By: U.O. Iwuji, PhD
FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC NEKEDE REACTS
Our attention has been drawn to a disparaging Facebook video made and circulated by one Mr. Theodore Chinonso Ubah who goes by the sobriquet, Nonsonkwa, where he peddled cheap lies against the Rector and Management of the Polytechnic, over the no-fee-no-exam policy being legitimately enforced by the institution. In the said video, Nonsokwa accused the Rector of having his children abroad and allowing students to suffer. He also claimed that the Rector has a bitter mind in spite of being a Man of God. In the end, he played God by railing a verdict at both the Rector and his Management, claiming that God would never show them mercy because in his words, “They are merciless.”It has become necessary to state that the Rector’s children are not schooling abroad hence it is inconceivable that the innocent ones can be dragged into the agenda of mendacity peddled by Nonsonkwa.
Again, the Rector has never enforced any policy targeted to make students suffer. The memo notifying students of Management’s decision to introduce CBT exams in the first semester was published last year’s October so as to prepare their minds.
Even so, the Rector and his Management still bent backwards by postponing the first semester 2022/2023 exams two times. This was to give students more room to source their fees and pay. There is also an Education Foundation inaugurated by the Rector to assist indigent students pay their fees. The Rector and his Management had in time past donated generously to the three Chaplaincies in the institution to identify and assist indigent students pay their fees. So where does the tale of being merciless come in this case?It is also spurious to allege that no other higher institution enforces a no-fee-no-exam policy in Imo State except Federal Polytechnic Nekede.
There is indeed no institution that does not enforce the policy because it is within its legitimate rights. There are a lot of services to pay for and bills to take care of.
In the case of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, the liabilities are as humongous as the size of the student populace. The Federal Government only pays salaries and gives an overhead which can hardly power the institution, much less pay the hundreds of its temporary staff, security men, cleaners and others in its employ.Nonsonkwa claims that higher institutions in the north do not enforce the policy of no-fee, no-exam. This is another fat lie because some of us who schooled in the far north know better. It is not enough to reel out spurious statistics at the expense of facts. For one, I did my graduate studies in the north and nearly missed one of my exams on account of the policy.
Again, Nonsonkwa claimed that the fees of the Polytechnic are high compared to others. This is a big lie because when compared to other institutions’ fees, the Federal Polytechnic Nekede still has one of the most affordable fee structures because there are no hidden charges attached.
Again, textbooks are sold at an affordable and regulated rate in the Federal Polytechnic Nekede as students are free to report any lecturer who sells above the regulated price. Indeed, no textbook, however, voluminous goes for more than N2500 in the institution. In the same vein, the institution does not tolerate any act of exploitation, as students have dedicated lines to call when molested or exploited.It bears saying that there is no parent who sends his her ward to school without planning for their fees.
It is also misleading to pontificate that the institution should allow students write all their exams until they are ready to do clearance. This is totally wrong and should not be used as a yardstick to arrive at any any premise because fees are expected to be paid for an institution to be run well. The costs of services rendered have skyrocketed just as a tanker of diesel which used to sell at N12M is now more than N30M, ditto for other services. The Federal Polytechnic Nekede which has been rated best-performing and most-sough-after polytechnic in Nigeria cannot afford to shut down operations because there is no money to pay for essential services, while a great percentage of students have not paid their fees.
It is unjustifiable and unfair to any organization.Now, it beggars belief that amid the giant strides the Arimanwa administration has made in infrastructural development, human capital development, technological and scientific inventions, digital revolution and linkages, among others, Nonsonkwa has never taken time to do a video commending the institution. He only lies in wait like a tigre to pounce on a contentious issue so as to disparage the Rector and his Management.
One is left with no other conclusion that Nonsonkwa may be a paid agent by instruments of destabilization to defame the Rector and the institution. Indeed, no one becomes great by defaming others as what goes around comes around. There is virtually no other state in Nigeria where heads of academic institutions are defamed and disparaged by self-appointed activists and bloggers.
It is sad that in Imo, the likes of Nonsonkwa have chosen to slander those in position of power as a way of gaining cheap and false popularity. He spews lies from both sides of the mouth and speaks in an unmeasured tone – full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (apologies to William Shakespeare).
At a time the world has moved on to development journalism, we still have a character like Nonsonkwa who spouts falsehood against others in order to derive false pleasure. Characters like Theodore Chinonso Ubah (Nonsonkwa) are predictable. Their aim is to attack, disparage and run down personalities for personal gain. They wear the mask of self-righteous activists to seek cheap popularity and make capital out of it.
It has, therefore, become necessary to advise Mr Ubah and his kind to be useful to themselves and society instead of looking for who to malign for selfish aggrandizement. But as for the lies Mr Ubah has peddled against the Rector and his Management team, necessary measures have been taken to let justice prevail. Certainly, he would answer for his wiles and lies.
Engr. Dr. Michael Chidiebere Arimanwa FNSE, FNICE, FNIWE, FOSHA, JP, whom he runs down has won best Rector award in Nigeria for a record five times, and is still soaring. His achievements are as tall as his tall frame. Thus, no campaign of calumny will ever distract him. He is a man of grace whose time has come. Nonsonkwa might as well think deeply and ask himself why the man he defames at any given paid opportunity has continued to bestride the space of fame like a colossus.
U.O. Iwuji, PhD
Media Adviser to the Rector
9News Nigeria (Owerri) For inquiries on this news contact 9News Nigeria Imo State @08036856526
