BY: Madu Giftus- (Owerri)
The failed broadcaster, Chinonso Theodore Ubah, who has been variously suspended by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) usually speaks to be heard from both sides of the mouth. He insults and disparages individuals in order to gain fans. He wants to be a populist with no known credible antecedent.
The well-known drug addict throws abusive epithets on people in authorities to gain cheap popularity. He vied for election into the Federal House with the belief that the lies on which he rode would grant him a place in the legislative house. But he failed woefully, and predictably so.
Today, the stock-in-trade of Nonsonkwa is to insult the Management of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede and her Rector over the decision of the institution to enforce a no-fee-no-exam policy in the face of skyrocketing costs of services and the marginal percentage of students that has paid school fees.
The enforcement of a policy is within the jurisdiction of any institution and one wonders the interest of the interloper, Chinonso Uba. A tanker of diesel which used to sell at N12M is now over N33M and the polytechnic runs over ten (10) diesel-powered generators across her eight schools and five divisions. There are hundreds of security men, hundreds of cleaners, hundreds of contract staff and hundreds of part-time staff to pay. Yet, students who should pay their fees rarely cooperate. In fact, less than 20% of them pay their fees from semester to semester. They only wait for when they graduate to do the needful at the time of clearance.
But time and tide have since changed. Higher institutions no longer depend on the government as it practically no longer funds the running costs incurred on a daily basis. In the case of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, for instance, the overhead that the government sends can hardly buy a 33,000 litre of diesel much less defray other expenses. In practical terms therefore, the institution might as well shut down if students do not pay their fees as and when due.
Since the introduction of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), what the Federal Government literally owes any institution are the salaries and emoluments of the staff. It is important that these issues are put in perspective so that an outsider can understand the situation. It therefore beggars belief when people who thrive in crisis like Nonsonkwa speak with a tongue of a drunk and a mind of an ignoramus. Today, the conman Nonsonkwa encourages students not to pay their fees because the times are hard. He also abuses the Rector and Management for their efforts in making students pay their fees.
Pray, is there any parent that sends their wards to school without preparing for their fees? Is there any child who goes to school without prioritizing his/her school fees? Is there any school that runs well when fees are not paid? What is special with that of Federal Polytechnic Nekede? What is the basis of the lies peddled by the loser, Nonsonkwa against the institution? As a liar who is a veteran in mendacity in exchange for cheap popularity, Theodore Chinomso Ubah knows his mouth is foul with unnecessary falsehood. He lied in a video clip that no other school enforces a no-fee-no-exam policy. There is nothing farther from the truth because there is no higher institution even around Imo State that does not enforce the policy.
He also lied that higher institutions in the north do not enforce the policy. Again, this is a piece of falsehood. I did my graduate studies in far north, precisely, Ahmadu Bello University, where some of my course mates were not allowed into the exam hall because they could not pay their fees. So, what is the basis of the lies Nonsonkwa peddles if not for cheap popularity. Again, in the spur of his drunken rambling, the lie peddler, Nonsonkwa, stated that the Rector had his children schooling abroad and that he had no milk of human kindness.
Again, these are cheap falsehoods intended only to malign and hurt the hard-earned reputation of the Rector, Engr. Dr. M.C. Arimanwa, who had won best Rector in Nigeria for five times, courtesy of nationally and internationally acclaimed bodies. For the records, no child of the Rector’s schools abroad and by virtue of his attitude to life, the thought of sending his children outside the country is an impossibility. It is also on record that the Rector and Management at different times had donated their resources to fund the fees of the indigent among the student populace. This can be verified from the three chaplaincies in the polytechnic which disbursed the funds. The Rector has also attracted funds from public spirited organisations to assist the indigent among the students, though this is not in his line of duty, as any child who seeks admission to any institution should have a plan to fund his/her education.
All said, it is unfortunate that Nonsonkwa in the guise of an unsolicited mass advocacy only finds pleasure in abusing others. Although this may be a sign of little learning, which according to Alexander Pope, is very dangerous, Nonsonkwa is advised to focus on developmental communication and not pull-him-down paid jobs that he does with glee.
He has since the inception of the Arimanwa administration served as an agency through which detractors ventilate their frustration. Ironically, the national image Rector soars even higher as lowly minds like Nonsonkwa throw petty tantrums at him.
His administration has been defined by one invention or scientific breakthrough or the other. In all these giant leaps, Nonsonkwa and his ilk never for once commended him or discussed the merits of the achievements. Like agents they lie in wait to see any controversy to feed fat on. It is sad that men can degenerate to this this level.
Is there any difference between between such people and gun-wielding bandits? Only that the latter live in the bush while the former reside among men. We know people of Nonsonkwa’s kind, their harmatia and nemesis are predictable. They are flat characters in literature which are just stereotypes of jesters and roaring jackals for pastimes. Madu Giftus Writes from Owerri.
