UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR’S UNENDING CONTROVERSIES

It is no longer news that the management of the University of Calabar has suspended the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof Cyril Ndifon, over allegations of sexual harassment of female students. Ndifon’s suspension followed a probe into the allegations of sexual harassment leveled against him by some female students of the faculty who were recently seen in a viral video storming the office of the school’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Florence Obi, wielding placards with inscriptions such as, “Ndifon must go for our sanity,” “We are tired of buying law journals,” “We are tired of lecturers not attending classes,” and “Law girls are not your bonanza.”

The suspension was reportedly conveyed via a letter by the school’s Registrar, Gabriel Egbe, and partly read, “Please refer to our letter Ref UC/REG/DISC.45A dated August 14, 2023, on your alleged violation of the provisions of the extant laws and policies of the university and your response to the said letter which was dated August 16, 2023. The vice-chancellor has gone through your written representations and is not satisfied with your explanations.

Essentially, while the suspension is appreciated, this piece on the other hand believes that Unical is not alien to scandals. Prof Ndifon’s latest scandal is just an addition to the institution’s gale of bad press. Recall that the erudite Professor of Law was in 2015 suspended over the same sexual harassment allegation. Commentators are never tired of harping on the university’s lurid ambience which has seemingly defied successive leaderships. For example, reports have shown that Unical is not only reputed for poor relationships with students but equally allergic to its image when it comes to dealings with its publics. 

Notedly, while the dust raised by the Ndifongate (part two) appears to be settling, another tar on Unical’s linen has just reared its ugly head, prompting analysts to suggest that there is something deeply troubling with the school, albeit hidden. In this light, the reported ordeal suffered in the hands of the successive University of Calabar leadership, from 2014 till date,  by Isioma Aninyem, a Nigerian, trading under the name Michael Hull Services, an educational services company that is primarily involved in sourcing and supplying of educational materials, particularly journals, to educational institutions, readily comes to mind. Giving details of what he termed ‘’using trickery and deception to obtain sets of academic/research journals to the tune of N1, 034,700 from the organization in 2014’’,  the management of Michael Hull Services in the referenced report explained  that a former university librarian contacted Michael Hull Services to provide academic/professional journals to the university library in preparation for the accreditation of the academic programs of the university by the National University Commission. According to the firm, there was an assurance that immediate payment would be made after the delivery of the journals. Unfortunately, however, to this day, the organization has written and appealed to the bursar, vice-chancellor, accountant and the university librarian to pay the money as promised, but the appeals never yielded any result. Undoubtedly, it will be convenient for some commentators to argue that this is a commercial dispute and therefore, should be settled privately without coming to the public domain. But there are glaring reasons why this particular issue must be investigated.

Jerome-Mario Utomi, Programme Coordinator (Media and Public Policy), at Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA), Lagos