NUC Okays Enugu Federal College’s Undergraduate Degree Programmes.

 

The National Universities  Commission (NUC) has given the Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy, Enugu the nod to proceed with its undergraduate degree programmes.

 

The move formally put paid to the erstwhile status of the College as a monotechnic, awarding only Higher National Diplomas in Dental Technology and Therapy.

With the current approval, which also included the expansion of the College academic programmes, this institution of higher learning will henceforth, in collaboration with the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, award degrees in various academic programmes accredited by NUC.

According to a letter dated February 10, 2021, the Commission authorised the relevant authorities to run these degree programmes in the precinct of the College with FUTO as its mentor, thus upholding the status of the College as an authorised degree awarding institution.

 

However, the recent authorisation of the College as a custodian of degree programmes was the fallout of National Assembly Act  No.8 of 2017 which had hitherto empowered the College to award degrees and diplomas.

This legal framework, tagged Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy (Establishment) Act, 2017, propelled the affiliation of the College with FUTO after the assent of President Muhammadu Buhari on December 5, 2017.

The College consequently put the machinery in place to measure up to the new status accorded it by the Act, as it proceeded to reorganise and restructure its programmes and system.

Thus, the College under the visionary leadership of the Rector, Dr. John Emaimo, engaged no fewer than 21 PhD holders as lecturers, equipped its laboratories, clinics and libraries in its aggressive drive to meet NUC’s requirements for its degree awarding status which it eventually secured.

 

The College also built state-of-the-art facilities including classrooms, offices as well as physical infrastructure. 

The NUC’s approval which authorised the degree awarding status of the College followed the visit of a 12-man team to the school campus on December 14, 2020 on assessment tour of the institution’s facilities.

Led by Professor Tokunbo Akeredolu, the team at the end of the visit expressed satisfaction with the level of compliance of the College with laid down standards as well as the quality of infrastructure it put in place.

The team also commended the authority of the institution for what it described as its team spirit which it said had enabled it to achieve notable progress in recent times.

But this laudable feat notwithstanding, College is not relenting yet in its avowed commitment to be formally ranked along other federal universities in Nigeria.

Established in 1955 in Lagos by the Ordinance of the Queen of England, the school was relocated to Enugu in 1982.