Those On Ebonyi Scholarship Are Coming Back To Help Build The State-Professor Amari Omaka

Professor Amari Omaka, SAN, Ebonyi State Commissioner for Tertiary Education in this exclusive interview with Panafric Reporters, Alex Odeh, he explained why the Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru, has unparalleled and unmatched passion in investing in education, especially tertiary institutions in the state. Excerpts:

The Ebonyi State government is investing massively in various scholarship programme. Why this investment under Francis Nwifuru?

The issue of scholarship is one of the things that have made our state to move forward. I recall when the first executive governor of this state came on board, His Excellency Dr. Sam Ominyi Egwu, one of the cardinal policies he brought up was the issue of sending our people to go and interface with their colleagues across the world to have state-of-the-art postgraduate education beyond the shores of this country. That was a policy that came after two past military administrations .But when his Excellency came on board, he gave life to it.

Like how many persons are currently on the scholarship list, is there any increase or plans to add more persons?

From the records, about 30-something persons were sent to the United Kingdom, particularly northern England, Newcastle and others . You see the University of Newcastle and the University of Nottingham. Most of them are there, some also in other parts of the United Kingdom.

Yes. The Ebonyi State Scholarship scheme is not a novelty. What has the state benefited from previous ones?

It has been working effectively well because most of the people that makes our people proud in terms of higher education some of them have become professors, are products of such scholarships. Other parts of the administration also tried their best. His Excellency Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru is a man that is so passionate about education than most other governments that have been in this state. He started with 300 graduate scholarships to the United Kingdom and 700 local scholarships in tertiary institutions across the country. Particularly institutions in the southeast. So, 700 persons have been sent there for the scholarship. Out of the 300, about 254 have already gone to the UK. There are ones who are still looking for the universities that offer the courses they do. But approvals have been made and funds released for them to fly anytime to those institutions. That is the current situation. As we speak, those in Nigeria have advanced in their Master’s and PhD programs. Those in the United Kingdom have also come very far in their program.

Are there plans to by the Ebonyi State government to continue the scholarship programme?

This program is supposed to be an annual event. It means every year we send people to the UK and also to the Nigerian universities. So it’s a good program.

Does this present administration has plans of integrating these individuals to help boost the economy or boost different sectors? Because some of them go abroad You no longer see them. So what is the scholarship translating into when is the state getting the futuristic impact of this?

That would be unfortunate if it doesn’t. I recall, I gave you a history, a background to what is happening today. We just did a leapfrog from about 30 persons to about 300 and then about 700 locally. I know that the one done by previous administration not everybody returned. Not everybody. Less than half of them returned. But those people that returned are making us proud. Go to them. Most of them are professors in FUNAI and other universities. If they didn’t go, they wouldn’t have been the pride of Ebonyi the way they are. And those that didn’t return, they also didn’t disgrace Ebonyi. I recall a few occasions I went to the UK, particularly for this scholarship. They are the people that assisted us. They have become great people in the UK and none of them is a street boy or street boys. They are doing very, very well, even those that didn’t return. And those people that we are sending now, the two we are sending now, there is a bond that compels them to return to Ebonyi State and help us to build the state together. That’s the main reason we are sending them. So they are going to come back. And employment has been promised them.

Is it true that the manpower expected in the Aeronautical and ICT University are those on this scholarship?

That is why the University of Aeronautical Engineering, they have not started employment. The University of ICT, they have not started employment. The reason is that when they will come, they will become manpower for our state. But I want to let you know, no matter how I pretend, not all of them will come back.But they have been well equipped to adapt into any institution or industry in the UK. But most of them will abide by the bond they have signed. So if they return, none of them will be strolling the streets. They have jobs already waiting for them. Even in the secondary school, some of them will be employed in the secondary school. I’m not speaking for my colleagues in the secondary school sector. But they are going to come back home to help us build the state. Those that will not come back will also be useful to us in the UK. And any other part of the world also.

Can you give us other breakthroughs which you have recorded in this ministry?

We have recorded tremendous achievements. Very, very, very tough line achievements. I’ve never seen, maybe you will have to remind me, those of you that read well in the media, a government that is building two universities at the same time. One of the things that made Sam Egwu, he developed a campus of the former ASUTECH and made it a university, a campus. It was a part of where they were doing preliminary studies. He converted it to a university. And today, I always remember him for that. He didn’t start from the scratch. This one went into a bush, two forests, to cut into those forests, to develop two brand new universities from the word go. There are no structures there. There’s no manpower there. Nothing exists on the ground. So if His Excellency the Right Honourable Francis Ogbonna, our dear governor, had done nothing. I remember these two universities will speak for him forever. That he’s building brand new universities of aeronautics, engineering, and the university of ICT. One at Ezza, the other one at Oferekpe. That’s one achievement that will speak forever for this man, no matter how any person feels about that.

As Ebonyi people are expecting new universities, what is the state government doing to sustain the Ebonyi State University?

Two, we have a university that has suffered a lot. People were are living en masse. That is why our loss in EBSU is the gain of Ndufu Alike, the federal university of FUNAI. The governor said, no, these are state universities, we cannot allow you to die. What is the reason for this mass suicide? The reason, according to the research, is that lecturers were poorly paid.

Two, there were owed arreas of salaries for months. And then even the ones that have been paid, there was a 20% cutoff during the COVID-19 period. People were disgruntled. Retirees were suffering. A lot of things were, even those people that retired, that used to have contracts, they were no longer given contracts because there was debt of funding in the university. And then those who made first class, they were not encouraged. They were looking for jobs here and there. This government came on board. One of the things the ministry did was to inform the governor of all these developments.

People will like the know the practical steps taken to reposition Ebonyi State University and Ikwo College of Education?

And first of all, it increased their subvention. Because without good subvention, salaries would not be paid. From what was N150 million and a taxation that took up to N30 million out of the N150 million was debt. So what the university was left with was about N120 million to pay, to grapple with as subvention. So the governor increased it, first to N200 million, then later to N280 million, as we speak, to help them grapple with the issue of salaries. So as we speak, nobody is owed a dime at the state university in terms of salary.

It didn’t just end there. This ministry, through our recommendation, it has also increased the salaries of lecturers by 20%. It’s a lot of money. The non-academics have increased their salaries by 10%. As we have seen, that was not enough. The government directive that everybody that had a first class, whether indigenous or non-indigenous, to be employed, everybody that has a first class, as we speak, all of them have direct employment, I mean automatic employment for those that made a first class. They encouraged the system. For eight years, there was no promotion of any person. As we are talking now, we have produced almost over 50 professors within these three years. Not that they are not entitled to it. It was being delayed and compiled. Nothing was happening.

Now, professors and other people, senior lecturers, Lecturer 2, Lecturer 1, different kind of promotions have taken place to encourage the people that are there. Many structures are also coming on board. If you go to the main campus, now you see a faculty building, brand new faculty building, multi-billionaire faculty building for engineering. It’s being constructed at Ishieke campus. Then if you go to CAS campus, the Faculty of Law, it’s being built. I just went to provide the places to them.There is rapid progress there at the Faculty of Law building that is also coming up. It’s at Ishieke campus and also at the Faculty of Law. Two of them are going on at the same time. It’s a prototype type of structure. Very massive.

What about the state owned college of education?

If you go to the College of Education in Ikwo, you see internal roads, just like it’s happening in EBSU. You can see the road leading to it and street lighting. It’s going on there. The same thing at the College of Education in Ikwo. And their subvention was increased from 50 million to 65 million at the College of Education in Ikwo. And then you see all manner of invisible things.

What other steps have been taken to improve tertiary institutions in Ebonyí State?

Like if you go to the record system, where you apply for transcript, they begin to look for files there. Now, all those things are working on self-copy, where you can stay anywhere in the world and apply for any document and press buttons and things will begin to work. Buses were not only given to civil servants. The university was also given, the students and the lecturers. They have buses that take them to cushion the effect of the removal of oil subsidy. So many things, so numerous to count, have been recorded by this ministry through the sponsorship of His Excellency, our dear Governor, we can’t do anything without him. I always love to make recommendations. If it’s not the person who has passion in these areas, he will tell you there’s no money. Sometimes he will even initiate, sometimes he will go for a program on his own. He’ll just initiate some of these programs and announce it. And we’re so proud of what he’s doing.

Very soon law students will be going to law school. Is there any plan to assist them?

Now, as we will talk, everybody in the Nigerian law school, that’s what I’m compiling now. Since he came on board, those students that studied law, that are going to Nigerian law school, because it’s a capital-intensive project. Unlike universities where you pay little or nothing, law school, nobody sends you.You have to pay. The Governor is giving everybody 300,000. For the past two years, he’s been doing that. I’m compiling the one of this year. He gives them that grant to assist them. And even those that were called to bar last year, he also assisted them by buying them gowns and also giving them N300,000 for them to use in their call to bar. And then his own set in Ebonyi State University, in the faculty of law. He gave them an automatic scholarship to PhD level. So these are things that you cannot chronicle in terms of numbers. Everyone, if you want a PhD, just get your form, do your master’s, do your PhD at Ebonyi State University. And it’s not like a pronouncement. They have been coming to collect their money for so long. Which one will I mention? Which one will I leave? But generally, we have been looking forward, moving forward. And that is why he came up with the idea of creating this ministry to assist him to put more eye on the area of tertiary education that was earlier abandoned by other administrations. And this is all I can say at the moment.