History of the Department

The Rivers State University of Education was established in 2009 following the upgrade of Rivers State College of Education to a university by the National Universities Commission (NUC), The new Faculty of Social Sciences took off with four Departments, namely: Economics, Geography, Political Science and Social Studies Education. The later was wrongly placed in this faculty as it has its place of pride in the Faculty of Education.

With the advent of Prof. Ozo-Mekuri Ndimele as a substantive Vice Chancellor of this great citadel of learning, several new departments were established to award Bachelor of Science (B.Sc), Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech). It was in this light that the Department of Sociology was established in the 2017/2018 academic session.

The pioneer Head of Department was Professor Kingdom Elendu O. Nwaenyi, who doubled as the Head of Department of Sociology as well as that of Social Studies. In the same 2017/2018 session, postgraduate programme was mounted for Masters of Science (M.Sc) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Sociology with the following areas of specialization:

• Criminology and Security Studies
• Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management
• Social Work and Social Welfare Administration
• Sociology of Development
• Peace and Conflict Studies

The Department maintains its academic autonomy by containing in its curriculum, special courses designed to achieve the specific vision and objective of the Department.

Prof. G.J. Irikana, Associate Prof. S.T. Igbanibo and Mr. O.C. Nmom in collaboration with the pioneer Head of Department, Prof. K.E.O. Nwaenyi, fought relentlessly in ensuring the smooth take-off of the Department. This was informed by numerous write-ups and submission of required materials in order to scale through accreditation hurdles.

Of the 5 years of its history and existence so far (2017 – 2022), the Department of Sociology has benefitted from the experiences of the following Heads of Department:

1. Prof. K.E.O, Nwaenyi 2017 – 2019
2. Dr. David B. Ngeh 2019 – 2021
3. Dr. Godbless D. Deedam 2021 – Date

Vision

The vision of the Department of Sociology, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, is the availability of viable Nigeria nation sustained on the intellectual and research contributions of Sociologists in conjunction with all other academic disciplines and in partnership with all formal/informal organizations working towards achieving sustainable development

Mission

Changes are ubiquitous as tremendous changes are taking place all over the world and Nigeria’s socio-economic, political, religious and cultural environments are responding to the new global challenges. The Department of Sociology, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, must keep pace with the efforts to understand these emerging changes, provide adequate research knowledge to respond pro-actively towards ensuring adequate control of the new social forces and enhance the capacity of its staff to train the manpower required for the envisaged challenges.

Objectives

1. To inculcate in the students a scientific spirit of inquiry and objectivity.
2. To stimulate students interest in the discipline and all other branches of the social sciences.

• To stimulate the spirit of dedication to service to our society and humanity in general, among students.

1. To prepare students for leadership positions in the social, economic and political institutions both inside and outside our country.
2. To prepare students for self-employment and to carry out researches for the further development of the discipline, the community and humanity in general.

Scope

The Department currently offers two kinds of undergraduate programme, viz:

1. Four-year (Full Time) B.Sc (Honours) Sociology Programme, by UTME, and
2. Three-Year (Full Time) B.Sc (Honours) Sociology Programme, by Direct Entry (JAMB).