Joseph Odok|14 March 2017
Only strangers to Unical Community were invited and given Honorary Degrees; those with visible contributions were not invited
University of Calabar’s 30th Convocation has come and gone but their flaw of insensitivity will haunt the community for posterity. This is because it is those alien to the Unical Community that were rewarded and those with visible contributions not even invited, not to talk of acknowledged or rewarded.
I had hoped to see the likes of Senator Ita Enang invited for his contributions in the building of Unical Law library, apart from his contributions to academic growth of the Institution. I had also longed to see Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba visibly recognized and given an Honorary Degree at Law for building the Faculty of Law Complex, as well as for his other contributions which includes the funding and maintaining of the Law Chambers in the Faculty of Law but surprisingly, he was not even invited to the event! I had equally longed to see Chief Clement Ebri, the former Governor of Cross River State at the Ceremony but regrettably his colleague a former Governor of Anambra State who served during the same period was invited and given open recognition. If this was an oversight, I dare say it was the mother of all oversights!!!
In the Unical Community today, only Prof Rowland Ndoma-Egba has risen to the position of Pro-Chancellor yet none of his details are contained in any archive of the University, nor has he been recognized in any fora of the Unical Community. In fact even when Prof. Rowland Ndoma Egba came on invitation of major Ukpo, he was not offered a seat and remained standing during the convocation exercise
University of Calabar conferred Honorary Degrees on: General Anthony Ukpo, (Doctor of Laws) Alh. (Dr.) Umarun Kwabo A. A. Jarman Sokoto, (Doctor of Business Administration) and Sir Daniel Nanneka Chukwudozie (Doctor of Science) Without contending with the qualifications of these men or their supposed contributions to the growth of the Institution I think it would be measurably and significantly better to recognize those that have identified with the community first in areas of infrastructural support and financially; especially those from our local community.
The University of Calabar must rise to this consciousness and look at the efforts and contributions made to it inwardly first in subsequent convocation exercises so that the efforts of our patrons in the Unical Community would not go unrewarded and unappreciated.
Joseph Odok
Social Change Agent
