By Sebastine Okafor

The Vice Chancellor of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Prof. Aloysius-Michaels Okolie, has reiterated his commitment to academic excellence and capacity building through practical engagements

Prof. Okolie made this known on Wednesday when a delegation of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), led by its Zonal Director, Mrs. Ijeoma Obodo, paid him a courtesy visit in his office at ESUT Agbani campus, after inspecting the new ESUT Radio complex situated at the old Afrihub building in the university

The VC explained that his administration, has been on the move towards making the institution one of the world’s best, with the aim of providing students with the best education to compete globally.

He posited that the new ESUT Radio has been designed to effectively deliver the world’s best radio content, as it has been furnished and equipped with all the necessary materials.

According to him, “You are welcomed to ESUT, where academic excellence is revered.

“This is a university of science and technology that focuses so much on capacity building.

“I am glad to have you in my office because we want you to help us give our students the best by making it possible for our radio station to be back on air.

“As you can see, the equipment is almost ready and waiting for approval from your office to kickstart.

“We have made provisions for 24/7 power supply with the acquisition of Lista, an ultra-modern fuel-powered generator, a 10kva inverter, as well as lights from the national grid,” the VC said.

Prof. Okolie also commended NBC for their commitment to service, urging them to maintain the station’s frequency of 106.5 FM.

“I want to beg you to tell your national leadership not to relinquish our frequency to others.

“Though we have been off-air for a while, we know that NBC can help us by reactivating our frequency.

“We hope to get the approval as soon as possible.”

Earlier, the Zonal Director of the commission, Mrs. Ijeoma Obodo, had expressed her satisfaction with the level of work done so far by the university’s management in getting the radio station back on air.

She stated that NBC is committed to restoring the radio station back on air, assuring the school’s management that approval would be granted as soon as the request for such gets to their office.

The courtesy call also had in attendance the Registrar of the institution, Mr. Ambrose Ugwu;
Head, Department of Mass Communication, Dr. Chidiebere Ezinwa; the Deputy Director of ICT ESUT, Dr. Uche Okafor, the Principal Monitoring Officer of NBC, Enugu Zonal Office, Mr. Cyril Udora and Mr. Sebastine Okafor of the Mass Communication Department of the school, amongst others.

The South East Zonal Director, NBC Mrs Ijeoma Obodo, visited ESUT Radio for inspection. She explained that the purpose of the visit was to see things for herself as a prerequisite for the renewal of the station’s license having been off air for some years following a fire incident. She emphasized that she would not rely on hear say or what she was told to make recommendations to her Director General in Abuja.

She expressed happiness with the level of efforts put in place to restore the station. But noted that few things need to be put in place for the actual take off of the station. She further noted the importance of a functional Radio station to the teaching and learning of Mass communication, Engineering and ICT.