By Patrick Obia And Kevin Ololo
The Cross River State House of Assembly has ended a one day public hearing on the bill seeking to change State owned university (Cross River University of Technology, CRUTECH) to a conventional institution.
It is hoped that come January 2020, the process would have been completed. At the public hearing which held at the Assembly’s Chamber, CRUTECH Registrar Dr. Gabriel Beshel speaking on behalf of his colleagues informed that the proposed name (University of Cross River State, UNICROSS) had existed in the old Cross River State, suggesting it should be Cross River State University, CRISU.
He said, “The name of the university should be Cross River University with acronym CRISU. It will be recapped that we were once a State university called University of Cross River State, UNICROSS, some of our colleagues are graduate of that university. When the State choose to divide the institution in 1987 the university was located to what it is now Akwa Ibom State. Now the State University that used to bear UNICROSS no longer exist. Let us avoid this confusion, our submission is that the university should be name appropriately as Cross River University, CRISU.
In a brief interview with this reporters after the public hearing, Beshel maintained that the “expansion will increase the number of students, number of courses, capture more of the interest of the state on it citizen. If the university expands, it automatically increases its management, graduate more students. Expansion here is, a conventional university where by more courses more than the ones we are running are added to take care of the yawning and aspirations of the people of the State who intend to go to school.
“Like currently, we don’t have the law faculty because is specialized university, we don’t have banking and financial; we don’t have economics; we don’t have sociology and so many courses. This present name restrict us or not allow us to run. So, if they change the name, and it becomes a conventional university certainly, more courses and more opportunities for the children for this school. It is a Federal Government policy that all universities should restrict their courses to the name of the institutions; University of Technology should run only a technological courses.
The bill which also seek to include expulsion of those who engage in gang related activities in the university was introduced by Leader of the House, Hon. Peter Odey.
In his remarks, the Speaker of Cross River State House of Assembly, Hon. Eteng Jonah Williams, thanked the management of the school for threading the same path with the House.
He said, “With changing the name for our school for us is an Assembly, we have done a lot of research and consultations. Hearing the school saying they are happy about it, we are so happy, I say thank you so much”.
CRUTECH Alumni was among those present at the public hearing.
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