James Epoke, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, has revealed that the university spends N20million on the purchase of diesel to power the institution, in the absence of stable electricity from the national grid. Considering that an institution like Unical needs round the clock electricity especially for research purposes, Epoke, expressed sadness that the institution with less than N16million annual overhead budget is spending a staggering N20million on electricity generation.
Speaking when the CEO, Debis Entertainment, Debra Rich, led a delegation of the Nigerian Guild of Actors, Enugu Chapter, on a sensitization visit, the VC particularly thanked the Nigerian film industry for spotlighting the dangers of cultism and urged parents to play an active role in drawing the attention of their children and wards, to the evil of cultism. In Unical, he said, “security support has helped tone down the activities of cult groups but that is not to say that their activities have completely gone under; they are there but if we all work together, recruitment into the cults will be reduced and their strength will wane”.
Epoke further frowned at the unabated encroachment on the University’s land by unscrupulous elements laying false claims to several portions of the land and selling same to unsuspecting members of the public. It was his opinion that if this nefarious activity is not curbed, the university stands to lose vast portions of land in the days ahead.
