Address By Professor Sandy Ojang Onor On The Occasion Of The Public Presentation of Eaglescan Plagiarism Detection Software

I am delighted to welcome all the distinguished guests who have responded to the invitation to be a part of this epoch-making event. I especially acknowledge the presence of our political boss, Legal luminary and seasoned academic, the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN GCON.

When I received the invitation to Chair this event and read the background information on the EagleScan software being presented today, I was thrilled. The whole idea of a technology solution that would address what all academics know is a big problem, especially at the undergraduate level, would be most welcoming indeed. I recall supervising several undergraduate projects and reading through, knowing fully well that the work was copied. However, without any means of validating my misgivings, I had to let the students off. If such a solution was available to me, it would have provided validation to plagiarism.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, permit me to declare EagleScan as a beautiful initiative that is at the heart of driving quality assurance and strive for originality amongst our students, staff and researchers in general. It is a solution that has looked at a peculiar challenge and used local resources to solve it. Initiatives like this are heartwarming as they reassure us that all hope is not lost with our education. I commend our Vice-Chancellors, who are doing a most challenging job for ensuring that this project saw the light of day. I will confer with my Chairman to see what type of framework can be designed to support this great initiative. This solution should not just be for final year students projects. The policy directive should be that students in all tertiary institutions must upload their assignments to a repository having received a plagiarism report. That way we can continuously grow our knowledge databank to determine what type of research is being done, where it is being done, and who.

I congratulate the Secretary-General of AVCNU, a man I know likes to take on challenges and resolves them most creatively. The six universities that contributed members to the technical team must be appreciated for their service to the country. I will urge NUC and Tetfund to celebrate them and inspire them to do much more. When we quantify how much savings in foreign exchange that this solution will afford us, it will be clear on why we need to celebrate these young academics. From my little knowledge of Information technology, I know that new updates and versions are being worked on as we are presenting this one. I look forward to seeing EagleScan as a solution for Nigerian Universities and as a global software that will rival the very best from anywhere in the world.

Mr. Vice-President Sir, Honourable Ministers here present, Vice-Chancellors and their management teams, distinguished guests, I once more formally welcome you and declare the event open.