Okebukola tasks NOUN staff on productivity

The Pro-chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Emeritus Peter Akinsola Okebukola, has tasked staff of the university to sit up, do their best and be productive in their assigned duties.

Okebukola gave the charge during his visit to Port Harcourt Study Centre, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Thursday, May 18, 2023, where he interacted with students, who were writing their 2023_1 pen-on-paper (PoP) exams, and later with members of staff of the centre.

The council chairman reiterated his council’s commitment to better the lot of staff of the university by giving them handsome welfare packages.

“My council is committed to giving the best welfare packages to our staff. Those of you who attended the last convocation ceremony would recall that I scored your vice-chancellor, Prof. Olufemi Peters, A1+ for his determination to implement the council’s policy on staff welfare,” he said.

Emphasising that “the welfare of our staff is a top priority of my council,” the professor of Science Education revealed that the special allowance, ODL Allowance, paid to staff of the university twice every year gulped one fifth of the university’s annual budget.

“The ODL Allowance given to you twice every year takes one fifth of the university’s annual budget. The total annual budget of our university is N10 Billion out of which we pay N2 Billion to you as ODL allowance. The only thing you can do is to sit up and do your work well to justify the commitment of the university to reward you the way it does,” he said. 

Okebukola, who was warmly received by the direct of the centre, Dr. Nnenna Nancy Chukwuma and her staff, was in Port Harcourt to participate in the funeral ceremony of a former vice-chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt and the chair of the last committee that negotiated an end to the face-off between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emeritus Mimi Dimkpa Briggs, who passed away on the 10th of April, 2023.

The week-long ceremony of passage in honour of the frontline Obstetrics and Gynecology scholar featured numerous activities including the Special Convocation and Commendation Service on Friday, the interment on Saturday and Thanksgiving/Outing Service on Sunday, which the pro-chancellor of NOUN participated in.