GO-UNI VC, Rev. Fr Prof Christian Anieke with some university staff and NUC officials during the visit
By Tony Adibe
The Vice Chancellor of Godfrey Okoye University (GO-UNI), Emene, Enugu, Rev Fr Prof. Christian Anieke said the university has identified the poor use of English as a major weakness of most Nigerian graduates, especially those from other institutions who register for their post-graduate programs at GO-UNI.
Prof Anieke explained that the face of each university is its post-graduate school since the postgraduate school would show the research strength of each university as some postgraduates reflect the quality of research of the university.
The Vice Chancellor gave the explanations in Enugu while addressing officials of the National Universities Commission (NUC) who were on an inspection visit to the Catholic owned university.
NewsBits gathered that the officials of NUC visited in order to assess or rate the post-graduate programs of the university. Prof Anieke said that the university has identified the inability of graduates, to write or speak English correctly as the major weakness of many graduates from other institutions, stressing that some first class graduates find it difficult to write or speak correct English.
“This is why we introduced a course we called, Communication in English. The inability to use English correctly could be due to their background,” he said.
The Vice Chancellor further said: “One thing we have done in our PG School is to ensure that when you write your thesis, it will be strong enough to be published in a journal and if not publishable, then you have not written a good thesis.”
Prof. Anieke explained that the university is doing a lot of things to ensure that graduates of the institution’s PG School are strong, pointing out the management is realizing the objective of the policy.
“You may not have a lot of students because a lot of Nigerian students want it easy, but quality is very important to me,” he stated. He stated categorically that the NUC visit was not witch-hunting but a peer review that would always make a university more transparent and effective.
Prof Anieke said: “NUC is championing national integration so easily by sending those in-charge of academics of the universities to institutions outside their regions. So, I see this as very important for the growth of our universities.” He advised the officials to see the assignment as a sacrifice for the development of Nigeria, stressing that the university has never done anything without involving NUC.
In his response, Prof. Kabiru Dandago who spoke on behalf of the team from the NUC, gave the assurance that there would be nothing like witchcraft or witch-hunting during the team’s visit.
Prof. Dandago said they would maintain high-level of objectivity and credibility in the discharge of their duties. The members of the team are currently in the university to assess programs of the postgraduate school of the institution.
