAU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Maduebibisi Ofo Iwe, made the clarification, Tuesday, saying that the rumour making the rounds that the land was being cleared for Ruga settlement because the university signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) were baseless.

Iwe, a food scientist, was briefing newsmen on his one year in office, having assumed office on March 1, 2021, as the sixth substantive Vice Chancellor of the specalised university.

The VC Chancellor explained that the MoU with NALDA has provided MOUAU with a golden opportunity to develop its farms, saying that since its inception, the university has not developed its farms as a university of Agriculture.

“The MoU with NALDA has nothing to do with Ruga settlement. The MoU is well defined, well drafted. We know the content of the MoU.

 “NALDA is providing funds for us to be able to have state-of-the- art integrated university farm where we have arable crops, where we have live stock, where we have feed mills and things like that. That is what it is.

“It is NALDA  and the federal Ministry of Agriculture that provided a lot of money for investment of such facilities. So, there is nothing about Ruga or whatever, Prof. Iwe said in reply to a question demanding clarification on the status of the MoU the university had with NALDA.

“The land that we are clearing statutorily belongs to the university; we are not going to give it out to anybody. We are not going to give it to NALDA. NALDA is bringing incentives, bringing support for us to use to develop our farms the way it should be.

“Since the inception of the university, the university has not developed our farm and this is the opportunity we have to develop our farm and we are very happy about it. We are also reaching out to international bodies to assist us. We are going to very soon, receive some incentives from the Central Bank to develop our poultry farm. So, please, let every mind be disabused of the fact that NAIDA is about Ruga,” he said.

The Vice Chancellor who described his one year in office as a year of experience and impact, said his administration has recorded strings of achievements.

Under his watch, he said, Adult and Continuing Education, as well as Electrical and Electronics Engineering have been fully accredited at the undergraduate level, while Agribusiness and Financial Management (which was denied accreditation in the last four years); Banking and Finance; Business Administration; and Marketing received full accreditation at the postgraduate level.   

Prof. Iwe noted that the accreditation exercise has given the university the opportunity to strengthen its programmes and recover Agribusiness which was previously lost. “We are now also hopeful that we can expand our admission horizon in the coming admission years due to our successes in the accreditation exercises,” he said.

According to him, 13 members of staff were enjoying TETFund sponsorships in various universities across the world; another four in Brazil, with 16 others undertaking their research under the sponsorship of Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA).

He listed other achievements in the last one year to include Digitalization of University Processes which entails development of a system that fast-tracks the processing of students’ Statement of Results and transcripts handling and issuance, conducting Senate affairs virtually; Electronic Students’ Union Government elections and improvement in the Webometric ranking of the University; revitalization of the University’s information dissemination channels and production of e-newsletter.

Others are rehabilitation of 45 air-conditioned vehicles for intra-campus shuttle services, purchase of a brand-new Ashok Leyland 40-seater air-conditioned bus; implementation of the MOUAU Agric Graduate Loan Scheme (MAGLS), as well as signing of MoUs with NiMet and NALDA.

His administration, according to Prof. Iwe, resolved the prolonged dispute between the Michael Okpara UniAgric Microfinance Bank and the University Management, resolved another 5five-year old trade dispute between the University and Aoen Consults Ltd and established a functional, sustainable, excellence-driven and productive research culture, especially in Agriculture, Science, Bio-technology, Engineering and Management.

In the area of infrastructure, he said the university management was able to fast-track

the remobilization back to site of contractors working towards the completion and expansion of the College of Agricultural Economics, Rural Sociology and Extension (CAERSE), the College of Physical and Applied Sciences (COLPAS) and the College of Natural Resources and Environmental Management (CNREM) complexes; rehabilitation of the University’s Senator Anyim Pius Anyim Auditorium;  carrying out additional works along the existing Olokoro Access road and construction of erosion control channels, among others.

Highlights of the briefing included foundation-laying ceremonies to mark the commencement of construction of new blocks of lecture halls and offices for the School of General Studies, the University Central Store building, a model Post Graduate students’ hostel and a farm road link; as well as the presentation of Prodigious Achievements award to the Vice Chancellor by the Executive Producer of Hall of Fame on NTA, Mr Leo Chigbo Adieze.