HOW PATRICK UKO TRANSFORMED A LITTLE KNOWN TEACHERS COLLEGE IN NIGER DELTA INTO A MODERN INSTITUTION

By Effiong Edeke, MNIPR

 “If you want to be successful, know what you are doing, love what you are doing and believe in what you are doing.”

This quote by Will Rogers best describes the attributes of Patrick Joseph Uko, an erudite scholar, a pragmatist and a workaholic who has worked very hard to transform a little known College that trains teachers in oil rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria into a frontline modern institution in just four years.

Uko who holds a Ph.D in Agricultural Science is a quintessential teacher who loves teaching with passion, a trainer of teachers, a thorough-bred academic guru, an innovative cum transformational leader and an astute administrator.

A sticker for excellence, he is the immediate past Provost of the College of Education, Afaha Nsit located in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. The College has six schools: School of Education, School of Vocational & Technical Education, School of Languages, School of Arts & Social Sciences, School of Primary Education and School of Sciences. The College was established 25 years ago but it was little known at national level until five years ago when Uko was appointed provost.

Recalling the state of the college on his inception as provost in his exclusive interview in the February-April, 2015 edition of EDUCATION TODAY INTERNATIONAL magazine and in several other publications, Uko described the college as “bushy” with “uninspiring environment while the atmosphere was not learners-friendly.”

According to him, students were somewhat despondent because their examination results were not released promptly, staff discipline/ morale was at its lowest ebb while the physical structure which the college inherited from a moribund teachers institution was “dilapidated”. The physical outlook of the campus was not befitting of a tertiary institution as “there were no Storey buildings while the principal staff of the college including deputy provosts had no official vehicles.” Successive graduands of the college were somewhat frustrated as the institution did not hold convocation for them in many years. This tell-tale was just a tip of the iceberg as the condition of the college was more deplorable. One of such conditions was the continuous award of the Nigerian Certificate of Education (NCE) while younger colleges were already awarding degrees. Thus, Uko assumed office in November 2012 with anger and the task before him was an uphill one. He vowed in his heart to change all that even when he did not know where the funds will come from. He was focused on leaving footprints on the sands of time. With an innovative mind and pragmatic spirit he threw himself into work and has never stopped working ever since.

Today, there is a complete turn- around in every segment of the college. His achievements are enormous. As a pragmatist, Uko did something unusual during his first year on the saddle as provost. He caused the backlog of students examination results to be released. He followed it up with an unusual convocation that saw over 12,000 graduands passing out of the college in one fell swoop. This is unprecedented in the history of the college. With this intervention, he abrogated what used to be a tepid culture where lecturers abandoned students examination results with impunity. His leadership has also regenerated massive infrastructure renaissance on campus. New buildings have sprung up while abandoned buildings were completed. This has not only added to the aesthetic scenery of the college but has expanded the learning facility and access for students. Some of the imposing structures, which include six upstairs are: a 300 capacity convocation ground stand, modern administrative block, students hostels with fencing, classroom blocks, rest rooms, lecturers’ offices, workshops , laboratory and a shopping mall-the first of its kind on the campus. The aesthetics is replete with well trimmed flowers and harmonized with beautifully painted walls. Some of the projects were sponsored by Akwa Ibom State government while sponsorship for others were drawn from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), a federal government intervention agency that releases funds to improve facilities in public tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

Speaking to TEACHERSWORLD on the leadership style of Dr. Uko, the immediate past deputy provost, Dr. Charles Effiong said the success of his boss would not have been possible without the visionary roadmap he initiated at the inception of his leadership. Known as Six-points agenda, Effiong said the blueprint highlighted the areas he was to focus upon during the course of his administration. They include “upgrading the college to a degree awarding institution, transforming the college to a centre of excellence where students would be proud to belong and locating the college on world map through international outreach. Others are holistic infrastructure revolution, staff promotion, discipline and welfare and establishment of sound and innovative academic culture anchored on cleanliness, decency and commitment”

Today, Uko who bowed out of the college as provost in March, 20I7, has fulfilled almost everything in his roadmap. One of the areas quite dear to him and for which he has been working tirelessly to achieve is his quest to upgrade the college to a degree-awarding level. Two years ago, this effort actually paid off when the Senate of University of Uyo, a federal university located in Akwa Ibom State granted the college an affiliation status. However, admission of students into the degree courses has not taken off yet because the National Universities Commission, the regulatory body for all universities in Nigeria, is expected to send a visitation team to the college for accreditation. Otherwise, the college would have admitted students into the 12 courses which University of Uyo approved for the award of its Bachelor’s degree while still awarding the Nigerian Certificate of Education (NCE) which the National Commission on Colleges of Education (NCCE) has mandated it to award from inception. Going by the way he was pursuing this issue, it is believed that the affiliation would have taken off and the college would possibly have admitted its first batch of students into degree programmes if Uko had been allowed by the powers that be to complete his tenure in November, 20I7, the original date his tenure was supposed to expire.

Uko’s tenure also witnessed regular promotion, massive training and retraining of lecturers in local and foreign universities in preparation for the take- off of the degree programme. More than 50 lecturers of the college had either completed or were undergoing their Ph.D in leading world class universities during his tenure. This feat is made possible by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). Thus, in four years, Uko has not only added value to the College of Education, Afaha Nsit, but has transformed it from a hitherto bushy college to a frontline national institution for training of teachers. From infrastructure revolution to academic discipline, from staff welfare to students’ welfare, the college has transformed from a backward college to a frontliner in the annals of over 80 colleges of Education in Nigeria. The result of Uko’s hard work , unwavering vision and focus was the influx of awards and recognitions that stormed flowing into his office in particular and the college at large. Uko was not only voted the best provost of the year in 2014, the college has shot into limelight as one of the best five colleges of Education in Nigeria.

The fame of the college has also spread abroad with scores of its staff trained in Europe, America and Asia, some of whom have returned to the college with knowledge acquired abroad to enhance the academic standard of the college. In 2014, the college hosted provosts of Colleges of Education in Nigeria, a platform that helped in spreading the fame of the college. This was the first of its kind in the quarter of a century existence.

The provost himself has been honoured by several organisations, intellectual bodies and professional groups. Some of them include the Nigerian Academy of Education which conferred its prestigious fellowship on him in 2015. He is also a fellow of Nigerian Institute of Management, Institute of Corporate Administration of Nigeria, Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN) and among others, member of International Council of Association of Science Education (ICASE) and of Curriculum Organisation of Nigeria respectively.

Dr Uko has been honoured by the Lions Club of Uyo with Gold Service Award and listed among the 20 best performing provosts / CEOs of integrity by The Nation newspaper, Lagos in 2012.

In October 20I5, Uko was nominated as a star of the teaching industry by TEACHERSWORLD magazine based on his proactive approach to governance which has cumulatively moved the college into international limelight in a combative environment like Nigeria’s Niger Delta. His ability to avoid banana pills which has brought down many public officials in Nigeria attests to his diligence and high level of integrity as a leader. These banana pills have made many public officials including heads of public institutions, guests of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), an agency constitutionally empowered to investigate and prosecute financial crimes in Nigeria. Despite his high profile achievement, Uko’s four years in the college as provost was largely untainted.

Speaking exclusively to TEACHERSWORLD on the challenges of running a college in a world-renown volatile environment like the Niger Delta region, Uko said the challenges are numerous. They include infrastructures needed to give the school a sound academic culture, menace of secret cults in government-owned institutions, over-bearing influence of the host community and incessant demand by pressure groups (students and staff) on campuses which often disrupt academic calendars when such demands are not met.

“All these developments affect the smooth administration of public institutions in Nigeria,” he postulated.

Uko said the advent of terrorism and its devastating consequences on academic activities is a threat to education in Nigeria and other nations across the world ravaged by terrorism. “Some schools are afraid to resume due to activities of terrorists, abductors and kidnappers,” he said “In most cases teachers are warned not to go near the school compound.” On the menace caused by host communities, he mentioned the key problem as boundary encroachment. This he said is has been a challenge despite clear survey plan which is often ignored by trespassers who build or plant on school’s land.

This article was first published in TEACHERSWORLD magazine Vol2 No I (October 20I6-March, 20I7). The interview for this article was conducted by Mrs Queeneth Edeke. Readers can reach her through +234-70I0655227