Prior to the establishment of Institute of Management and Technology Enugu, there existed till 1967 a collage of technology up to the Ordinary Diploma Level. An institution of administration which provides short in-service training courses for civil servants of various grade and a cooperative collage which offered a certificate course in cooperative studies to cooperative inspector from the ministry of industry, trend and cooperative.
These institutions were separate and separately located.
The college of technology was part of the Ministry of Education and was controlled directly by that ministry. Similarly, the Institute of Administration was controlled by the Ministry of Establishment, while the cooperative collage was directly under the ministry of Rural Development.
All these institutions were staffed by civil servants who were posted and reposted from one department to another according to the needs of civil services.
After 1970 however, there arose the need for higher institution of learning to upgrade the training in the technological and managerial fields in which there were server need for man power development. The future graduates in the technology and management and their allied field would be more effective by functional training than the institute of administrations.
To the founding fathers, the main aim became the maximization of management efficiency and of professional and technical expertise and the acquisition of the additional tool for these.
The close coupling of management and technology in the new objectives was needless to say not fruitful. The management and technology of today needs training for the satisfaction and fulfillment of itself and its role in the world in which applied science entails more and more problems of both moral and ecological significance. He can no longer afford t o be the narrow minded professional concerned with only machine and structure. He must understand the relationship and social setting of his position within his industrial environment. He must work with other people and therefore must be acquainted with basic personnel and labour matters. It was as a result of these that the ideal of an autonomous I.M.T was conceived.
In pursuance of these, the executive council of the state agreed to merge the formal collage of tech and the institute of administration and up grade their functions in 1971. Both the institute and collage same under the unified control of the cabinet office on 1st April 1972. In October of the same year a provisional council for the proposed new institute was appointed by the administrator of the then east central state, the council was charged with the responsibilities of determining and recommending to government the appropriate structure of an autonomous institution that would produce high quality technologist and technicians. The council pursued this task with rigour and determination and in early April 1973 it submitted its findings. On 31st May 1973 and Edict No. 10 title the Institution of Management and Technology Edicts 1973 was promulgated. The Edict took effect from 1st July 1973 and thus gave birth to Institution of Management and Technology while its first chairman was Dr. Ukwu.
In October the Institute opened us doors to students admitting 550 students in addition, to 300 second year student of 850 students. At the time of opening, their were only 20 senior staff including the Rector, Registrar, Academic staff and four administrative staff. The institute started with eleven department grouped into three divisions.
The first ever convocation of the institute was held on 16th of October 1976 and about 900 graduate received Diplomas and Higher Diploma.
The Department of Co-operative Economics and Management we establish as a separate Department in the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu in January 1978.
Before then Co-operative Economics and Mnagement was but one of a number of academics programmes within the Department of Business Management and Public Administration which had other programmes like Accountancy, marketing etc. and was headed by Dr. S. Umoh.
Infact IMT was the first Institute of higher learning in Nigeria to start a programme in co-operative studies for many years, it had only one full time lecturer Dr. Enyeribe Onuoha who after a PHD in sociology from Rome, did his cooperative studies in Canada. He taught all the co-operative course in the Department except those requiring political field experience, which he handed over to part time lecturers form the ministry.
Co-operative Economics and Management started very humbly as a one year in service rpogramme for newly appointed junior staff of the co-operative Department of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
After the Nigerian Civil War in 1970 the Military Administration of the then Easter State closed down the co-operative college of Agwu and transferred its duties to the institution
In 1975 the certificate programmes in co-operative was upgraded in a two-year Diploma programme and was no longer targeted on in-service trainee from the ministry but on secondary school leavers possessing the minimum institute requirement entry. The department requirement at this time was four credit including English Language but a pass in mathematics while other Department required a credit in mathematics. The reduction in entry requirement attracted many candidates reaching a peak in 1980/81 when 120 students registered.
In October 1977, two graduate were recruited to bring the member of full time lecturers to three. These were Dr. S.C. Chukwu and Mr. S.Y. Berko.
In 1978 co-operative became a full-fledged Department with Dr. S.C. Chukwu as first head of Department. The name was then changed to the Department of Co-operative Economics and Management in time in the it protégé in Germany. At the same time, a Higher Diploma Programme was introduced.
The name of the programme Co-operative Economics and Management indicate that the teaching of the subject co-operative will rise above the merely descriptive level. It will employ tools of Economics and management in the study of co-operative enterprise. The name authorizes the Department of Co-operative Economics and Management to slot into its curriculum courses taken from the field of Economics and Management is to taught by expert from their fields.
Two historical went that affected the Department must be mentioned in 1987, the Federal Military Government under General Obasanjo favoured the straight three year Diploma programme FOR Polytechnics rather than the two step (ND/HND) four year programme.
All IMT programmes (including co-operative studies) have to be restructured. But in 1980, the NND (Nigerian National Diploma) certificate was withdrawn by the succeeding Civilian Administration and the ND/HND programme restored.
In 1985, the then Military Government Navy Captain A. Madueke ordered the merge of the Anambra State University of Technology (ASUTECH) with the IMT as a cost saving device. All the academic programmes of the IMT were up-graded to degree programme for studies with university qualification while the old diploma programmes were retained for less qualified students. The merger however, lasted only three months after which the two institutions were again demerged as a result of strong opposition from ex-students and friends of the institute.
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