From Felix Ikem, Nsukka
Team leader of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) committee for ICT Infrastructure Development for Effective Teaching, Learning, Research and Administrative Governance, Prof. Emenike Ejiogu, has said the $3 million grant awarded to the institution will enhance digital infrastructures in UNN.
Ejiogu explained that the grant will help to improve ICT infrastructure and equipment across the University’s three campuses through the acquisition and installation of state-of-the-art technologies.
He said it will also enhance community service by deploying IT-based solutions in agriculture, healthcare delivery, and energy/climate change, as well as the establishment of AI and Digital Twin Laboratory, and promotion of inclusive learning environment and female enrolment in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programmes through mentorship and capacity-building initiatives.
“During the proposal stage, I and my team thoroughly analysed the infrastructural gaps in the ICT facilities and human capacity development needs.
“So, we have already identified the areas of need in the faculties and the departments and also in the administrative units of the three campuses of the university.
“For example, we have budgeted the funds to provide such facilities such as smart board, for all the 17 lecture theatres in the respective facilities. Budgeted to provide computers in the 15 computer laboratories that we identified (including language laboratories ). We have also budgeted to increase the bandwidth of the internet service at the three Campuses of UNN.
“Most critically, we would devote a large part of the fund to train both staff and students for enhanced ICT skills. Many if not all administrative processes would be digitised, such as staff appraisal, students transcript processing, students records, etc,” he said.
Ejiogu, immediate past Dean, Faculty of Engineering and the Director, Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Power and Energy Development (ACE-SPED), UNN, noted further that the grant will help the digitisation of the UNN sandwich programme as well as enhance the institution’s Centre for Distance and e-learning (CDeL).
“Also, we will establish a digital recording studio where lectures will be prepared in digital presentation format.”
Ejiogu, who was recently honoured with the Nigerian Content Innovator of the Year Award at the inaugural Champions of Nigerian Content Awards in recognition of his contributions to solving the energy crisis in the country with local content, commended the University management for always providing the enabling environment that made it possible for his team to record the successes achieved so far.
UNN was recently awarded over $3 million ICT-Development Grant, through the federal government Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development, tagged “Blueprint-ICT-Dev Project.”
Prof. Ejiogu led the team that submitted the winning proposal in 2023 and after scaling through the desk evaluation, the National Universities Commission (NUC) and their consultants came on a site visit to UNN in Jan 2024, after a rigorous evaluation process UNN was selected together with nine other universities in the country to benefit from the $40 Million ICT-development grant, which is targeted at enhancing ICT infrastructure in Nigerian universities, financed by the French Development Agency.