Campaign to Save ESUT
Enugu StateUniversity of Science and
Technology,
Enugu.
24 April, 2012.
His Excellency
The Executive Governor
of Enugu State.
His Excellency,
PROFESSOR C.O. ONYEJI IS KILLING ESUT
Despite
seemingly impressive credentials as an acclaimed scholar in
pharmaceutical chemistry, Professor Cyprain Ogbonna Onyeji, Vice
Chancellor of ESUT, has allowed his credentials to be thoroughly
rubbished by a selfish, ego centric, corrupt cabal of a few persons who
have held ESUT by the jugular over the years. Even his claims to have
brought back academic culture of yearly convocation ceremonies and
inaugural lecture series are fraught with several flaws and frauds. We
will discuss the flaws and frauds in the convocation ceremonies and the
inaugural lecture series in our subsequent releases. The improper
conducts, malfeasances, laxity, ineptitude and inefficiencies of Prof
C.O. Onyeji can be clearly evidenced when the following interrogations
concerning his activities so far are
made.
Why
should a vice chancellor who, by the ESUT statutes, has the final
authority of the day to day running of the institution rely on the
Registrar who is supposed to report to him and be accountable to him
even in the discharge of his duties as Registrar? Why
should Prof C.O. Onyeji exhibit complete lack of his own ideas of how
to reform and transform the Registry particularly given that he met the
registry in a comatose condition on assumption of office? Why should he rely and believe every advice and minuting of the Registrar even when such
minuting should be advisory and for his guidance? A vice chancellor
that is truly versed and considerably experienced in
governance-particularly in a university- should be able to know that it
is possible to have a registrar who is out to sabotage his efforts and
ensure his failure as chief executive. A perceptive vice chancellor
knows that the heart of man is evil, and only the spirit of God can
redeem man’s evil heart. This is the spirit behind the principle and
doctrines of separation of powers and putting checks on the use of
powers in social and political sciences.
Again,
power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely. Any vice
chancellor that gives the Registrar the absolute power of
administration, even contrary to the
statutes that demand the exercise of the Registrar’s administrative
powers under the subordination and superintendence of the Vice
Chancellor has simply signed his warrant for failure. That Registrar may
connive with some power hungry and corrupt senior academics and
administrators in the institution do the bidding of those people, which
acts will cause the disrepute of the vice chancellor and his eventual
sack from office.
This
argument is ditto for the Deputy Vice Chancellor (DVC) who should be
like a spare tyre. A DVC with a vaulting ambition will easily plot the
downfall of his boss, especially when that DVC has a good knowledge of
the terrain and is able to use, misuse and exploit long established
relationships and friendships to
undermine and cause the downfall of his boss.
This
has been the unfortunate scenario since the time Prof. C. O. Onyeji
took office. He has severally and consistently behaved as one unprepared
for his office. This conduct/attitude has called for the following
questions. When Prof. C. O. Onyeji was applying for his office what
and what did he write down as his vision for ESUT? What and what did he
write down as his mission in ESUT? What and what did he identify
as the strategies for fulfilling his mission? Did he present any idea
about how to achieve a better ESUT? What new ideas/
innovations has he brought from Obafemi AwolowoUniversity for implementation for a better ESUT? What
enduring changes - changes that can outlast his tenure - has he
initiated? How long will Prof. C. O. Onyeji be excused for his being new
to ESUT? A vice chancellor quick to perform and leave lasting
heritage should make learning his environment his utmost priority, since
he will work with people to achieve his objectives. While recognising
the need for synergy with top management staff and other stakeholders,
must a VC rely overly on his subordinate officers even for strategic
direction and basic ideas about how to do his work as Chief Executive?
An
intelligent vice chancellor that is known to be a good academic
/scholar should have an independent and comprehensive strategic plan,
fully developed in his mind even while applying for the job. That
strategic plan can only be formulated from a detailed study of the
institution. That strategic plan should entail comprehensively how the
vice chancellor would develop and grow the university in a
self-sustaining, self-reliant, financially viable way; how to rejuvenate
the Registry and enable it perform its mandate of administration, how
to expand the revenue generating potentials/capabilities of the
institution, how to effectively and efficiently deploy ICT tools to
enhance service delivery and effectiveness of the administration, and so
on.
What
have we observed instead in the approximately two years of Prof Cyprain
Ogbonna Onyeji’s administration? In the past two years, Prof C.O.
Onyeji’s administration has been characterised by an abysmally low
capacity for leadership; an absence of capacity for governance! It seems
the screening out of this man from the contest for the position of the
Vice Chancellor of University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) is apt;
foresighted act and a blessing to that institution. If he was made the
Vice Chancellor of UNN, he would have made a complete mockery of himself
at UNN, since that institution has numerous high profile
academics/scholars who are recognised and celebrated in the world. If
Prof Onyeji cannot find his footing in a much smaller ESUT, where there
are few renowned scholars, what would have been his fate at the UNN with
much more politically
suave and power hungry academics?
Professor
Cyprian Ogbonna Onyeji has severally followed the ideas and leadership
of his subordinate officers, even when such ideas are patently wrong,
and conceived to perpetrate and perpetuate iniquity and injustice. We do
not need to cite countless instances when the Deputy Vice Chancellor,
Professor Alloysius Emengini Uzoagulu, even before and in his (vice
chancellor’s) presence, had interrupted the vice chancellor when he
wanted to speak on an issue, and had spoken on the same issue even to
the extent of definitively concluding the issue, with Prof Onyeji
offered the option of either concurring with the Deputy Vice Chancellor,
or openly expressing disagreement to the Deputy Vice Chancellor. Prof
C.O.
Onyeji, being lily livered, afraid of confronting his deputy who
represents the entrenched cabalistic group that had held ESUT by the
jugular for ages, had always chosen to concur with Prof Uzoagulu’s
flawed positions.
This
leaves even keen observers of the Vice Chancellor, Prof Onyeji, the
option of concluding that he doesn’t even know that he is the Vice
Chancellor, invested with the power and authority of the law
establishing ESUT with providing leadership and direction for that
institution. Prof Uzoagulu, who is the Deputy Vice Chancellor, is simply
his deputy that would help him accomplish his objectives. This is why
the law allows him to nominate two (2) persons for the Deputy Vice
Chancellor’s contest in the Senate of ESUT, to
enable him determine his deputy based on his perception of that
academic that will cooperate, collaborate, compliment and harmoniously
work with him.
Prof
A.E. Uzoagulu should also recognise his limits as a deputy, if he does
not already know his limits, the Chief Executive should do well to
constantly remind him of this, in order to avoid future conflicts with
his deputy. (But how can he (Prof Uzoagulu) know his limit when the Vice
Chancellor Prof Onyeji does not even know his powers).
UNENDING
ACADEMIC AND GRADUATION SESSION
A
significant evidence that ESUT has regressed further since the
inception of the Prof C.O. Onyeji’s administration is the“Unending
2010/2011 graduation year” for the 2007 set of students who registered
for a 4 year program and the 2006 set of students who registered for a 5
year program. This is despite the fact that the 2011/2012 session has
gone midstream with first semester examinations (for 2011/2012)
anticipated after the Easter break.
The 2010/2011 2nd
semester (degree) examinations were done in November/December 2011 at
the same time Federal University of
Technology, Owerri (FUTO), UNN, Abia State University (ABSU) and
some other universities did theirs. The students of FUTO, UNN, ABSU and
others are in the batch of NYSC that left for their service in February
2012 and they had their convocation in December 2011, about 7 – 8 weeks
after the degree examinations.
The
2010/2011 graduating students are battling with project defence amidst
the challenges of non-funding of their departments and the reliance on
them (the students) to provide entertainments for the defence and host
the external examiners.
Their
degree results are yet to be computed up to their penultimate
graduation years in most cases. They have been told they are not for
processing for June batch NYSC because their results would not be ready
by then. Even the November batch of the NYSC is doubtful going by the
pace of the exercise! What we find is the perennial ESUT problem of
doing computation of degree results 1 year after the final exams are
written! Has anything changed? Even while the computations are going on,
complaints are loud about missing results which are not addressed or
addressed belatedly in very few cases.
Many
students not having access to the official e-mail of the Vice
Chancellor which is in coma and having been disregarded by the official
channels of lodging their complaints, have resorted to posting their
comments about their plights in ESUT in the internet for the entire
world to know and ask questions. One of such internet postings appeared
in the Nairaland Forum, an internet platform with 875,571 members as at 31st March, 2012. In that posting the student HenryK wrote
“What
has happened to the fight against corruption? The Vice Chancellor of
this school is something else. Students wonder if he is really EDUCATED
or just schooled. It beats my imagination that the supposed no-nonsense
governor of EnuguState keeps
quiet when he is supposed to be shouting, please somebody should come to
our aid. We are tired of unending academic session. Our final year
students are overdue for graduation”
In that posting, the student had uncomplimentary and harsh words for the EnuguState
government just because of the mismanagement and maltreatment of
students in ESUT! The present management of ESUT under Prof C.O. Onyeji
is bringing disrepute and bad name to the good efforts of the Governor
Sullivan Chime’s government to develop the State and ESUT in
particular. With close to a million members of Nairaland Forum and a
readership of over 10 million plus, such damaging commentary on the
Enugu State Government on account of inefficiencies, laxities and
incompetence of the ESUT administration should call for an overhaul of
that administration so that they wake up to their responsibilities to
all the stakeholders of ESUT.
NON-FUNDING OF UNITS, DEPARTMENTS AND FACULTIES
Units,
Departments and Faculties in ESUT are severely and deliberately starved
of funds by the Vice Chancellor, Prof C.O. Onyeji. Despite the
expressed
pronouncement of Prof. Onyeji when he came newly to ESUT to ensure that
units, departments and faculties are properly funded to stop the
dependence on students for such funding of departments, units and
faculties, the Vice Chancellor has not lived up to his words.
This
deliberate non-funding of units, departments and faculties cannot be
excused for whatever reason since it is observed that the Vice
Chancellor’s office, or any activity or groups he is interest in are
properly funded, in some cases with blank cheques. This non-funding was
one of the daunting challenges made known to Prof Onyeji during his
interaction with professors, the Senate and other stakeholders, yet two
(2) years into his administration; the Vice Chancellor has done
nothing to address this issue!
FRUSTRATION OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN COMMITTEE
Many
months after the inauguration of the Strategic Plan Committee charged
with the formulation of a detailed 5 year strategic plan for the
university, there is no evidence that that committee is even working.
Most members of the university community in ESUT are not even aware of
the existence of a strategic plan committee even as that committee will
soon age; not to talk of their e-mail address or contact addresses for
the purpose of receiving memoranda from stakeholders and interest
groups.
The
concept of strategic planning and its primacy in the management of
universities is now very well known and widely encouraged by the NUC. No
sensitisation exercise has been done by the committee to mobilise and
harness all shades of opinions to aid their work. The Vice Chancellor,
Prof Onyeji has not shown leadership by showing interest in the work of
this committee by giving them funding, timelines for submission of their
interim and final reports. This lack of funding had put serious
constraints on the abilities of this committee to function.
FRUSTRATION OF STAFF
Most
clerical, academic, administrative, technical and professional staff of
ESUT are frustrated due to the deliberate delays of the appraisal
process and outright inability of the Registry to bring the appraisals
and promotions exercise up to date. The recently conducted appraisals
and promotions exercise was for the year 2006 and that exercise was
concluded some months ago. Since the conclusion of the 2006 appraisals
and promotions exercise, the Vice Chancellor has not deemed it necessary
to direct the Registry to begin the process of 2007 – 2012 appraisals
and promotions exercise in order to clear the backlog.
Prof
Chinedu Nebo inherited a similar situation of backlog in appraisals and
promotions when he went to the UNN as the Vice Chancellor. Recognising
the imperatives of a well motivated and contented work force, Prof C.
Nebo worked hard and within his tenure as vice chancellor, he was able
to update the appraisals and promotions exercise. That singular
achievement lifted the morale of workers and contributed immensely in
the advancement of the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka. What do we have in ESUT? A Vice Chancellor that was just barely
able to do 2006 appraisals and promotions with all the attendant
inefficiencies, lapses and intrigues in two years, and has no plans to
begin another round of appraisals. What is worse, is that the financial
entitlements due to the lateness of the promotions are never given to
promoted staff as all promotions are made with notional effects from
dates in the past, making the promoted staff members pay heavily for the
incompetence and ineffectiveness of the ESUT administration. Staff
members are deeply frustrated with the insensitivities of Prof. C. O.
Onyeji, Vice Chancellor ESUT, who has no clues about how to quicken the
pace of his administration.
IRREGULAR PAYMENT OF STAFF SALARIES
Staff
salaries and allowances are now paid in a highly irregular manner such
that ESUT
month now exceeds seven weeks in some cases. The Pro-Chancellor said
this much during his maiden interactive session with academic and senior
administrative and professional staff. Payment of arrears of salaries
which accumulated during and before the strike of 2010 is not in the
contemplation of Prof C.O. Onyeji led management of ESUT. Despite
irregular payment of staff salaries, members of the top level management
of ESUT are busy employing indiscriminately and without advertisement
and disregarding due process all manner of staff: clerical,
administrative, technical and academic staff. This is without minding
whether the system needs such new staff.
AIDING AND ABATING
CORRUPTION
In
several petitions addressed to the Vice Chancelor of ESUT, Prof C.O.
Onyeji, we reported Prof S.I. Oluka, Dean Faculty of Engineering, ESUT
and some of his cohorts for serial extortion of staff and students of
the Faculty of Engineering. In each petition, we presented
incontrovertible evidence such as bank account numbers and bank account
details used by this Prof S.I. Oluka for executing his extortionist
acts. We presented incontrovertible evidence showing how the extortion
acts were done by the Dean of Engineering, and how much illegal and
illegitimate proceeds the Prof S.I. Oluka, Dean of Engineering, ESUT had
made for himself.
In
our petition on the 30th Engineering Faculty Anniversary Scam, we
reported to the Vice Chancellor how Prof S.I. Oluka had used the name
and reputation of the university, including the name and reputation of
her principal head, the Vice Chancellor, to solicit and obtain funds:
cash, gifts, contributions and donations without the authorisation of
the university. We presented evidence, provided by this same Prof S.I.
Oluka in his Curriculum Vitae found in www.esutengineering.net,
the faculty of engineering website; that this same Prof. S. I. Oluka
wrote as part of his special achievements/contributions to university
and humanity. We reproduce verbatim from our earlier petition (titled;
ENGR. PROF. SYLVESTER IKE OLUKA REVEALS HIS OVER N150 MILLION FRAUD)
addressed to the Vice Chancellor.
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTS/CONTRIBUTIONS TO UNIVERSITY & HUMANITY
Prof. Sylvester Ike Oluka declares as follows:
1. 30th Anniversary of ESUT Engineering
As
Dean of Engineering of ESUT I initiated and successfully organised ESUT
Engineering @ 30, the first ever organised anniversary and home coming
of ESUT Engineering Alumni and the university as a whole (20 – 24th
November, 2010). The anniversary attracted cash donations and projects
worth over N150 million.
2. Building of an ICT Centre
During
the 30th anniversary of the Faculty which I initiated, ESUT Alumni in
CHEVRON, in collaboration with CHEVRON Nigeria, has started the
construction of an ICT hall for the Faculty of Engineering of ESUT. The
project was billed to cost N40 million.
3. Mitsubishi Montero Jeep
One
of the proceeds of the 30th anniversary is a brand new Mitsubishi
Montero Jeep bought by the planning committee for the Faculty of
Engineering. This was the first in the history of the University.
4. ESUT Engineering Website
In
support of the 30th anniversary
of the Faculty organised by my administration as Dean, ESUT Engineering
Alumni in Chevron, has funded the establishment of ESUT Engineering
website: www.esutengineering.net.
There are other spurious and phony achievements of his which we deemed not necessary to be accommodated here.
OUR COMMENTS
1. According
to Prof. Oluka, the 30th anniversary of ESUT Engineering attracted cash
donations and projects worth over N150 million. In the first place,
there is nothing like over certain amount of money. In accounting the
monetary value must be precise. What is the value of the cash component
of the donations? What is the monetary value of the projects components?
Who are the trustees of the cash and projects? What legal instruments
were used in creating the trustees? What is the relationship of the
trustees and the university authorities? Which account and at which bank
is the money paid? How and when were those cash lodgements made
to the bank accounts? The EFCC should be invited to investigate these
fraudulent transactions.
2. Building
of an ICT centre that cost N40 million. Where is the construction site
of this engineering ICT Centre? Who are the project managers? Which
committee in Engineering and ESUT liaised with the donors? What is the
name and makeup of the committee of Engineering and ESUT that oversees
the implementation? What are the details contained in the memorandum of
understanding?
3. Mitsubishi
Montero Jeep: At what price was it bought, from where and by who? Why
has Prof. S.I. Oluka deleted the name of the donors from the body of the
vehicle?
4. ESUT
Engineering Website. ESUT Engineering website we know had been there
before the home coming last year and was funded by monies levied and
extorted from staff, students and student’s bodies of Engineering
Faculty. How come it is again being funded by ESUT Engineering Alumni in
CHEVRON?
Remember
that this is the same website Prof. S.I. Oluka used when attempting to
deceive the Vice Chancellor that he is the most efficient Dean in ESUT
where he claimed that the website harbours over 10,000 students’
results. No need to ask about those results now because they never
existed.
Moreover,
a critical analysis of this website reveals so much of who Prof. Oluka
is. The only improvement in the Engineering Website is Prof. Oluka’s
removal of his profile.
In
addition, studying the Engineering website closely, it is clear that it
contains a lot of falsehood and actions targeted to humiliate staff
members of the faculty and deceive the general public. Furthermore, he
used the Engineering website to settle his imaginary scores with some
staff whom he believes are not desirable.
In
another petition we reported how Prof S.I. Oluka opened an illegal bank
account and was forcing students to pay the sum of N5000 each (which
will net over N40 million) into that bank account for COREN
accreditation levy as evidenced by the
text messages he sent out to officials of the faculty students
association (NUESA).
We
provided evidence of the bank account details used by the Dean of
Engineering, Prof S.I. Oluka, to commit this accreditation levy scam as
follows:
Name of Bank: Fidelity Bank
Account No: 5210009569
Account name: ESUT Faculty of Engineering.
We
reproduced the sms message sent by Prof S.I. Oluka, Dean of Engineering
in furtherance of his accreditation levy scam as follows:
“for the N5000 COREN accreditation levy Fidelity Bank account no: 5210009569
Account name: ESUT Faculty of Engineering circulate widely”
In
order to amplify the hideous and clandestine motives of Prof S.I.
Oluka’s accreditation levy, we put forward the following questions for
the reflection of the Vice Chancellor, and any other officers of the
university desirous of getting to the root of this mess.
The nefarious and hideous character of this bank account naturally bakes
these questions:
1. Why
has the Dean, Prof S.I. Oluka not openly written and signed circulars
clearly announcing the establishment of that bank account and its
intended purposes?
2. Does
the Dean have power to set-up bank accounts where funds or levies from
students and staff are paid without the express approval of
authorities above him and knowledge of the authorities above him?
3. Why is the Dean surresptiously using the NUESA executives to achieve these objectives?
4.
Why is Prof. Oluka threatening NUESA executives with sanctions
if they failed in getting their fellow students make payments into that
bank account?
5. Who are other trustees of this account?
6. How would the funds generated from
such payments be accounted for?
7. Where
are the lists of the university approved projects, procurements etc
meant for the accreditation exercise for which these payments are being
solicited?
8. What
is the cost of the university approved projects, procurements etc for
the entire accreditation exercise for the Faculty of Engineering?
9. And many more inexhaustible whys, where, what and how.
Despite
all these
incontrovertible evidence, the Vice Chancellor Prof Cyprian Ogbonna
Onyeji has done nothing to investigate Prof S.I. Oluka and his
activities of extortion, scams, improper conducts and abuse of office.
We
have reflected seriously on the foregoing and consequent upon surmising
facts, arrived at the conclusion that either the Dean of Engineering
Prof S.I. Oluka has heavily compromised the Vice Chancellor Prof C.O.
Onyeji thus rendering him impotent and incapable of investigating him
or, the Vice Chancellor, Prof C.O. Onyeji himself is part of the scams,
extortion and frauds committed by Prof S.I. Oluka and his cohorts.
The
Dean of Engineering, Prof S.I. Oluka, has continued to boast that the
Vice Chancellor, Prof C.O. Onyeji is in his back pocket. He has
continued to boast of his connections and far reach even in the
management team led by Prof C.O. Onyeji. Prof S.I. Oluka, with his short
memory has forgotten that the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of ESUT
Governing Council was a member of the visitation panel into ESUT. Prof
S.I. Oluka has forgotten that on the last day of the public hearing, the
class representative of that class of Agric Engineering (who was then
on his national youth service) that was extorted to the tune of N1.3
million (for which Prof. S.I. Oluka benefited N315,000 and was made to
refund same under the deanship of Engr Dr. Eric Okafor) presented
evidence and testimonies of Prof S.I. Oluka’s serial extortion of staff
and students, sexual harassment of students,
harassment of departmental staff and students, intimidation of
departmental staff and students, corruption, abuse of office and other
unprintable evils. It beats our imagination that the Vice Chancellor
pretends to be ignorant of all these facts especially when this
visitation panel concluded their work and submitted their visitation
report to government almost two years before he became the Vice
Chancellor of ESUT. Furthermore, if Prof C.O. Onyeji posits that he is
ignorant of Prof S.I. Oluka’s antecedents, which means he has never read
the visitation panel report, we then concur with Prof S.I. Oluka that
his appointment as vice chancellor is a huge mistake. This means that
Prof C.O. Onyeji was never prepared and not even qualified to be the
Vice Chancellor of ESUT going by the foregoing. Therefore, it is only
natural he should be granted exit of the system before he completely
collapses it.
Reliefs Sought
1. Prof
C.O. Onyeji, Vice Chancellor of ESUT, should immediately be relieved of
his appointment as Vice Chancellor having shown gross incompetence,
lack of leadership, absence of foresight and dereliction of duty.
2. Prof
C.O.
Onyeji, should be removed from office as Vice Chancellor, having shown
gross insensitivity to the plights of students in disregarding their
protest and appeals for graduation as and when due.
3. Prof
C.O. Onyeji, should be removed from office as Vice Chancellor, for show
of gross incompetence in handling the petitions so far sent to his
office concerning corruption, scams, sexual harassment, abuse of office
and intimidations sent to his office regarding some high profile
officials of ESUT.
4. Prof
C.O. Onyeji, should be removed from office as Vice Chancellor, for
gross dereliction of duty having failed woefully to provide strategic
direction and leadership to the various organs of the university and
having left his primary responsibilities of leadership in the hands of
his subordinates.
To be continued
Cc
Hon. Commissioner for Education, EnuguState
Pro-Chancellor and Chairman ESUT Governing Council
Vice
Chancellor ESUT
Deputy Vice Chancellor ESUT
Registrar, ESUT
ASUU, ESUT
SSANU,
ESUT
NASU, ESUT
Student Union, ESUT
Ohaneze Ndigbo
The Clergy:
His Lordship, Bishop E.O. Chukwuma
His Lordship, Bishop C.V.C. Onaga
Msgr Obiora Ike
ESUT Governing Council
University Community
The General Public
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