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Imo State University was established in 1981 through Law No. 4 passed by the Imo
State House of Assembly, Owerri. This was amended by Edict 27 of 1985, another in
1986 and finally for the relocation by the Law No. 2 of 1992. Academic activities
commenced at the temporary site located at the former Madonna High School, Ihitte,
with Professor M. J. C. Echeruo as its First Vice-Chancellor.
The decision to establish a State University arose when the absence of a Federal
University was greatly left by the people of Imo State whose major industry is education.
The State had so many qualified candidates who could not be admitted by the existing
Universities. The Government of Imo State under Chief Sam Mbakwe sought for and
obtained the approval of the Federal Government for the establishment of Imo State
University as a Liberal Studies tertiary institution in the State.
The University was designed as a Multi-Campus Structure with one College to be located
in each Senatorial District of the then Imo State with its main campus located at Etiti in the Okigwe Senatorial Zone while the Aba Campus, in Aba Zone, housed the
College of Business and Legal Studies. The Multi-Campus structure was phased out
because of logistics. They University was then relocated to Okigwe in one Campus.
With the creation of Abia State in 1991 out of the former Imo State, the entire
physical facilities and human resources of Imo State University were ceded to Abia State as the land housing the University and belonging to Uturu community in Isuikwuato
Local Government became the properties of Abia State.
Consequently, the government of Chief Evan Enwerem, in April, 1991 did not waste
time in filling the vacuum by re-establishing the University in Owerri. Two options
were considered by the government in the re-establishment of Imo State University
at Owerri. The first option was to move at once, all staff
and students at the various
stages of their programmes in Uturu who want to remain in Imo State University,
now in Owerri. The second option was to rebuild the University at Owerri over specified
period of time. The second option was adopted after various constitutions by government
then, and a target period of 5 years within which to complete re-establishment of
the University at Owerri was considered. Professor T. O. C. Ndubizu, Deputy Vice-Chancellor,
University of Nigeria, Nsukka was then appointed the Vice-Chancellor with the enormous
responsibility of relocating and re-establishing Imo State University.
At Owerri, the University was temporary accommodated within the campus of Alvan Ikoku College of Education from May to December 1992. The University later moved
to its own premises of four building within the Federal University of Technology,
Owerri, at the Lake Nwaebere Campus. All the translocation of the Federal University
to the permanent site, Ihiaggwe near Owerri, the Lake Nwaebere Campus of that university
was then acquired for Imo State University. The first batch of students was allocated
to the Imo State University by JAMB in February 1993. The National Universities
Commission also formally approved the re-establishment of the University in 1992
at the Lake Nwaebere Campus.
The academic programmes of the University were initially organized in Colleges and
Schools. However, as one of the strategies adopted by the next Vice-Chancellor,
Prof. A. G. Anwukah, and the University senate to energize the system for improved
productivity, the unwieldy collegiate system was replaced by the new faculty structure
at the beginning of the 2001/2002 academic session. This is in line with the
law establishing Imo State University. The transition gave rise to eight faculties and
forty-five departments, with only the College of Medicine and Health Sciences retaining
its original status. Currently, the University has ten Faculties and one College
offering undergraduate and post-graduate degree and diploma programmes in various
disciplines.
For the undergraduate programmes, 24 courses were stated in the first year of the
University’s re-location at Owerri, 1992/93. By 2001/2001 session, about sixty-three
degree programmes were available for study. For the 2008/2009 session, there are
programmes open to prospective candidates.
In 1995, the post-graduate studies programme of the University was inaugurated.
The School of Post-Graduate Studies admits candidates for Post-graduate diplomas
and higher degrees that cut across the ten academic faculties of Agriculture and
Veterinary Medicine, Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Environmental
Sciences, Humanities, Law, Science and Social Sciences, as well as Faculty of Medicine
and Faculty of Health Sciences in the College of Medicine and Health Sciences. Full
information on the programmes of the School of Post-Graduate Studies is available
in the prospectus of Imo State University, school of Post-Graduate Studies.
In addition to its regular, full time and part-time programmes, the University caters
for the educational needs of the various segments of the Nigerian public through
its Sandwich Programme, Institute for Continuing Education Programme (ICEP) and
Outreach and Consultancy Services (OCS) Programmes.
With an initial take-off student population of 420 in the 1992/93 session, the population
of students has grown steadily. The number of students undertaking various diploma
and degree programmes of the University programs is over fifteen thousand.
The University graduated its first batch of students in the 1996/1997 session. In
April 2002, the 4th convocation ceremony of the relocated and now re-invigorated
Imo State University took place during which 2,309 and 871 graduates were admitted
into various degree and post-graduate diploma/degrees, respectively.
The University is now one of the best Universities in Nigeria with highly qualitative
academic programmes for the training and character formation of our leaders of tomorrow.
The result of the 1999/2000 accreditation exercise of the National Universities
Commission confirmed that high rate and acceptance of the University by the Nigerian
public. The University was ranked 1st among all State Universities in Nigeria and
the 10th overall among both State and Federal Universities. The University scored
100% in 2006 and 2007 accreditation visit, with all programmes visited getting accreditation.
All the 19 programmes visited in 2007 had been full accreditation. Also, in the
first every accreditation visit of MBA programmes in 2006, Imo State University
was among the universities that got accredited.
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