-Greg Betiang
There are indications that the Cross River State College of Education, Akamkpa, may come under ‘fire’, for perceived management attachment to nepotism, insensitivity to the deplorable state of infrastructure in the institution and the lack of water and light in COE.
Additionally, the acting provost of the institution, Patrick Obere Abiam, whose tenure as sprovost is said to have long expired, has remained in acting capacity for more than a year and a half, in breach of clearly documented regulations on how long the institution’s provost can remain in office.
Castro Ezama, one of the lecturers who recently left the institution voluntarily, in circumstances not unconnected with the allegations, sounded the ‘fire’ alarm this morning on Calabar based Hit 95.9 FM, when he appeared as guest on “The Public View”, the early morning news and current affairs programme on the station.
Ezama further disclosed that, ” l had to leave the institution because some of us discovered that when vacancies in the institution are declared, most of those hired are hired not because they are competent but because they have godfathers. You can imagine a situation where someone who applies to lecture in the institution with a Master’s degree is overlooked while the person with a third class degree, gets the job; should it be so? Shouldn’t the institution be hiring the best hands so that it can proudly take her pride of place among colleges of education in Nigeria?”
Callers on the programme clearly took sides with Ezama and complained that electricity generation in the institution is an uphill task for the school administrators, just like water has become such a scarce commodity. “When the former provost was here, he made sure these things were properly in place, but since the acting provost took over as substantive provost, nothing seems to be working”, one anonymous student of the institution called in to say.
The feeling of despair may be behind the peaceful demonstration we hear will be staged to ‘fire’ the institution’s governing council chairman, Steve Adah, into ensuring that Abiam is replaced and a substantive provost appointed.
College sources close to Abiam however maintained to www.calitown.com that, Ezama’s allegations are not completely true and that at no time did the provost single handedly conduct employment into the institution. “Those who are outside the institution and want to stage a peaceful demonstration in the institution, must understand that they are security implications and they will be held accountable if there is a resultant breakdown of law and order”, one source added. Abiam’s phone line was unavailable at press time for comments.
