UNICAL DVC Urge Students To ‘Do Aluta’ To Protest Victimization, Says Buying Textbooks Not Compulsory

By Archibong Jeremiah

The Deputy Vice Chancellor Academics, University of Calabar, Professor Florence Obi has called on students of the institution to go as far as protesting openly to expose lecturers who victimize them assuring that the University will support them.

She made her position known recently in an exclusive interview with CrossRiverWatch where she said for every genuine claim of victimization and other illegitimate treatments, the University management will back up the students.

“They can go out and do aluta on the streets over frivolous reasons, the one that affects their academics they are afraid to speak out.… but these are lecturers keeping them down and they cannot go on the streets to say this lecturer is holding me back, that is where we ask students to go out and demonstrate and expose the lecturer and the administration will back up such student. It will be very difficult for a lecturer to fail a good student.” She asserted.

Furthermore, Prof. Florence went on to reveal that the school management has not authorized any lecturer to make text books mandatory.

“A student cannot do without a text book, if you are a serious student you must buy text books, even in the secondary school, our children in the primary school, we buy books for them, what we are against is making them mandatory. The situation where they make students register compulsorily by buying text books is what we are against.”

She went on to say that though they as management have been making efforts to curb issues of compulsory text book purchase, the students are not making efforts in opening up because of fear of victimization.

She encouraged them to brace up in reporting such cases and any other form of illegitimate treatment from lecturers assuring that they will investigate all accusations with or without the students’ identity but cautioned that reported cases must be genuine.

The DVC Academics ended by saying that the institution’s current administration led by Prof. Zana Akpagu is poised to move the University forward in all areas.