One of the major prioritites,Running degree programmes

The Professor Benjamin Mbah, Provost of the Federal College of Education, Aha-Amufu, Enugu State has given an insight into his one-year administration with a resolve to take it to greater heights despite the paucity of funds to tackle some challenges facing the institution.

He assumed office as the Provost at a time when security was the biggest problem facing the college. Ironically, few days after granting interview to our Correspondent, he was kidnapped and was released last week by the police from his abductors. In this exclusive chat with Daily Sun in his office at Eha-Amufu, he x-rayed his challenges as the helmsman of the college.
Excerpts:
How did you emerge as Provost of the college?
The way it is done and which is what obtains in all tertiary institutions in Nigeria is that, the position is advertised in the newspapers and if people think they are qualified, they apply. So, it was advertised and I was qualified and I applied. And people were short-listed and there was an interview by the Governing Council and after the interview, I was appointed.
Prior to your assumption of office as the Provost of this college, the security situation was alarming to the extent that some alleged cultists invaded the school and killed a female student in March last year. What measures have you put in place to improve the security situation in the college?
Actually when I came in, the students were away and so the security matter you pointed out was still very hot and we have this security arrangement in the institution that were given to the private security guards. So, that was what we had and that is what we still have up till now because you give them for a period of time like a contract.
Well, one of the things that I did was to contact the police and the State Security Service (SSS) and they became aware of what was going on and since then, I have been working with them. I also try to work with the people that we have here; I am in close contact with them. I am a pastor, so in dealing with people I put conscience, truth, association, goodness and all those things together. So, just like I talk to my congregation, I talk to people. I have a way of getting at people because we have a very short time to live and it is how we make our bed that we lay on it. So, I speak to them and their consciences and by so doing, I have improved their acceptance.
Part of the insecurity has to do with the community. I have also talked
with the leaders of the community especially the ‘Igwes’ and there is a lot acceptance. So, I think the way they perceive me, which is the way I also present myself and that is what I am, appears to calm things down. Part of the security problem had to do with paying them. You know, this thing they call hiring people, the government does not make provision for that, so you have to source your money. So, paying them was a problem.
When I also came, we tried to do that. There are other things, I mean some other expenditure that we had to cut so that we may be able to service them and since then, we have tried to do that. They were being owed, so they were not even able to give their best. You know, to owe your security man is a very serious matter, so we dealt with all those. And within three months we got clearance from the security people that we can now start. We went to Abuja and they said we could start. In fact, that was my first job; to get the school started and we did that.
So, with what is on ground now, are you satisfied with the security situation?
We are not satisfied because there are other things to be done; for instance the school is not fenced. It’s only this thing you see in the front; so when you have access through so many ways, you are sure of people who come here but you are not sure of people who go out. This school also is populated with a lot of ladies and we try to protect them and that’s the kind of things we do here.
Prof, the school is populated by young ladies, who are vulnerable to some of these randy lecturers, what measures have you put in place to ensure that they are protected from being harassed sezually?
A case was reported to me about an outsider who attempted to rape one of my female students and the security men are very smart. I can give them kudos. So, they reported to me and immediately, I asked them to take the suspect to the police. He was taken to the police and after some time, some people asked for settlement. I was furious because I insisted that I was going to use the incident as a test case.