ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY ICTC

The Information and Communications Technology Centre (ICTC) was established in 2007 by the then Rivers State College of Education. It was inherited by the Rivers State University of Education in 2009, which was later renamed Ignatius Ajuru University of Education.
The ICT centre was established to provide all Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Infrastructural and support services for the various departments, faculties, units and directorates of the University.
Specifically, the ICT centre has the functions of:

• Providing e-facilities for paying of school-related fees, recording and monitoring of Students’ registration processes such as course registration, hostel booking and allocation, time table calendar scheduling and result checking
• Conducting CBT-based examination
• Providing helpdesk services to staff for University-owned IT infrastructure
• Providing computers and IT-based training for ICT staff, students and other staff of the Institution
• Procuring, installing and maintaining of ICT equipment in the ICT centre and University–owned equipment in other offices of the University;
• Advising relevant bodies in the University on the Implementation of new and improved ICT policies and Technologies to be well-informed and digitally dynamic and
• To suggest the appropriate network infrastructure and ISP to Management of the university as well as distribute network to the offices for use.

The ICT centre started with a staff strength of one but has expanded to nine staff (six permanent and 3 casual staff) who have various qualifications and professional certifications on IT-related fields. The first staff is Mr Kitoye Okonny. Other staff include Dr. Osaki Miller Thom-Manuel, Mr Tete Tombari, Mr Lebari Nbaakee, Mr Goodlive Oguzie, Mr Promise Kpe-Nobana, Mr Emmanuel Aburuotu and Ms Adora Agugaham. So far, the ICT centre has been managed by three Directors namely Prof. Dele Joshua Osahougulu (2008-2015), Prof. Jane Onwugbuta Enyi (Aug. 2015- Jan. 2019) and Prof. Prince Nwachukwu Ololube (March 2019 - till date).

Currently, the ICT centre is organized into seven functional units, namely: Technology Management Unit (TMU), Information Management Unit (IMU), Instruction and Research Unit (IRU), Network Unit (NU), Software Unit (SDU), Business and Training Unit (BTU) and Centre Administrative Unit (CAU). Each unit has a head. While the Technology Management Unit (TMU), Information Management Unit (IMU) and Instruction and Research Unit (IRU) are headed by Dr Osaki Miller Thom-Manuel, Mr Tete Tombari and Mr Lebari Friday Nbaakee, the Network Unit (NU), Software Unit (SDU), Business and Training Unit (BTU) and Centre Administrative Unit (CAU) are headed by Mr Goodlive Oguzie, Mr Kitoye Okonny, Mr Tete Tombari and Mr Dennis Fiberesima.

The Technology Management Unit (TMU) is charged with the responsibility of procurement and Installation of IT equipment as well as embarking on preventive and corrective maintenance services on university-owned IT equipment. The Information Management Unit (IMU) is charged with the responsibility of effecting the use of online facilities for email, students’ registrations and the University e-portal and website management, Instruction and Research Unit (IRU) is charged with the responsibility of promoting the use of IT equipment for the delivery of instruction and research work. The Network Unit (NU) is charged with the responsibility of distributing network to various offices as well as its management.
The Software Production Unit (SDU) takes care of CBT-based software development and its management and any other software developed by and for the ICTC; The Business and Training Unit (BTU) takes care of generating funds by organising training/workshops for IT-related programmes for ICTC staff, other staff of the University and for the general public, and the Centre, Administrative Unit (CAU) is concerned with taking care of administrative duties in the ICTC.

At its inception, the centre has a building with three digital halls capable of accommodating 200 computers. However, only two servers, 50 desktop computers and twenty notebooks were available.
Currently, the ICT centre has expanded to having a second building (ICTC building 2) of 600 sitting capacity. The centre now has two hundred and fifty desktop computers, 290 laptops (in ICTC 1 and ICTC 2 buildings), two server rooms and CCTV cameras installed in ICTC 2 building.
Computers and other IT-related equipment are bought by the university and in many cases donated by corporate bodies like NCC, TetFund intervention, Spectrum Nigeria.

Projects Organised by the ICT Centre

1. Intel Teach programme - Getting started course was successfully organized and implemented in the ICT centre in October, 2010. Staff of the university were trained on basic computer operational skills.
2. Teachers Professional Development Workshop facilitated by the Rivers State University of Education in conjunction with the Universal Basic Education (UBE) was implemented in the ICT centre in April 4-8, 2011.
3. The Nigerian Universities Electronic Teaching and Learning platform organized by Spectrum Engineering Limited on the 24th of February, 2016 was done in the ICT centre.
4. Development and Implementation of the university Website and e-Portal. The University website is the gateway through which the University interacts with the outside world and verse visa. The university incorporated in it various e-facilities like the e-portal, Time table calendar, email system, the University Open Educational Resource (OER) page and many others. The e-portal enables payment of school-related fees and other registration processes to be made. The time table calendar shows schedules for university activities for each academic session, the email system generates the official email address of the university faculty (lecturers), students and every other staff of the university.
5. The hire and utilization of ICT centre digitals and computers for Joint Matriculation Examination in 2015 and 2016.
6. Post-UTME aptitude test exams aimed at selecting and appropriately placing eligible candidates into various departments of the University were successfully conducted in 2015 and 2016.
7. ADAPTI (Advanced Appreciation Programme for Tertiary Institution) was carried out in 2017 and 2018 for University staff. About 100 staff of the university selected from various departments and units were beneficiary of the training. Another updated programme of its kind is also scheduled to take place in the centre in a short time from now.
8. CISCO Instructor Training for staff of the ICTC was also carried by CISCO in 2017 and was sponsored by the University. Professional courses on IT Essentials, CCNA 1, 2, 3 and the 4th stages were taught and examinations sat for. The university now have a CISCO academy for the training of students and people from outside the University.
9. In 2018, the ICTC successfully conducted GNS examination using CBT-based software. CBT-based examination has and will continue to lessen the stress of marking exam papers for lecturer as well as enable students know their scores instantly.
10. In 2017, the University proposed the expansion of the ICTC to accommodate more candidates for examinations and workshops. This became necessary when the Joint Matriculation Examination Board refused the University accreditation to partake in the 2017 UTME. The board requested the University to increase its computer capacity to more than 200 sitting spaces. Today, the new ICTC building has 2 floors that has a total of 600 sitting capacity and the ICTC is ready for use.
11. In March 2019, the University in partnership with CISCO International under CISCO Networking Academy conducted a one-day workshop. The purpose was to create awareness in the University of the Commencement of CISCO professional certification courses namely CISCO IT Essentials, Cisco Certified Network Associate 1(CCNA1), CCNA2, CCNA3 and CCNA4.

ICTC is an inevitable unit in every university that wants to go digital. Since the role of IT-related services keep improving and the digital community keep expanding, ICTC’s usefulness will continue to remain relevant to meet the digital immigrant and native needs.