39th UNICAL Students Week: APC Guber Candidate, Odey Ochicha Barred From Delivering Public Lecture

By Monday Ogar/Raymond Ekemini

The University of Calabar has commenced her 39th Students Week with the theme ‘Unity in Diversity’.

The theme according to the Students’ Union Government Vice-President Comrade Akpan Inemesit Solomon who is also the chairman of the students week planning committee, was chosen because it dwells on Nigeria’s existence as a nation, and encompasses the different languages, cultures, traditions and religions in Nigeria.

Inemesit who was speaking at a solemn Assembly to kick-start the celebration, said the cultural carnival will act as a melting pot for representatives of ethnic groups in the school.

The Students’ Week which runs from the 12th to the 18th of January features a Solemn Assembly, Carnival, inter-faculty spelling competition, talent hunt, comedy show, a trip to Obudu Cattle ranch and lots of other activities.

But the drama that has characterized this years’ Students Week, beginning with the forced disruption of lectures by SUG officials, culminated in the denial of entrance to the scheduled guest lecturer by the institution security men.

The long anticipated and publicized public lecture according to our reporter was aborted because the guest lecturer, Mr. Odey Ochicha, who is also the governorship candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC was barred from entering the institution.

The venue for the lecture/ talk show was the malabor square, and had students fully seated and awaiting the guest lecturer, only to get the information that he was not granted entrance into the university.

Chairman of the Students Week Planning Committee, Inemesit Akpan who informed CrossRiverWatch that the order to stop the lecturer from entering the school came from above.

Also, the SUG President, Ajang Emmanuel confirmed that the guest lecturer was denied entrance into the University for security reasons.

Also speaking, the Commander of Man O’ War on the campus added that the guest lecturer was barred from entering the institution for security threats and also for political reasons.

Meanwhile, majority of the students who reacted attributed the development to politics and accused the ruling party of stopping the guest lecturer from attending a scheduled lecture because he is the governorship candidate of the opposition party, APC.

All efforts to speak with the Dean of Students Affairs of the Institution and Mr. Odey Ochicha were futile as several calls to their phones were not taken.