Employment In RSUOE: 8,000 Vied For 350 Spaces – VC

Eavesdropping is one way news hounds get information to feed the public provided such information is properly sifted. A discussion between two girls in a Rumuolumeni-bound commuter bus centred on the appreciable changes at the new Rivers State University of Education (RSUOE) and the strictness of its Vice Chancellor. Both acquiesced a vowed commitment of their lecturers to duty now.

  One of the  girls called the Vice Chancellor – Iron  Lady. At that point, I quickly remembered the hard-line posture of the Ag. Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Rosemond Osahogulu when she was interviewed by members of the Editorial Board of this newspaper sometime last year. Her mien was infectious, but she talked tough during the said interaction with The Tide’s editors. I also remembered vividly her vow not to brook nonsense in the school and assured writing the school’s name in gold as a legacy. 

  I was therefore, poised to head for the institution superintended by the Bonny-born Iron Lady the next day to sniff more information and see things for myself based on the students’ discussion. After a stroll round the school and interaction with few students and two lecturers, I decided to see the PRO. Unfortunately, he was not on seat.

  The next point of call was the office of the Vice Chancellor. There, a chat ensued. Gotten the dossier of the University of Wales trained Integrated Scientist during the said interview with The Tide editors, we went straight to business: How has the journey being in the saddle since last October?

  “It has not been easy, but we have been trying our best. We have been struggling to get the university licence. And that involves getting the academic brief ready, the university law is already there and the masterplan. Hopefully, in the next one month all the requirements will be ready for presentation to the National Universities Commission (NUC) for the licence”, she responded.

  Does she face challenges?

  “My challenges have been in the areas of working on the staff to change their attitude to work. The issue of the university making money and it enters an individual’s pocket has been stopped. Panels have been set for lecturers extorting money from students. And they are actually punished when they deviate from the norms of teaching.

  “Another challenge I met when I took over was the issue of a very huge debt. Initially, I was told it was N63 million, but we discovered that what we were owing was up to N83 million. It got up to a point that I got on my knees and cried because I wouldn’t know where to get money to run the institution the next day. But I thank God we were able to get over that and managed without borrowing from anybody. We were also able to locate some of our money from some banks we didn’t know were there because the past administration didn’t take notice of such. About N61 million we recovered from the process helped us to run the school.

  “I also inherited massive employment of staff. We got approval from government to employ 350 staff but I inherited 1, 600.  When collated, we discovered that about 1,321 were employed. Most of them were not paid till I came and it was agreed that the appointment be terminated. That was one of the biggest challenges. But today we have almost concluded the 350 employment approval that we got. And we used five criteria. We didn’t play with merit at all because this is a specialised institution and we have to look for the best. Due process was duly followed and everybody was interviewed. We also considered areas of need, host communities.

  But we didn’t consider them to the detriment of the institution. Another consideration was the local government. In council we agreed that no local government area gets less than 10 persons but you find out that some didn’t meet  our standard.

  “On the whole, about 8,000 applications were received for the 350 positions. And everybody was given a fair chance and we focused on Rivers people. The fifth criterion was age. Once you are over 50 years you can’t get a pensionable job.”

  The Vice Chancellor also reacted to recent newspaper allegations that the employment was fraught with sharp practices by the school authorities.

  “The recent newspaper report will not affect me in any form because the newspaper should have asked my own side of the story. But that it did not do. She also explained why they did not use consultants for the employment.

  “We didn’t use consultants because it is expensive. Besides, they may not have specialists to interview all the applicants to determine if they have the content we are looking for. Notwithstanding, we used external assessors in some areas we lacked like health and engineering from the University of Port Harcourt or University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt”.

  Asked on her plans to introduce more courses in the college-turned varsity, she replied:

  “We have a lot of new courses to introduce but it will be a 10-year development plan.In the next one year, we are adding more departments to the existing 26 in all the six faculties. We shall add Sociology, Nigerian Languages, Educational Management and Educational Foundations. We have about 6,000 students. But hopefully we’ll get our licence and JAMB will increase our number from 948 students to about 2,500 yearly”.

  She also reacted to the widely held view that she is strict.

  “People see you as strict but they like what you are doing. They do appreciate when you are struggling to change certain things and they know what is right. They want the right things but find it difficult to do what is right. My relationship with all the unions including the students is very cordial. I do tell them to feel free to discuss their matters with me. I am a principled person. We don’t need to compromise standards. What does she really want to be remembered for?

  “Academic excellence both as it concerns staff and students because members of staff are encouraged to upgrade themselves. We sponsor them for workshops, conferences and seminars. We also organise capacity building workshops here for them. They should see the good things in themselves and know their worth. When I was lecturing I was able to attract research grant and I keep telling lecturers that they are worth any other lecturer in any university. Once they start sending out proposals they will be surprised that people will start appreciating any little contribution they have made to improve the society. So, I will leave that legacy and that of integrity.”

  “The output of lecturers has improved tremendously because every body is very conscious now. There are two in the school of languages facing disciplinary committee now.”