By Francis Sadhere
The new Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun, FUPRE, Delta State, Prof. Akaehomen Akii Ibhadode, yesterday vowed to ensure that the institution ranks among the world best specialized universities in the globe.
He said his dream at the institution is to see that the FUPRE is ranked as one of the top 500 universities in the world.
FUPRE VC stated this while interacting with newsmen at the university premises in Ugbromo, Uvwie LG Area of Delta State since being appointed as VC.
Prof. Ibhadode said that he has outlined plans and policies to achieve his dream through the provision of a conducive learning environment that would be of an international standard by focusing on teaching and research.
According to Prof. Ibhadode, teaching, research and citations are the key factors in the ranking process having a total of 90 per cent of the overall rating score, adding that “FUPRE as a specialized petroleum university and first of its kind in Africa and eight in the world, deserves to be in the top 500 world universities.”
Ibhadode who was appointed as the new Vice Chancellor over four weeks ago hinted that to have a smooth running of the institution, he had consulted and sorts for the prayers of the Ovie of Uvwie Kingdom, HRM Emmanuel Sideso, Abe 1 and host communities to succeed.
“We will put structures in place to carry out the actions and any other actions that would promote learning, teaching, research, industry-university and community -relations to make FUPRE the international institution-of-first choice and be one of the top 500 universities in the world in the 21st Century”, the professor of manufacturing technology added.
Ibhadode, who was the winner of the 2010 Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG)-sponsored Nigeria Prize for Science, while scoring the institution academic performance high said FUPRE has entered into Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with foreign universities including renowned of Oil and Gas, Aberdeen, University of Manchester, Oxford University while talks are also on with other foreign schools.
Answering questions from journalists on the state of the lingering crisis with host communities, he said, “This is a federal institution and in taking appointments federal character has to follow. Having said that, we are not unaware of the influences of the host communities. Whenever any public institution is sited, the interest of the immediate community is always take care of and we will ensure that the Urhobo Nation is not shortchanged.”
On his plans to collaborate with staff and students to move the institution forward, Prof Ibhadode said he would establish good working relationships with the various labour unions and motivate them for optimal performance in their duties.
Top management officials including the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Chief Liberian and Deans of colleges attended the interactive session.
