…We are working on it – University authorities
Every year, brilliant scholars and class toppers look forward to financial windfalls from donors and lovers of academic excellence.
The best graduating students in most universities anywhere expect donors to cause money rain which would surely fall on the brightest ones.
Most universities organize honorary degree awards to very successful men and women in different walks of endeavour. These individuals would often sponsor prizes backed by big cash awards to best graduating students. At the end of the day, university authorities would separate theirs and hand the ones for the winning students to the owners. Everyone would be happy.
In the BNSU, the students who won the last edition prizes are not happy. This is because none has been handed his or her cash award, in fact, according to sources close to the wailing students, the university to this day has not allowed them to even get to know the amounts due them, five solid months after the expectation.
The apparent secrecy and non-disclosure seem to create fears of suspicion of either fraud or diversion.
If the students get scared, they may not be out of place, or would not be blamed. This is because, the BNSU, established by Orshio Moses Adasu, a catholic cleric, in 1992 academic year, has often been in the public glare for issues bothering on fraud or scandals.
In the Benue State University (BNSU), the joy that goes with winning as best graduating student seems to turn sour and the opposite has become the case in recent times. This is because at the last graduating ceremony (convocation), some illustrious personalities awarded prizes for best graduating students in both the Post Graduate and Undergraduate levels. One of them is Sylvanus Gaserah, a financial mogul and chief engineer.
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Those present on the day, December 7, 2024, said the prizes were only announced with amounts not stated. The students who spoke with newsmen on condition of anonymity said they never haboured fears because they felt the records would be with the administration especially at the bursary unit.
First shock came, according to them, when they went to pick up the funds and it turned almost to a Ponzi scheme. They have never been given to money, whatever the amounts, and they have never been allowed to know how much they were worth, apart from the several millions they heard from the Chief Engineer.
Instead, according to lecturers and other non-academic staff angry with the situation, winners were asked to collect the awards at the academic office. “At academic office, winners signed for collection of letters of award. The letters never stated how much were any awards but they were told to proceed to bursar’s office and collect the awards on presentation of the letters.”
This is where the game was said to take another twist because at the bursar’s office the winners were asked to write application for redemption of the prizes, which they did, for amounts they were allegedly never told.
A trusted source said: “Since that time no winner has been issued any cash or check or any more statement from bursar.
Meanwhile the university council led by Paul Chukwuma, a Knight, is said to have suspended the bursar and five other directors of the university over financial issues being investigated.
The University which has made mark in producing record breaking academics especially in Mathematics, has however also been involved in several scandals, including a case of a sacked lecturer for rape and sexual harassment of female students. The university also faced allegations of unlawful dismissal and fraud related to the 2022/2023 admission exercise.
Additionally, there have been reports of false allegations against the Bursar and ICT Director, as well as issues regarding the processing of examinations and transcripts.
The BNSU was forced at a point to set up a fact-finding committee to investigate malpractices in the processing of examinations, transmission of transcripts, and result.
Most of the prize winners fear their prize money may end up in another fact-finding committee in a state famous for snake being accused of swallowing funds belonging to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) right inside their vault.
The university authorities are however said to be doing something about it. After several months of inquiry, Paul Atakpugh, the Assistant Public Relations Officer (PRO), who had promised to find out the true situation, returned a message of hope thus: “Good afternoon, Sir. We have contacted the Bursary Department of the University, and they have acknowledged receipt of the letters from the beneficiaries. The documents are currently being processed for necessary action.”
