By: Amb. Anthony Akalugo
The Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) has continued to blaze the trail in excellence in academic strides.
The world Bank recently approved six universities across Nigeria, one representing each zone, and FUTO won the slot for the South East, but to be a centre of excellence in offering academic savvy in the new areas of study of Procurement Management, Sustainable Standards, and Environmental Standards in Nigeria and beyond.
The CESPESS centre, from its inception began aggressive reach to win participants to enrol in the certificate and advanced certificate courses of the various departments as a prelude to actual postgraduate academic engagement.
CESPESS, FUTO, in 2023 successfully admitted first batch of Msc and PGD students for the program while at the same time, enrolling undergraduates in the centre for studies in the specific program areas of Procurement Management, Sustainable Standards and Environmental Standards.
The program of the postgraduate of the centre runs on hybrid concept, the first of its kind in Nigeria. The hybrid concept entails that lectures hold online through dedicated platforms on LMS and through other alternate platforms where necessary, and physical workshops and examinations hold in the school.
In line with the policy, as approved by NUC, the centre hosted the postgraduate students of all the programs to a seminar workshop in the school. The workshop was a big bang of concentrated expose to world-class standards in seminar and project writing and presentation with facilitators presenting papers from all over the world.
Faculty members and facilitators who participated through physical or virtual means include; Prof. Gloria Chukwudebe, Director of CESPESS Centre FUTO, Engr. Prof. Mrs Benedicta Uche Dike, Deputy Director Procurement Management, Prof. J. N. Ogbulie, Environmental Standards, Dr Rex Ugulu, Dr Lucy Abraham (From South Africa), Prof. Alex Opara, Centre Coordinator, Prof. Ubani, Dr Ndubuisi Okereke, Dr Ogu, Prof. Uche Mbanaso (From Nasarawa State University, a visitor), Dr Kennedy Chinedu Okafor (United Kingdom), and a host of others.
The Centre Leader, Engr. Prof. Mrs Gloria Chukwudebe, flanked by three Deputy Directors and heads of the composite departments, coordinators and faculty members all made the event highly engaging and rich. They were part of the discussion panel which held in the course of the program.
The first set of postgraduate students of this CESPESS centre interacted with faculty members, project supervisors and fellow students who came from all over Nigeria and beyond.
FUTO CESPESS centre has continued to blaze the trail in new knowledge stream and the students attest to the amazing management style of the seminar and the logistics that made participation seamless
The revolution that this new body of knowledge will inject in the Nigerian and African subregion in rejigging the socioeconomic and sociopolitical wellbeing of the area is momentous. This is the vision of the world bank to grow capacity to anchor the new strategy of changing global narratives through sensitivity to environment and spend essentials for prudence in socioeconomic space.
- Amb. Anthony Akalugo
Dolly Online News, 2023
