IMT Urges the General Public to Disregard Recent Misleading Publication by Vanguard Newspaper, Addresses the Allegations

The Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, has vehemently refuted the claims made in a recent article published by Vanguard Newspaper on August 6th, 2023. The Institute's Management addresses allegations made by certain individuals within the Institute, asserting that their intent is to tarnish the Institute's reputation and that of its Management and Council. The Management firmly counters these allegations, highlighting key points such as the stringent approval process for staff appointments, the well-defined procedures for addressing reported cases, and the utilization of proceeds from land sales for infrastructure development. The report underscores the Institute's commitment to transparency and fairness, dismissing the accusations as baseless and malicious. 

They acknowledges the significant contributions of former Governor Rt. Hon Dr. Lawrence Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to IMT's progress and development. The Institute calls for responsible journalism and urges Vanguard Newspaper to reconsider their publication in light of the inaccuracies presented.

*Response reads in full:*

The attention of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu has been drawn to a story published in Vanguard Newspaper dated 6th of August, 2023 by mischief makers and elements in the Institute who are determined to smear and tarnish the image of the Institute and by extension the Management and Council. The Management in its wisdom has looked at the issues raised in the said publication and react thus:

1. That the appointment of staff into the Institute has never and will never be done without the express approval of the Governor through the Governing Council. Note that since the inception of this Management and Council, the Enugu State Government has given no formal approval for Employment and, as such, the Institute has not made any Employments. Secondly, the Council based on the recommendation of Management does the appointment of the staff into Headship positions and it is usually based on seniority and merit. Note that the composition of the Council of the Institute follows geo-political spread and, as a result, no Council member will seat and watch his zone marginalized. However, following the State Government's recent demand for submissions from MDAs to enable the Government look at the state of affairs, IMT made a submission showing the number of staff in the Institute and indicated the ratio according to which they were divided among the local government areas of the State. That document should speak for itself and will be made available on demand for anyone who cares to go through it.

2. That the Academic Board (AB) of the Institute has met three times this session, the last of which was on 26th July 2023. The Business Committee (BC) is a long Standing Committee of the AB with no approval powers. AB meetings are statutory and cannot be circumvented for any reason.

3. That the Academic Board has a procedure for dealing with all reported cases of missing scripts. The AB in dealing with cases has applied the procedure in the past and present. The staff that had been found culpable in the past were given appropriate punishment. The evidence is there to prove this.

4. That all those who accept part-time appointment in the Institute know through their Letters of Appointment what their remunerations are and that does not in any form justify any untoward behavoiur. The Council has on different occasions sacked those erring staff with proven cases of misconduct, extortion and sexual harassment. Meanwhile, majority of the staff on part-time appointment are those who are on full-time appointment elsewhere. We have such staff coming from ESUT, UNN and other institutions around Enugu.

5. That the allegation of NYSC call up racketeering is nebulous and unfounded because Call Up Letters are printed on-line by prospective corps members themselves. This has been the procedure for so many years now and is not peculiar to IMT. 

6. Proceeds from the sale of Land belonging to the Institute in Abuja has been utilized by the Institute following the Council’s approval to provide infrastructure for the use of both staff and students. A modern Academic complex with Solar and other modern features and facilities has been completed from the said proceeds and duly handed over for Academic use of Staff and Students as approved by Council. The evidence is there for all to see. Therefore, the allegations are not just false but outright baseless lies meant to destroy the image of the Institute and by extension, the Council and Management. 

7. On the issue of the appointment of the Deputy Rector, the Extant Law is that the Academic Board shall elect fit and proper persons provided that the person is a member of the Academic Board. The recommendation of the Academic Board and the subsequent appointment of the current Deputy Rector did not offend any known Law. He emerged from a keenly contested election of the Academic Board. The Council called for the interview of the top three contenders but only the two top runners showed up for the interview. The highest scorer from the interview of the Academic Board came tops at the interview conducted by the Council and he was approved by Council to be appointed the Deputy Rector. Beyond Chief Lecturers, anyone who is a member of the Academic Board irrespective of rank is qualified for the role. The current Deputy Rector has been a member of the Academic before his appointment. This allegation is ridiculous and lacks any merit. 

It is quite unfortunate that the writer’s of this spurious article had to drag the name of the former Governor, Rt. Hon Dr. Lawrence Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi into their article. Truth must be told, IMT enjoyed a lot of interventions under the former Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. The lists of interventions in IMT between 2016 to May 2023 are too numerous to mention. However, for the sake of history, we will take a little space to itemize some of the major interventions that have made IMT stand out amongst the league of polytechnics in Nigeria. These include but are not limited to the following:

Nature of Physical Infrastructure

01. Reroofing and Repainting of the Administrative Block.

02 . Remodeling of the Old Mass Communication Block.

03 . Construction of Sound Proof TV Control Rooms in the Department of Mass Communication 

04. Construction of a two-storey modern and fully furnished Block of Class Rooms

05 . Construction of a two-storey modern and fully furnished Block of Staff Offices

06 . Construction of a Block of Medical Centre [Bungalow].

07 . Construction of a modern one-Storey building furnished Block of Registry Offices 

08 Construction of two Blocks of Conveniences for the Staff and Students

09. Procurement and Installation of new Equipment and Refurbishment of the Existing Obsolete Equipment in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Hospitality Management, Building Technology and Quantity Surveying, Agricultural and Bio-Technology Engineering and Fine Arts and Graphic Design.  

10. Procurement and Installation of new Equipment and Refurbishment of the Existing Obsolete Equipment in the following Laboratories of the Department of Civil Engineering: Soil, Structure, Concrete, Transportation, Survey Studio and Hydrology. 

11. Procurement and Supply of Office Equipment, Computer Hardware, HP all-in-one Printers, Copiers Scanners and UPS for all Departments and for Administrative Offices.

12. Procurement and Supply of Office Equipment, Digital Cameras, Drawing Boards, Furniture and Fittings and Stools for Department of Architecture.

13. Procurement of new Equipment and Consumables for the Departments of Industrial Design, Graphics, Textile, Fashion, Design and Clothing Technology and Ceramic Technology, Sand Buckets, Fire Extinguishers and Repair of Obsolete Equipment in the Department of Printing Technology.  

14 . Procurement of Books, Inverter Cards and Book Pockets etc in the Central Library and Purchase of Equipment/Tools for the Department of Library and Information Science.

15. Procurement of Poultry Equipment and Feeds and Development of Farm and Shops for the Department of Cooperative Economics and Management. 

16. Procurement of Laboratory Equipment, Tools and Apparatuses for the Department of Science Laboratory and Technology [Micro-Biology, Chemistry, Biology Laboratory and Glass Blowing Workshops].

17 . Procurement and Installation of Analytical Instruments, Glass Ware, Reagents and Sand Buckets, Fire Extinguishers, Oven, Utensils and Cutleries Refurbishing of Obsolete Food Processing Equipment.

18 Procurement of Machines, Tools, Equipment and Consumables [Confectioneries, Beverages] for the Entrepreneurial Development Centre.  

19 Construction and Asphalting of internal network of roads with Drainages 

20 Procurement of Modern Teaching Aids with its accessories

In addition to this, the former Governor released the sum of 150 million for the first phase of the re-accreditation of 18 programmes and 285 million for the second phase of re-accreditation of 38 programmes in 2018 and in 2020 respectively.  Today, it is on record that IMT has no accreditation challenge even for the Degree programmes that came on board four years ago. Within the same period, IMT had its 32nd to 42nd Consolidated Convocation Ceremony. 

The Institute is currently wearing a new and modern look.

When one Anayo Okoli who claimed to be the South East Regional Editor of Vanguard called the Institute Public Relations Officer, Barr. Mark Akunna Eze, he was simply told that the Rector just lost his elder brother and might not be in a position to grant him an interview. He boldly said that he “was not the one with the story and that he was only trying to help IMT”. He insisted that those who had the story were in Lagos and might not have the patience to wait for the Rector. The PRO invited him to come to the Institute and fact check the information they have been given but he refused and insisted that we should talk to him through WhatsApp. At that point, it was obvious that they were up to something. Good journalism demands that you balance your story. Further, stories of this nature do not fall within the purview of “every day news” and, therefore, requires time in order to ensure that facts are put straight. That was not the case in these circumstances. We pleaded with Anayo Okoli that beyond the fact that the Rector lost his elder brother, the Institute required time to react to all the issues raised in the said report but he refused. His only argument was that those who had the story were running out of patience. 

It is obvious that no responsible Newspaper wants to publish such an unverified story except Vanguard Newspaper that allowed the story to be published on their tabloid. The publishers did not give IMT a fair hearing as far as this publication is concerned and that is rather quite unfortunate. 

As we pointed out earlier, we are aware that a particular member of staff of the Institute who has been queried for various offenses including his failure to retire over 55 million cash advances taken from the Institute for over ten years now has been on a rampage writing all sorts of things against the Institute. He lost a suit he personally filed in Enugu State High Court to stop IMT from investigating his inability to retire these funds. The Judgment of the High Court is a public document, which is available for all to see. 

We request that wise counsel be allowed to prevail instead of going through the rigours of available litigation. We advise Vanguard Newspaper to do what is necessary and just in the circumstances.

Signed 

Management