Plans are underway for the commencement of Degree Programmes in the next academic session by the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, Enugu State, GrassRoots.ng can authoritatively report.
IMT, Enugu came into existence under the then East Central State of Nigeria Edict No 10 of 1973 promulgated by the Administrator of East Central State – Ajie Ukpabi Asika.
Prior to the establishment of the great IMT, there existed the College of Technology which offered courses in Engineering and Laboratory Technology leading to the award of Ordinary Diploma, the Institute of Administration which provided short in-service training of various grades, the Co-operative College which offered a certificate course in Co-operative Studies to Co-operative inspectors from the ministry.
These institutions were autonomous and were located differently. The College of Technology was part of the Ministry of education and the Ministry controlled it.
The Ministry of Establishments controlled the institute of Administration while the Co-operative College was directly under the Ministry of Rural development.
All these institutions were staffed by civil servants who were posted there from the Ministry and could be re-posted to other departments or units according to the needs of the Civil Service.
In 1970 there arose the need to establish a higher institution of learning for upgrading and training of our men and women in technological, managerial and engineering fields.
This need was pursued vigorously and in October 1971 the Ukpabi Asika administration decided to merge the former College of Technology with the Institute of Administration. To give effect to this decision both the institute and the College came under the unified control of the cabinet office on 1st April, 1972.
In October of the same year the Administrator of the East Central State appointed a Provisional Council.
This council was charged with determining and recommending to the government an appropriate structure of an autonomous, technical as well as professional and managerial man-power in the subject areas indicated by the state and national needs.
The Council pursued its task with vigour and vision and submitted a report early in April 1973.Thus on 31 May 1973 the Edict No 10 of 1973 titled “The Institute of Management and Technology Edict 1973” was promulgated. The edict took effect from 1st July 1973 and thus gave birth to what is now known as the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu. Dr. Ukwu I Ukwu became the first chairman of council while Professor M.O Chijioke became the first rector and The first Registrar in the person of Mr. B.O. Akwukwuma.
Meanwhile, the School Council and the management have perfected plans for IMT’s affiliation with the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) for the commencement of the Degree Programmes come next academic session.
In an interview with GrassRoots.ng crew, the Rector, Prof. Austin Uchechukwu Nweze confirmed that the State Government, the UNN Senate and the National Universities Commission (NUC) have agreed for the commencement of the programmes.
In his words, “When we came on board, we looked at IMT, a 45-year old school, whereas some younger polytechnics are now awarding Degrees; we said IMT must key into it with immediate effect. To do that implies that as a team we need to be on our toes. First on our strategy was to approach the National Universities Commission (NUC) to ascertain the conditions for establishing a full-fledge university.
“The second option was to go into affiliation with an established University which when I took the matter to the School Council. We agreed that on interim; let us go for an affiliation. Again, the question arose: do we affiliate with the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) or the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT)? The Council over-ruled and said we should seek affiliation with UNN. As we speak, both the management and the Senate of UNN have approved the affiliation request.
“We have also gone to the NUC which has approved the affiliation request. The remaining is for the NUC to come for ‘Research Verification’. God willing that will happen this month (March, 2018). That is the final hurdle. Then, by next September we will be admitting degree students in affiliation with the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN)…”
Watch out on this page for the full interview…