The Vice-Chancellor of the Imo State University, Owerri, Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie has called for the establishment of a Catholic University in Orlu Diocese, Imo State.

Speaking during an award ceremony organized by the Orlu Diocesan Laity Council at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Orlu, Prof. Awuzie said the establishment of a Catholic University in Orlu will help absorb thousands of Imo State candidates who could not be admitted into the Imo State University Owerri and the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO).

Prof. Awuzie, who was the chairman of the occasion, revealed that of about 140,000 candidates who applied for admission in IMSU and FUTO, only about 10,000 candidates could be admitted in the two universities.  He further said that every university has what he called “carrying capacity”, that is, the limit the university can admit in any session, adding that the carrying capacity approved by NUC and JAMB for IMSU and FUTO is about 10,000 candidates.  “So, what happens to the rest of 130,000 candidates who though may be qualified, but could not be admitted?, he asked.

The answer, he replied, lies in building a Catholic University in Orlu to accommodate the brilliant ones.  He therefore called on the lay faithful of Orlu Diocese, both at home and in diaspora, to raise the necessary fund for the building of Orlu Diocesan University.  He said that every admission session, parents bombard vice-chancellors – he and FUTO VC with names of their children/wards for admission but there is not much they could do since they cannot over-shoot the carrying capacity, he noted.  The answer lies in establishment of more universities in Imo.

He expressed optimism that Catholic men and women of Orlu extraction could comfortably build a university, saying, “we built a befitting Cathedral; we are going to build a university; our diocese must continue to play a leading role in education, spirituality and evangelization”.

The Vice-Chancellor of FUTO, Prof. Chigozie Asiabaka (KSM), who is also from Orlu Diocese as Awuzie, was seen nodding in approval to the remark by his colleague, Prof. Awuzie.

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