Reactions As UNICAL VC, Florence Obi Asks Final Year Students To Return To 200 Level

Some students of the University of Calabar, Cross River State have called out the institution's new Vice-Chancellor, Florence Obi, for asking final-year students in some selected departments to go back to 200-level due to non-accreditation of their courses by the National Universities Commission. The students, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told SaharaReporters that the courses have gulped millions of naira taken from their families.

They, therefore, described the VC's decision as inhumane and inconsiderate.

The students explained that courses affected by the accreditation issue include Fine and Applied Arts, Mass Communication, and Music.

According to them, the affected courses were newly introduced during the administration of the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the school, Zana Akpagu.

They alleged that the new Vice-Chancellor of the institution had non-public rankings to settle with the previous Vice-Chancellor and that the animosity become taking a toll on college students' lives.

One of the respondents said, “I have an trouble in my school and I don't know in which it's far heading to. I am a final-yr pupil within the Fine and Applied Arts department on the University of Calabar but the Vice-Chancellor is telling us to head lower back to Year  so that NUC will comprehend us. This is after paying college fees for four years and losing cash for materials that have so far, amounted to millions of naira. The new VC is now telling us we ought to comply with this directive else we can now not have a end result.”

Another student defined the VC's directive as unfair, pronouncing the problem ought to be reconsidered for the sake of the students.

He said, “There's an issue going on this is definitely unfair. We are students of the University of Calabar. We have been in the school from a hundred degree to final year. For some of us in decided on departments such as Fine & Applied Arts, Mass Communication and the rest, the VC is are telling us that we must cross returned to 200 degree and we're already within the very last yr.

“We have spent cash; Fine and Applied Arts gulps numerous cash, we're in final year and now they are telling us to go lower back to 200 stage and it's miles simply an accreditation issued with the aid of the NUC and now the new VC does no longer need to don't forget humans. Something has to be accomplished.”

When requested if the VC promised a lessons waiver for the scholars, he replied that college costs had been the least of his issues but alternatively the time and efforts wasted through the years.

He endured, “Paying college charges isn't an issue, we aren't involved approximately that. Do you already know, every now and then, in a day we spend like N5, 000 to N6, 000 in shopping for chemical compounds and the rest and we did this for 4 years. We are making plans on taking felony steps towards them.

“Our set is the primary set of Fine & Applied Arts in UNICAL along Mass Communication and Music, they had been not taking the direction earlier than now, they simply registered it.

“The former VC, we believe has an difficulty with the new VC and this new VC cannot cross and settle the issues they have so we will graduate in peace, they are making it to affect us. The former VC introduced the publications. We can not go through because of someone else's private troubles.”