The world is progressively heading to another historic shift in our understanding of the university as an institution. Historically, the university has been one of the great institutions that has emerged and endured, though its structure has changed over the centuries for better productivity.
The success and progress of any higher academic institution especially the university, depends mainly on the proficiency and competencies of the institution’s presiding management; its ability to adjust to the emerging dynamics of digitally-changing academic world.
Very surprisingly, the second Imo State owned public university, Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe University, (KOMU) Ogboko, has joined the league of a few universities in Nigeria and indeed Africa, cruising to an international standard of excellence: a flagship university and of course a world-class academic citadel.
Unarguably, most of these classic academic and environmental transformations were conceived and developed by the current K O Mbadiwe University management with Professor Ikechukwu Nosike Simplicius Dozie, as the Vice Chancellor. The highly polished and vastly dignified academic, who assumed office with a burning desire to rebrand and redirect the conscience of the university to an international competitive standing and he is diligently succeeding and progressively achieving his missions.
With the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, aware of the vital contributions, high performance universities make towards competitiveness and economic growth may have moved his personality to give the university a midas attention.
He observed the increasingly pressing priority of a responsible government to make sure that their top universities are considered as world-class, such that they operate at the cutting edge of intellectual and scientific development, as recognized by the global rankings.
Indeed, his special interest and excellent vision for K. O. Mbadiwe University, midwifed the appointment of Prof. Ikechukwu Dozie, as the substantive Vice Chancellor of the university in 2021, when the institution, most needed such impeccable, qualitative and outstanding academic as the VC. For the above in particular, Governor Uzodimma deserves more glory and greater accolades.
Because, academic institutions need to transform to meet the challenges of the new millennium, KOMU management has an automatic system designed to have her graduates receive their original degree certificates on convocation.
An electronic upgrade that has overwritten the traditional university system of graduating students with “Statements of Result” and have them come back years after for original result certificate, delaying productivity and quick upgrading in the macro society.
Professor Dozie has been resilient and consistent, decent and visionary with raising the educational and academic status and ranking of K. O. Mbadiwe University to that of internationally accepted world-class status. These trending initiatives in KOMU have been made possible and accelerated by the universities inclination to rapid global growth and development.
The university management’s efforts include the progressive evolution of successful innovations and strategies that deal with issues concerning academic and educational excellence, funding and support facilities’ suitability, academic staff upgrading, graduate competencies.
For instance, the introduction of KOMU Virtual Classroom has improved and aided E-learning/online lectures and video conferencing education which enables teaching and learning at your convenience, your location not minding.
Stemming on the fact that quality education involves the skill of building the abilities of assimilating the knowledge in the area of educational needs, Prof. Ikechukwu N. S. Dozie, has with his management and the entire staff team of KOMU, created an appropriate, dependable and navigable roadmap to facilitate genuine, academically credible, and enduring improvements in the educational quality of K. O. Mbadiwe University, Ogboko Imo State.
Obviously, the institutional structure of the modern K O Mbadiwe University is flexible enough to accommodate learning and research across disciplines and to harmonise education with the needs of the society, hence KOMU’s great advantage of stable academic calendar which secures timely graduation.
KOMU, is fast reforming its University education structure and standards to meeting the world class status.
Certainly, it is reshaping to emerge as a knowledge power with its recent introductions of ideal innovations. These new ideal innovations will reveal learners’ hidden gifts and spark new passions for future careers.
Improving the quality of an academic institution, commitment and knowledge of the leadership is the first step. Core values and ethos must be introduced in the institutional framework of the university.
The challenge is to prepare the students for a new world, for jobs yet to be invented and for technologies undreamed. KOMU is strongly making a new big push in education and a new strategic vision of education’s central importance for human dignity and for sustainable development in the new society.
