There is palpable fear that the authorities of the University of Calabar, Unical, and several students of the institution, mobilized for the compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, programme are headed for a face-off over the institution’s inability to release certificates to these catefory of students, www.calitown.com can reveal.
Between Tuesday and late into Wednesday this week, several of the students had besieged the institution, hoping to get the certificates and proceed on across the nation journeys to states deployed to, but that may not be possible as the institution appears to have tacitly held back the certificates. Insiders within the administrative cadre in the institution informed www.calitown.com that Zana Akpagu, Vice-Chancellor of Unical, has signed the certificates and handed same to the bursary unit of the institution to screen and withold certificates of students owing school fees. The insiders also claim that most of the students pushing for a face-off with the institution have a poor fee paying history and will not be given their certificates until they show proof that they are not owing Unical. The decision to hold back the certificates, we also gathered, was a decision taken by authorities of the institution and communicated to the VC, who endorsed the decision.
But it appears too that holes are being punched in the explanation hurriedly put together. “The timing of this administrative decision appears punitive and a calculated attempt to inflict psychological pain on several other students who have paid their fees but have become trapped in this unfortunate web. School authorities have been unable to effectively ascertain in this so called verification, who has paid and who hasn’t; and how can’t someone in that school consider that these students will have to travel, some have booked vehicles and flights and now they can’t move, isn’t this insensitivity?”, Mike Inaku, a concerned parent asked www.calitown.com.
Our investigations show that the institution has poorly communicated her position to the affected students. The affected students were first told the certificates were yet to be signed by the VC, 24 hours after that, they were directed to go to the Bursary Department in unclear terms and without a definite time frame for this verification exercise. They have again been told to check back today (Thursday), without assurances that those not indebted would be handed certificates. For now, the trauma continues.