We are Committed to Having Globally-Competitive Workforce – AE-FUNAI VC
The Vice-Chancellor of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State, Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba said the University was committed to training and retraining of its staff in order to have a critical mass of globally-competitive, competent and knowledgeable people that would drive the university’s vision of becoming a world-class centre of learning and research.
The Vice-Chancellor made this known recently when he inaugurated the Frontline Liaison Officers drawn from all administrative and academic departments of the university, established by the Centre for Human Resource Development with the responsibility of identifying the skill and knowledge-gaps and training needs of staff and ensuring that the gaps were bridged through well-tailored capacity building programmes.
VC, Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba in a group photograph with members of the Committee after their inauguration recently
While speaking at the event which took place at the mini auditorium, Needs Assessment Building, Professor Nwajiuba noted with enthusiasm the noble initiatives and blueprints of the Centre aimed at improving work-related capacities of staff, stressing that the most important resource at the disposal of the University to drive its academic vision were its staff.
He maintained that the Centre for Human Resource Development was a necessity because most of the institution’s employees were fresh graduates with little or no cognate experience in the University system, and urged the staff to ensure they carry out their official responsibilities with zeal in order to excel in their chosen careers.
“You have to do your job with zeal because sweet from sweat endures, as a part of our University song said
“It is never too late to learn. There are so much you can do to improve yourself, and with that you take your place among the stars”, he stated.
VC, Professor Chinedum Nwajiuba speaking at the event
The Vice-Chancellor also used the opportunity to charge staff to ensure they properly define their roles in the University in order to be able to perform it creditably well, adding that working in a university environment was quite different from working as civil servants in government ministries.
He further stressed the importance of attitude in the performance of staff and urged them to have a change of attitude, while also calling on the Frontline Liaison Officers to be conscious of the assignment they have been chosen to do.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Director, Centre for Human Resource Development, Dr. Onyebuchi Chima, noted that his mission was to revitalize the Centre, adding that the human resource drives the vision of any organization.
He maintained that the Centre was set out to achieve its objective using the bottom-up approach, hence the need to establish the Frontline Liaison Officers with members drawn from all the Units in the University.
He further explained that the Centre has collected, collated and analysed the staff training needs, stressing that they would develop capacity building programmes to bridge the inherent skill-gaps in order to have competent and knowledgeable staff with the right attitude to add value to the University.