FUW GETS CISCO CERTIFICATION

Federal University Wukari has been granted a CISCO Academy Status and will serve the North East geopolitical zone. This cheering news was disclosed by the Vice-Chancellor Prof. Abubakar.M. Kundiri during the first interactive stakeholders’ conference on Information Communication Technology (ICT) held recently in the University. The conference which drew participants from all academic and non academic departments was called with the objective to draw up an ICT policy for the university and therefore afforded those present avenues to present their needs and experiences. Collaborating with the Vice-Chancellor on the CISCO status, Dr. John Odey who doubles as the Programme Coordinator said, CISCO academy is the largest networking company in the world located in San Francisco, California which was founded in December, 1984 by Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner; two renowned Stanford University computer scientist who pioneered the concept of a Local Area Network (LAN). It provides an opportunity for mostly third world countries to have a platform for trainings and certificates like CCNA, COMPA etc. Interestingly, Federal University Wukari (FUW) is now one of the privileged universities/institutions in Nigeria who have acquired the status of a CISCO academy. This was premised when lecturers from the university under the leadership of Dr. John Odey of Computer Science Department attended a training workshop and excellently passed at seventy five percent success rates. The excellence performance by lecturers automatically placed FUW as a CISCO academy. By the conferment of CISCO academy on FUW it implies that the institution is now tasked to provide the facilities to enable the programme survive which will enable the training of students, staff and the general public. This also will avail the university a window to apply for grants and partnership in other developmental areas in collaboration with CISCO. Dr. Odey further explains that CISCO certificates are internationally recognized certificates. “Acquiring the certificates here in FUWukari it means if you travel to London, Tokyo or anywhere in the world the certificate will be recognized and most of the high-paying jobs across the world today require CISCO certificates. Aside the increase in the credibility standard of the university and putting the university on the global map, it will also serve as an income generation opportunity for the university and ensure easy access to training facilities and certification for staff and students.” He added. FUW is required to provide a nurturing environment for the CISCO academy program to work. The institution is supposed and required to provide facilities for general training that will ensure access to web for online activities. This is because most of the training are to be done online. When the examination is being conducted, the rating is done instantly so you can have access to your CISCO results online provided the required facilities are in place.