Misinformed illiterates and market square journalists are busying themselves by trying to distract the well focused VC of our great university, Prof. Florence Banku Obi , who within a spade of 8 months has changed the narrative of the university.
They have failed in their bid to distract her because the Amazon of Academic Excellence has given the University a face-lift upon her assumption of office as the 11th VC of the institution on December 1, 2020.
In the last days, I have battled with replying the roadside reporters and perhaps dignifying them and doing a disservice to Prof Obi's teeming supporters and admirers by not correcting the calculated lies.
Let's put the record straight
1. On N5000 gate pass: This is Fake. Anyone in doubt can simply drive to Unical to confirm facts or call any Unical staff or student for confirmation.
2. N10,000 increase in Accommodation. Again, this is Fake. The last administration of Prof Zana Akpagu increased accommodation by more than 100% (from N8,000 to N16,500 without even a coat of paint in all the hostels. Prof. Obi increased accommodation by 27% (from N16,500 to N21,000) with total renovation of students halls 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, Moore Road and Calabar Road medical hostels. This is inaddition to the replacement of cupboards, wooden doors with iron doors and the provision of protectors). All the hostels were in deplorable state before the doyen of academic standards came on board. Prof Florence Obi's transformation work on the hostels is still being celebrated by great Malabites and Malabresses.
3. Acceptance fees increase. This is another Lie. Prof. Zana Akpagu increased acceptance fees from N20,000 to N25,000. The woman with a compassionate heart has not even contemplated an increase of it as that's the same amount being paid by those admitted for 2020/2021 session.
4. Refusal to pay Tetfund students. This again is a big lie. Prof. Obi took over with more than 1.3b naira mismanaged funds of Tetfund with 600million of it unaccounted for. For this reason Unical was sanctioned by Tetfund until 3weeks ago when the sanction was lifted after much lobbing and written undertaking by Prof Obi that she will see to the refunds. This mismanaged funds included the scholarship money for staff development. Where was the VC expected then to pay the scholarship of students from? Interestingly, despite the challenges, the VC still manages to pay Tetfund Scholars whose monies were mismanaged from the 2021 releases
by Tetfund.
5. Non regularisation or haphard regularisation of staff. Again, this is False. Let me educate these market journalists that the University of Calabar condition of service states that employed staff are to be regularised within 6months of employment and confirmed within 2 years of their employment. So why should Prof. Obi be conducting regularisation interviews for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 staff when she took over on the 1st of December 2020. Truth must be told. Unical was dysfunctional in the past years until Prof Obi came on board. She is struggling to right the wrongs and needs to be commended for such. It's her love for her staff that she is doing what ought to have been done years back within her 8 months in office. It's an aberration that the administration of Prof Akpagu that prided itself as having employed the highest number of staff could not make time to regularise staff who should have been long confirmed.
6. Exhurbitant increase in amount for certificate verification. This is Fake. Prof. Obi has not increased a kobo here. Unical charges for certificate verification have been N5,000 N20,000 and $100 for graduates of Unical, other Nigerian institutions and foreign institutions respectively. This is what has been on ground for years. All that the Director of Human Resources and the Registrar did was to correct the earlier information of N2,000 and N5,000. Note also that these monies are to be paid to the various institutions attended by those involved for verification by Unical. Or, is the University expected to augment verification fee?
7. File jackets for N6000. Yes. Not file jackets but certificate jackets. These same certificates jackets in 2016 went for about N4,500 when the Naira was less than 280 to the $. Its made in Nigeria but the material is made in Europe etc.
8. On employment of Abi people: This is another Lie. Prof. Obi has not employed any body since she came on board as government has placed a blanket ban on employment.
But let me ask these road side writers, if Sen. Nkechi Nwaogu employed 200 people from Abia, her state, who gave her the slots that you think have deprived Cross Riverians? Wasn't it Prof. Zana who did that to entice her with that number to enable her turn a blind eye to his illegal employment? And on completion of documentation, again, can those accusing the focused VC of not allowing them to do so tell me why the man who employed them didn't complete their documentation more than a year after they were employed even when there was no IPPIS?. Why were they not payroll? The truth is, Prof. Zana used employment as a bait for his Senate ambition and had no intention of engaging them. He knew the employment was a scam yet he made millions from selling employment slots.
Most of the media noise makers are those who paid heavily for the fake and purported employment. Rather than go for the refunds of their money there think blackmailing the VC is the solution. Let Zana tell you the approvals he got from Abuja to employ and tell you how many people he employed. The attempt to distract Prof. Obi will not work because she is too focused to be distracted.
Joseph Odok PhD Esq
Comments
Post a Comment