“It is no longer news that some people seem to have been born into this world for the creation of confusion and disaffection”.
This was the statement of one academic staff of the Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori when this medium visited the polytechnic on Friday 18th November, 2011. The source who pleaded anonymity, told this medium that all that was said on the pages of Port Harcourt Telegraph of November 16- 22 about the Rector, Prof. T. G. Sokari are dozens of lies.
Following a report published by the Port Harcourt Telegraph Newspaper, one of the frontline newspapers in the Rivers State Captioned “As Tussle over Rectorship continues… RivPoly may Lose accreditation”, Lecturers insist on internal appointment”, our man visited the polytechnic to chat with the Rector, Prof T. 0. Sokari and some other key officers of the Polytechnic, including ASUP members, members of Staff and even students.
Again, following the report it also became necessary to visit the Polytechnic to see things before going to press.
However, contrary to the report that the gates of the Polytechnic or the various campuses were locked as reported, it was discovered that the gates to the two campuses were widely open to both academic and other routine activities.
Surprisingly, the students who spoke to this weekly, stated that they have completed the 2010/2011 academic session and were either on their Industrial Training (I.T) or busy writing their projects and seeing their various projects supervisors in school. The students commended the Rector, Prof. I. G. Sokari for his fatherly disposition as the Rector of the polytechnic.
One student, Miss Ogechi Chiwendu, an HND 1 Student of Office Technology Management of the Polytechnic, stated that of all the Rectors she met since her Pre ND days, Prof. T. G. Sokari is the best in terms of his disposition to the students and staff.
According to the student who made bold to disclose her name, “Prof. Sokari is a father and a real Christian”.
On the issue of Rectorship and other claims of one Mr. F. M Good, the ASUP Chairman of the Polytechnic, one member of his exco stated that even though the Union wants an Internal Rector to succeed the present one when his tenure would end, ASUP has never said in any of its meetings whether general, emergency or executive that it does not want Prof T. 0. Sokari back.
According to him, Prof. T. 0. Sokari has always been a father and has never failed or harassed ASUP in times of need and that the Union has never had any problem with the respected professor. The exco member equally stated that the Professor has a rather robust moral history and pleaded that people should not just wake up to run him down.
According to an ASUP executive member (name withheld) there was no time the Union deliberated on the issue whether the present Rector should continue or not and cautioned his colleagues not to act people’s scripts in the name of Union.
Comrade Lenebari David who is the president of the Students Union of the Polytechnic said that he was shocked to his marrow when he read what Lecturers could write against the head of the polytechnic. Comrade David said angrily that all the allegations against the Rector were blatant lies.
Firstly, according to him, the Rector comes to school almost everyday and that one thing that will interest anybody about the rector is that he is always in his office till 4:00pm before one would see him sign off for the day.
“How will anybody claim that the Rector has abandoned his duty post when within these few days I personally have always been with him in the office as he works around the clock towards ensuring accreditation of all departments in the polytechnic? “Sometimes I even pity him. The Rector is a workaholic. He loves everyone and calls every student his child”, the SUG President remarked.
Since this Rector came on board, the SUG President said, there has never been any disruption of academic activities as was the culture before Prof. Sokari came in to the Polytechnic.
“To be precise, there has never been ASUP nor NASU nor SANNIP strike to disrupt the academic programme since this man came in; people should not just spoil his good name for politics”, the students Leader reiterated, adding, “we have been here seeing our brothers and sisters from sister tertiary institutions especially the State owned University staying at home for several months on account of strike occasioned by fusty relationship between staff particularly ASUU and the Vice Chancellor and students have lost academic sessions as a result and here no such thing has ever happened under Prof. T. G. Sokari.
“The Rivers State Polytechnic is now the option and envy of JAMB candidates because no body wants to go to a school that you will not graduate due to incessant strike. I think rather than pour unnecessary venom on the innocent Professor, the Lecturers should join the students to commend the Rector for the strike free and cultism free atmosphere created since the coming of Professor T. G. Sokari as Rector. Everybody in Bori and Rivers State in general knew what RivPoly was before the present rector came on board; cultism and strike were the pseudonyms of the RivPoly, the students’, he stressed.
On the issue of NYSC and Accreditation, a senior lecturer in the department of marketing who does not want his name mentioned, told this weekly that there was no time that the ASUP resolved not to submit result of students as there is no rift between the ASIJP and management.
According to the senior Lecturer, results of all students in the Polytechnic are currently being processed for academic board approval so that the students can go to NYSC in the next batch. In fact a lecturer said that the Polytechnic has not lost any ground since the coming of Prof. Sokari.
On the issue of development, “any one can come and see things for himself especially infrastructural development in the Polytechnic. “The tranquility alone is a good report of the Rector”, the student stated.
The students stated that Prof. T. G. Sokari also won the hearts of students when he was decorated with the best Rector award by the National Association of Polytechnic Students in 2010.
B. Z. Porokpege is the Dean or Director of the School of Applied Sciences of the Polytechnic. He was one of the principal officers of the Polytechnic interviewed by our reporter.
B. Z. Porokpege expressed shock over the allegations of the ASUP Chairman. Porokpege said, the Polytechnic just concluded the 2nd Semester Examination and ordinarily the students have traveled for their long vacation except the ones writing their projects and seeing their supervisors. Others are on their Industrial Training (IT).
Porokpege said that it was a false information that “Students wore long faces as they sat meters away behind the locked gates of Tuesday this week, as reported by Port Harcourt Telegraph. The gates of the Polytechnic have always been open.
“The Tuesday they are talking about in Port Harcourt Telegraph, I personally met the Rector in his office on the issue of accreditational verification exercise of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) forthcoming in the institution”. Porokpege said, “some disgruntled elements are only fanning the embers of trouble and looking for relevance”.
The Director said the Rector has been a friend and father to all and they should not use dirty Politics to insult a man they should respect”.
To satisfy all creed and appetite this weekly visited the Rector and lo and behold the Rector that was said to be absent from duty was very busy putting together things which according to him was in preparation for the forth-coming accreditation exercise of the NBTE.
According to the Professor who said it was not in his character to join issues with his detractors, he only agreed to talk to put the record straight.
Prof. T. G. Sokari said that he was appointed as Rector by an instrument (Letter) dated 23 November, 2007 in an acting capacity. The former Shell Professor of Environmental Pollution Studies said that his predecessor and colleague, Professor Barineme Fakae was also appointed in an acting capacity as V.C of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology on 14th of November, 2007.
The Rector however said, his appointment was confirmed in October, 2009 and by so doing legally it should not include the period his appointment was in an acting capacity. This was also applicable to others appointed like him in other Rivers State owned tertiary Institutions.
The Rector opened to us the Edict establishing the Polytechnic and read from section 31, Subsection 3 which gives the power to appoint and remove the Rector to the Governor and no other person.
The Rector said, the Governor has not written him any letter to remove him and that the Commissioner of Education or the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) being agents of the Governor, have not written him any such letter.
“Should I just pack and go when the man who appointed me, His Excellency, the Executive Governor of the State has not asked me to go and particularly when we have an accreditation verification team visiting us soon”? He asked.
The Rector said he has always been on his duty post and that even those now demanding for his head know about that. To fortify his claim, Prof. T. G. Sokari gave a vivid account of his activities last week as he stated that on 17th November, (Thursday), 2011, the Chief Librarian and the Registrar were with him in his office to receive the Registrar of the Surveyors Council of Nigeria (SURVCON) to discuss on putting finishing touches on making Rivpoly a centre of Excellence in Hydrographic Surveying in West Africa. The Rector said that after that on the same date he went to the Engineering Campus with the three Principal Officers and Director of Works to PDTF (ICY) building which was officially handed over that day.
The Rector also told us that he went in company of the Deputy Rector on (Tuesday) the 15th November, 2011, to offices in management campus to ensure there were no shortfalls during the forth-coming accreditation verification exercise by the NBTE. He said they also visited offices on the same date in the Engineering Campus for the same purpose.
“When was the Polytechnic locked? And for what purposes will it be locked? Is there any problem in the Polytechnic? What will call for that? We have had a smooth academic regime since I came and this is very obvious; I don’t beat my chest but every one whom you meet and who has a clean heart can attest to this”, stated the Rector.
“The ASUP Chairman that said, he does not want me back is entitled to his opinion, but with due respect to him, ASUP as a body or any other Union in the Polytechnic (which I revived and resurrected when I came) cannot make such comments about me. Did F. M. Good say anything I did wrong?,” the Rector queried.
“I think some of them are only acting a prepared script by detractors and only God will judge us all”, the Professor reiterated.
According to a former ASUP Scribe, (name withheld) Prof B. B. Fakae after his appointment to RSUST, on the 14th of November, 2007, and which appointment terminated his rectorship in RivPoly, still came back on the 19th November, 2007 to sack him and his Chairman illegally and suspended Chairman and Secretary of SSANIP for no just course. In the end according to him, Fakae was put to shame when the then Commissioner for Education found out that Prof Fakae only acted in bad faith and illegally too.
He said the present Rector was asked to reinstate them. The former scribe of ASUP commended the efforts of Prof. Sokari and stated that he was not surprised that Fakae is replicating his attitude of divide and rule and constant face off with Unions in RSUST where academic activities are always at a stand still.
An impeccable source revealed that it is on the account of the good records of Prof Sokari in RivPoly that a certain Vice Chancellor in the state is witch-hunting the Rector and threatening the Chairman of Council with the termination of his contract appointment in the State owned University that the whole wind is blowing.
The source said that the Vice Chancellor has been retiring Professors in under him who do not share the same views with him, including one of his kinsmen, Prof Alex Monsi and now wants the Professor and Chairman of RivPoly Governing Council to do his biding or risk his contract appointment in RSUST.
However, both students and staff of RivPoly seem to have Prof. T. G. Sokari after their hearts.
All attempts to reach the ASUP Chairman, Governing Council Chairman and the V.C who are said to be the architects of this agitation proved abortive as at Press time. ####
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