Gov Alia inaugurates visitation panels for Benue-owned tertiary institutions

The governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, has charged the visitation panels of the five state-owned tertiary institutions to be thorough and to engage stakeholders in the institutions in the discharge of their assignments.

Governor Alia stated this while inaugurating the five visitation panels at a ceremony in the New Banquet Hall of Government House, Makurdi, on Wednesday.

He tasked the panel members to, among other things, review the financial management of the institutions from 2016 to date, investigate the application of funds allocated to those institutions for specific projects, and assess staff as well as staffing development and programmes.

He further asked the panel members to be faithful and carry out their work with the highest level of integrity, while stressing that he expects the best from them given the professionalism they exhibited in their various fields of endeavour.

Alia, who was represented by his deputy, Sam Ode, charged the panels to appraise the internally generated revenue of the affected institutions, scrutinise student enrollment, and assess the conditions of physical infrastructure and facilities relevant to the smooth running of the institutions.

The governor encouraged the panel members to interact with students at the affected institutions to get their opinions and suggestions.

He also urged the management and staff of the institutions to cooperate and support the panels with transparent and accurate information, as well as engage in constructive dialogue that will foster development instead of being defensive and resistant.

In their separate remarks, the chairmen of the visitation panel—Prof. John Enyi (Benue Polytechnic Ugbokolo); Mr Andy Uwoukwu (Akperan Orshi Polytechnic Yandev); Edwin Omerigbe (Akawe Torkula Polytechnic Makurdi); Prof Akaa Imbwase (College of Education Oju) and Prof Otor Ugwu (College of Education Katsina-Ala)—expressed appreciation to the governor for finding them worthy of the assignment and pledged to be thorough, fair, and transparent in their duties to reshape the educational system in the state.

They appealed to the state government to provide an enabling atmosphere for them to carry out the assignment and also called for cooperation from both the management of the institutions and all stakeholders.