The Asagba of Asaba, His Royal Majesty, Asagba Prof Epiphany Azinge, SAN, OON; has, on behalf of the Asaba community, taken a bold step towards ensuring the take off of the Law Faculty of Dennis Osadebay University.
This he did by donating 300 law books authored by foreigners to the University, with a promise to come back in due course with much more number of locally authored ones.
The Asagba said he saw the absence of the Faculties of Law and Medicine in Dennis Osadebay University as a challenge and consequently engaged with the Vice Chancellor along that line, considering the fact that Law and Medicine remained the most important Faculties to look forward to.
The renowned Professor of Law said it would have been difficult for him to explain why the University, named after a prominent Asaba son and distinguished Lawyer, Chief Dennis Osadebay would not have a Law Faculty, and why the University established when a Professor of Medicine was the 13th Asagba of Asaba would not have a Faculty of Medicine.
He expressed delight with the appreciable progress made in the quest for the Law Faculty, having been briefed on the efforts made, the challenges and how some of them had been addressed.
Asagba Prof Azinge noted that setting up a Law Faculty was quite demanding and financially challenging because it involved the approvals of the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Council of Legal Education, with the later being the most difficult to secure.
According to the Monarch, the Council of Legal Education would want to see a Moot Court, a standard lecture theatre, auditorium, library, well equipped lecturers’ offices, lecturers physically on ground, amongst other requirements.
He pointed out that admission to the Faculty “begins with 50 students”, stressing that the rigours were not things to be taken for granted, and the University would need all the support it could get.
Nna Agu said: “It is not something that can be done by an individual, the institution or government alone. Consequent upon that and to indicate the support of the Asaba community, not just the Asagba himself, I ordered these books from London and I wanted to make sure we finish this exercise before the Christmas so that we can look forward to other things.
“So, I am happy that we have been able to make this donation today. There are almost 300 books here and they are basically foreign authors. For the local authors, I know that at the next opportuned time I visit Abuja I will have much more than this to bring. So, we take this to be the first installment and then more will come.
“I have heard the VC and I have also canvassed the idea that in the shortest possible time may be we will also be thinking of the endowment of a Professorial Chair in that regard. But over and above all, is the fact that having reflected on and weighed it in my mind, I have come to the inescapable conclusion that I can still add value in terms of participating in mentoring the up coming students.
“I don’t think I have any reservations in that regard. I have done it elsewhere probono in the past; I will do it here without asking for anything in return. So, on that note I want to thank you for the reception and let this be for the public to see.
“We have so many illustrious sons of Asaba who can do better than this. Let me open the floodgate and believe that if they see this they will be motivated to come in, and that people who are not even from Asaba who consider this a veritable instrument for propagating knowledge can also come here to do something greater.
“Sorry, we are not restricting ourselves to the Law Faculty. The University is our own and in any way, in any Faculty we can add value, rest assured that Asaba community will be ready and willing to support our own”.
Receiving the Law books, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Ben Oghojafor; thanked Asagba Prof Azinge for the pivotal role he played in the establishment of the institution four years ago and for his continued support since then.
Prof Oghojafor announced that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), had ratified the intake of 50 students to the Law Faculty, describing the donation of the books as a bold step towards the smooth take off of the Faculty.
He said the Asaba community had remained very supportive of the University since inception, leading to the progress made, especially in the expansion of academic programmes.
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