Some aggrieved parents of students of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Umuahia, Abia State, have commended the Federal Government for setting up investigative committees into cases of alleged fraud and mismanagement in some federal-owned tertiary institutions.
The parents are of the view that the committees are not only timely but will stop the schools from sliding under as a result of alleged “sharp unethical practices and financial recklessness” said to be pervading in some of the institutions.
In a statement issued in Umuahia, the Abia State capital and signed by the chairman, Obinna Nwosu, and the secretary, Tony Okoro, of the parents body, the parents regretted that some of the vice chancellors had elevated themselves into “tin gods,” alleging that some of them had gone to the point of running the institutions like personal enterprises.
According to them, matters had been made worst in some of the institutions by the alleged brazen usurpation of the duties of the Governing Councils by the vice chancellors reportedly rendering the system ineffective and inefficient.
The parents also noted that at Michael Okpara University, their petition to the Governing Council over the alleged excesses and recklessness of the management was largely ignored.
“When we openly demonstrated against the academic and financial fraud in the university, the management arrested some of us and tortured us in their secret chambers until the police rescued us. Some of the scandalous activities we complained against have been thriving since then,” they said.
The aggrieved parents disclosed that they were forced to take their grievances to the National Assembly when it became clear that the vice chancellor, Hillary Edeoga, was impervious to reason.
“We are appearing before the Senate to defend our petition against Edeoga, because our children have really suffered under this man who has compromised the standard of education,” they alleged.
They also alleged that their wards had lost so many years as their courses had not been accredited, whereas the management deceived them to believe otherwise.
They therefore urged Adamu Adamu, education minister, to ensure that the committees were not only thorough but beyond reproach in the execution of their assignments.
They pledged to make available to the committee visiting Umudike relevant documents that would aid them in the discharge of their duties.
