By Joseph Joy

The Vice-Chancellor, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, Professor Aloysius-Michaels Okolie has disclosed that his priority is to make the university a citadel of research and learning hub in Africa.

The Vice-Chancellor stated this on Wednesday while delivering a speech at the 2024 Orientation programme for the first year students in the University.

The Orientation which marked the commencement of activities for the 2024 Matriculation ceremony was held at the Professor Julius Onah Auditorium.

“We just finished paying for the acquisition of Afrihub, and the building now belongs to ESUT. It was sold by a private investor, for 18 months, we started paying to acquire the building, and by December 2023, we finished payment. Two weeks ago, we officially took ownership of the building, and by next week, the renovation of the building would start, we have approved the fund.

“After the renovation, what do we want to do with the building? We want to create an innovation hub where we are going to go into sophisticated teaching on AI. You know what is AI? So artificial intelligence and other internet things we shall start it there. The idea of starting it is that we want to do different from what other universities are doing.

“The idea of starting it is that we want to do things different from what other universities are doing, and by the time you got to third year, you must have been certified on a number of ICT programmes so that you can generate funds there and pay for your fees.

“I want to tell you that we have not been sleeping, we have been making some efforts and we are going to unfold our plans. We want to turn ESUT into a citadel of research and learning even in Africa,” he said.  

The VC who welcomed the freshers to the university, charged them to remain dedicated to the reason for which they were offered admission in ESUT and admonished them to strive to make their parents proud.