The inauguration of the International Information and Technology Resource Centre of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, in Abia State this weekend will set stage for students of the institution to take lectures from experts around the world through the Internet. Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ikenna Onyido, who disclosed this during a pre-convocation press briefing told that the National Universities Commission has accredited all the 29 programmes run by the school but expressed concern that space constraints would hamper the growth of the school. Apart from Computer Engineering which received interim accreditation, he said, the remaining 28 were fully accredited. According to Onyido who was briefing newsmen on plans for the third convocation of the university slated for tomorrow, the ICT centre, one of the seven newly completed projects since he assumed office three years ago, is equipped with more than 400 computer sets and a digitalised Video Conference Hall, from where students would be hooked to professors in foreign universities for lectures.
'From this hall, our students would take lectures from professors in the western countries. This is part of our efforts to make this university a Centre of Excellence,' said the vice chancellor. Other projects to be inaugurated are the Students Affairs Building; a 750-capacity Lecture Hall, a 1,200-capacity Lecture Theatre; the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology Complex, the College of Natural and Applied Science Annex and the Agribusiness and Financial Management Building. He said the projects were executed with government subventions, Education Tax Fund grants and internally generated revenue and that their commissioning would herald the convocation proper where over 45 graduates would receive Doctorate Degrees while more than 1,000 graduates would bag First Degrees.
