FUDMA VC Holds Maiden Parley With Students

FUDMA VC Holds Maiden Parley With Students

The Vice Chancellor, Federal University Dutsin-Ma (FUDMA), Prof. Mohammed Khalid Othman has held his maiden parley with students of the university, during which various issues affecting the students were highlighted, discussed, and solutions agreed upon.

The parley, the first since the creation of the university, was tagged “Listening to Every Voice, Building a Better FUDMA”, and was attended by Principal Officers, Provosts, Deans and Directors and the students.

In his remarks, Prof. Othman said the parley is an avenue for the students and the management to listen to each other, to build a harmonious rapport among the critical stakeholders of the university.

“Effective communication requires both parties to listen and understand one another”, he said, and encouraged the students to responsibly and with utmost respect, discuss issues and challenges affecting them “without any inhibitions”

Prof. Othman charged said that when the students and other stakeholders work harmoniously with the university management, it would be easier to find workable solutions to all challenges.

The Vice Chancellor noted that several issues raised by students in the past few weeks relating to increment of registration fees, Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) challenges, health services, accommodation challenges and the impolite approach of security personnel to students, have received the attention of the management.

While shading light on the motive behind the increment in registration fees, Prof. Othman disclosed that the decision was due to the hike in fuel prices, electricity billing, the internet, and other services that are making the running of the university more expensive.

He said in addition to the inflationary trend which impacted on the costs of commodities and services nationwide, the management decided to centralize the collection of departmental and faculty charges as well as excursion/field trip charges in the registration fees, to replace the former method of allowing the departments to arbitrarily fix charges for such trips.

“All these have impacted on the increment, but the aggregate percentage effected by the University management and the Governing Council, regarding the increment is 20 per cent of the previous registration fees”, Prof. Othman added.

On the NELFUND challenges, the Vice Chancellor stated that a reasonable number of students have been refunded their money, in line with the decision of the University to ensure that every eligible student that NELFUND has released his or her registration fees receive a refund.

He assured that all students entitled to refund or who have issues with their NELFUND wallets would be duly refunded and the issues promptly resolved.

On health services,  Prof. Othman stated that the University management has identified the bottleneck, pledging to improve in the quality of services rendered in the University Clinic for the benefit of not only the students, but the entire members of the University community.

On alleged harassment of students by the FUDMA security personnel, the Vice Chancellor stated that “absolute security can only be achieved through collective responsibility, cooperation and adherence to regulations by members of the University community”.

He said “the security personnel are performing their jobs as ordained by the law”, urging the students to fully comply with the University regulations, especially those related to the dressing code, to complement the efforts of the Management in providing absolute security within the two campuses

Prof Othman also spoke on efforts to make FUDMA conducive for teaching and learning, including transport services between the two campuses and accommodation.

“It is in this regard that the University awarded contract for 1,000 bed-space capacity hostel to augment the existing ones and that will also mitigate the challenges of inadequate accommodation.”

The Vice Chancellor stated that the University plans to introduce a more dynamic Students’ Representative Council (SRC) to replace the SUG, as presently obtained in some universities.

He said that in addition to being more democratic and representative, the SRC would serve as a channel to table challenges affecting the welfare and comfort of the students to the management.

Prof Othman also cautioned the students on social media postings that tarnish the image of the entire university.

“I am ready to listen to your genuine concerns. Posting bad comments on social media tarnishes the image of FUDMA, and I implore you to channel your grievances to me through the Deanery of Students’ Affairs, the SRC or SERVICOM Anybody found tarnishing the image of the university will be punished, and that will prove that FUDMA gives its degrees in both character and learning.

“A university is a place where people are been transformed. Please obey the regulations of the university to succeed in your quest for academic excellence. I am a solution provider, forward your genuine and legitimate complaints to me, and they would be looked into”, he assured.

Prof Othman promised that an online platform  would be created to give students the opportunity to present their feedback, complaints, and suggestions directly to him for quick intervention.

“The initiative will promote transparency, improve communication, and ensure that students have recognized channels through which their voices can reach the appropriate authorities.”

The Vice Chancellor stated that due to the pleadings by some students, the late registration period has been extended by a week, and urged those who are yet to pay their registration fees and conclude their registrations to do so.

He promised to hold quarterly parley with the students and issue a communique afterwards.

In his remarks, the Bursar, Malam Abubakar Muhammad Gafai, said the financial challenges affecting the University and other public universities has been aggravated due to the phenomenal increase in the cost of essential commodities and services like fuel, electricity, internet and computer services, laboratory materials, orientation and matriculation programmes, as well as the incorporation of departmental, faculty and field trip charges and the registration fees payable by the students at the beginning of the semester.