Enugu State House of Assembly has asked the state executive to lift the embargo it placed on employment at the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Education, Mr James Akadu, made the request on Friday in Enugu during the committee’s oversight function at IMT.
Akadu said that lifting the embargo would enable the institute to advertise and recruit qualified lecturers.
He decried the number of casual workers at IMT, which he said, stood at about 200.
According to him, casual workers at IMT outnumbered permanent ones.
Akadu said, ”The development is not only unhealthy, but also negatively affecting the institution.”
The chairman urged the institution to boost its internally-generated revenue to enable it to effectively augment monthly subvention from the state government.
A member of the committee, Mr Chima Obieze, urged the management of the institution to address dilapidatation of hostels which, he said, was encouraging students to live off-campus.
Obieze said: ”The institution should not be concerned with increasing hostel fee, but should make the hostels conducive for students.
”This is one of the reasons students are not willing to live in the hostels.
Responding, the Rector of IMT, Prof. Austin Nweze, said that the institution had increased school fees of first year students from N40,000 to N75,000 to enable it to meet its financial obligations.
”The challenges facing the institution are enormous. However, my administration is tackling these challenges head-on.
”I am, therefore, soliciting your assistance in moving the institution forward,” Nweze said.