Information reaching our newsdesk had revealed that some lecturers in the Rivers State owned University of Science and Technology had entangled themselves in bribing and monumental corruption.
Lecturers extort money from students to award them higher grades. These corrupt lecturers sometimes also demand sex from female students to upgrade their scores.
The Rivers State University of Science and Technology RSUST is now stinking with corrupt lecturers who also frequently absence themselves from classes and their duty posts.
The bribing and the corruption cut across all categories of lecturers. Due to this ugly attitude of these corrupt lecturers some students particularly females, no longer attend lecturers, hoping to bribe their way through with sex or money.
Sadly few Lecturers in the Institute of Foundation Studies (IFS) are very notorious for compromising standards in the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt. While Professor B.B. Fakae was Vice Chancellor, one such lecturer appeared before the Senate and was dismissed.
Lecturers in the institute teach foundation courses also known as “borrowed or elective courses” which are offered by every department and faculty. Thus, there is a large body of students to lecture and exploit after every examination.
Recently, of particular concern is a lecturer who relocated from the United States of America a few years ago. This lecturer’s name which is withheld, has devised a new way of exploiting students. On the very first day of his lecture, he came to the lecture hall with one Mr. Dede Nwudo, who he introduces to the students as his Personal Assistant (P.A). This P.A attends lectures with him, sits in the lecture hall and also interacts with the students. This P.A exerts a lot of authority on the students for the benefit of his Principal.
On examination days, the P.A distributes the examination scripts and at the end of the examination collects the scripts.
In recently, concluded examination in the School of Post Graduate Studies the P.A informed the students a few days after the examination that their scripts have been marked and that they all had “E” grade, which is fail. To upgrade their results from “E” to a higher grade, each student should pay the sum of N2 5, 000.00 (Twenty Five Thousand Naira) only.
Some students who are not sure of themselves have succumbed and made the payments to the P.A, others have refused to pay; insisting that if need be, they will write petitions and call for the remarking of their scripts. A few of the students have attempted to reach the lecturer by telephone to confirm the demand by his P.A. The terse answer from the lecturer is that “it is not a telephone talk”.
The Million Dollars question is; are lecturers in the Rivers State University of Science and Technology entitled to Personal Assistants? What are the roles of these Personal Assistants? Who pays these Personal Assistants? Are these Personal Assistants accredited by the Rivers State University of Science and Technology? Are lecturers permitted to recruit Personal Assistants to supervise examinations and handle examination scripts?
Investigations show that this particular lecturer from the Institute of Foundation Studies, who is a Professor, recruited this particular Personal Assistant to extort money from students, victimize students who would not comply with his demands and above all cover his nefarious tracks.
For the Rivers State University of Science and Technology to continue to be a centre of excellence, it must not only discourage but also prohibit the use of Personal Assistants by lecturers in any guise, form or shape.
Furthermore, concerned students, who for fear of victimization do not presently want to disclose their identities are calling on the authorities of the university to invite this particular Personal Assistant, Mr. Dede Nwudo, interrogate him and his Principal, and if found wanting, hand him over to the law enforcement agencies for investigation and prosecution.
If there is any time to act and return sanity to the University. This is the time for the Vice Chancellor and the various officers in positions of responsibility to act. The public is watching and waiting. ###
