It is true that Abubakar Audu established Kogi State University (and in his infinite wisdom woke up one morning and decided to name it after his imperial majesty, just one of the signs of his arrogance. The name began to sound like a gunshot ‘paau!!!: and we were relieved our certificates don’t carry it as the original name was restored after his exit), but a statement credited to him that nothing was done by his successors after he left office is a huge, fat lie.
I will debunk that lie now.
As at the time I left Kogi State University in 2004, 20 out of the 30 departments (spread across 6 faculties) were to be scrapped by the National Universities Commission because what was going on there was GIGO – garbage in, garbage out. It was reported that when the team from NUC finished their inspection, they screamed in unison “Laaaakuli!!! Is this a joke?” The team wondered if they were appraising a university or a glorified secondary school.
That didn’t come as a surprise to most of us who worked extra hard at self development to be confident to call ourselves university graduates.
It took the efforts of the Carpenter Governor, who at the time was the butt of joke for not being a graduate (he eventually studied Law at UniAbuja) to assemble a team of seasoned academicians from UI, OAU, Unijos, ABU and other great schools, the appointment of Late Prof Francis Idachaba as VC, equipping of library and science laboratories,and general upgrade of other facilities to get those 20 courses reaccredited.
The job of the governor, no attempt at praise singing but to counter PAA’s claim that apart from what he did, his successors did nothing when in actual fact, because of what he did (paying his ex-wife’s younger brother, who was the contractor, to always paint the buildings white rather than equip them, certificates of thousands in 20 disciplines over a period of 5 years would have been worthless.
The Prince was chasing shadows at the expense, and to the detriment of substance.
Yes, to Wada.
The university got more courses accredited and even has a college of medicine as well as the Kogi State University Business School. Ask students of Mass Comm the strides they are taking.
Again, not a PR job but setting the facts right.
Under Audu, KSU couldn’t be called a tertiary institution. Just as the school was a glorified secondary school, so was the VC a glorified prinspal. Unable to take any proactive decision cos he worked under a stiffling and unprofessional proprietor.
Don’t insult me ooo. Debunk my writeup is what you should do. If you can.
