Varsity chief urges overhaul of postgraduate education

AN overhaul of postgraduate education in Nigeria to make it sustainable has been canvassed by Prof. Bene Willie Abbey, the deputy vice chancellor for research and development of the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.He spoke at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike (MOUA), Umuahia public lecture held at the weekend.The event was well attended as the members of the academia and the host community trooped to the university hall to participate in the maiden postgraduate lecture in the institution.Abbey, who spoke on 'Postgraduate education and sustainable food securityin Nigeria', noted that postgraduate schools/education needed to be overhauled to make learning more stimulating and attractive to both students and the academia.The lecture was organised by MOUA Postgraduate School, which has Prof. Ada Uwaegbute as deanand chaired by the school's Vice Chancellor, Prof. Hilary Edeoga, who was represented by his deputy, Prof. Enoc Akobund.Abbey said postgraduate education in the country had not been encouraging. He said: 'Higher education can be used in providing solutions to continuous food production and supply in Nigeria'.The don attributed the poor state of postgraduate school to 14 factors, which she identified as 'lack of vision of appropriate policy framework and strategic planning, lack of mechanism to evaluate research units, lack of functional Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities, lack of regard for national development priorities and social demands when conceptualising research projects'.
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