An Open Letter To Noble Eyisi, UNIZIK SUG President, By Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu

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An Open Letter To Comrade NobleEyisi, President Students' Union Government, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State

* By Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu

Sir, congratulations once more on your election as the number one student of the great Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka (UNIZIK). When I heard the news of your election, I was not only happy because you have been my good friend but I was impressed because for such office to be occupied by an undergraduate of the department of political science means that the interest of the students and the goodwill of the university will always be promoted.

However sir, I will be a bad friend if I fail to tell you the truth no matter how bitter it may be. I decided to make this letter public because you always prefer to make your mind and intentions public. Also I see it as a necessity to allow the public to read this because I have observed that you have numerous E-Supporters and praise singers so through this medium, they will also understand some facts which will enable them to advise you properly. I also decided to publish this now because I see it as a necessity to always hear from both sides of an argument before making a stand because that will will give me enough facts to either praise or criticise any of the parties involved.

Sir, I came across a letter signed by you and dated 4th May 2015 in which you accused the vice chancellor of the university Prof. Joseph Eberendu Ahaneku of exploiting prospective candidates and students of the university. I was very glad when I saw the questions you raised in the letter but after examining the reactions of the university over them, I observed that you committed fatal abuse of protocol in the process. You should have waited for the university to either reply or dismiss your letter without reason(s) before rushing to the media to raise alarm. Raising alarm through the media without giving the university time to either respond respond to the letter or turn it down only proved the point that you deliberately want to blackmail the vice chancellor and the university in order to gain some cheap popularity.

Also sir, it is very necessary to begin the change campaign in the union before extending it to the university community because charity they say begins at home. The SUG of UNIZIK has always been in the news for negative reasons in the past three years. It is expected that your first agenda should be cleaning up the union and making it maximally free from all corrupt practices which will certainly transform it to a true students' union. It was also expected that you will champion a unity campaign within the union. Sadly enough, few days after your inauguration, your fellow elected officials started complaining about high handedness from your office and turning the SUG into a one-man business.

The Students' Representatives Council (SRC) which is the legislative arm of union had also accused you severally of sidelining the elected executive members of the union, making appointments and implementing some decisions made without its approval which are against the provisions of the union's constitution. An accusation of collecting millions of naira from politicians and individuals in the name of UNIZIK students without accounting for those money was also levelled against you.

Sir, in order to achieve a successful leadership, you must endeavor to promote mutual relationship within the union. Always note that you were elected alongside other officials to promote the interests of students and goodwill of the university. By your election, you were expected to be a democrat and not a dictator. Always, work with your fellow executives and never neglect any of the executive offices. You can only achieve a mutual relationship with them by been transparent and a protector of the SUG constitution.

Also sir, it is very important that you issue an immediate apology to the students through the SRC for working outside the provisions of the SUG constitution. After that, always consult the constitution before making any decision. Also endeavor to explain to the SRC how much you have collected from politicians or any body (if any) in the name of UNIZIK students and what those funds were used for. Kindly note that failure to do so is enough for the SRC to commence your impeachment process. Failure to account for any fund you received in the name of students will also amount to diversion of public funds which is a typical corruption case that the incoming Buhari's administration has always vowed to fight.

May God forbid a political science undergraduate to be the first impeached SUG President in the university. This will tarnish your image and that of the department which may lead to a situation whereby you will be the last SUG President to come from Political Science department in the university.

Moreover sir, never be deceived by unnecessary praises. Those people singing your name like a hymn will never be with you when things turn against you due to maladministration. Focus on your obligations to the students and never be deceived by selfish individuals who will always like to hijack your administration which will certainly lead to its downfall. Remain Law abiding and always be a good disciple of the department of political science. Let accountability and transparency be your watchword.

May God grant you the wisdom to lead Zikites.

Thank you.

Yours,

Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu.

Exclusive: UNIZIK ADMIN vs SUG: University Responds, Accuses SUG President Of Over Desperation, Clears Air On The Questions Asked By The Union

* By Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu

The authorities of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka (UNIZIK) Thursday, responded to the allegations made by the president of Students' Union Government (SUG) Noble Eyisi against the university Vice Chancellor Prof. Joseph Eberendu Ahaneku.

Mr Eyisi had through a letter dated 4th May 2015, accused the Vice Chancellor of maladministration and exploitation of the students. In the letter, Mr Eyisi demanded answers from Mr. Ahaneku to some questions he raised. He asked the vice chancellor to disclose the status of the students' account and alleged that the SUG lacks access to it despite the fact that the students contribute annually to that through their school fees. He also demanded the reason why the Post UTME fees were increased from N1000 to N2000. Mr. Eyisi also asked the reason why newly admitted candidates were asked to pay N7500 as biometric capturing fees alleging that a total sum of N45,000 000 was generated from that since 6000 candidates were admitted in the 2014/2015 academic session.

In reaction to the issues raised by the president, the Director, Directorate of Information and Public Relations of the university Dr. Emmanuel Ojukwu in a long telephone chat with me Thursday night, apologised to the public especially the university community for the university's delayed response to the issues raised by the SUG president, he attributed that to a very busy week due to ongoing meeting of the university's governing council, and accused the SUG president Mr. Noble Eyisi of been over desperate to gain fame with the aid of some greedy persons. According to Mr. Ojukwu, Mr. Eyisi wrote the Vice Chancellor and instead of waiting for a response, he rushed to the press to publish same letter and also started publicising it in the university.

In reaction to the alleged increment in Post UTME fees and introduction biometric fees charges to newly admitted candidates, Mr. Ojukwu said that the students' leader lacks powers to demand answers to such from the Vice chancellor because Post-UTME candidates and newly admitted candidates that are yet to receive their registration numbers from the university are not undergraduates of the university who Mr. Eyisi represents. Mr. Ojukwu however, said that in order to promote transparency, the university decided to respond to that. According to him, Post-UTME organisation is usually an expensive task and in order to promote its standard, the university had no option than to increase its costs on candidates. He further maintained that due to the reforms by Mr. Ahaneku's led administration, for the first time in the university's history Post-UTME results were released 3hours after its conduct thereby preventing fraudsters from gaining opportunity to sabotage the process.

Mr. Ojukwu also disclosed that the N7,500 biometric charges on the newly admitted candidates were adequately utilised in the biometric screening of candidates during the Post-UTME which highly reduced impersonation. According to him, about 88 impostors were arrested during the exercise.

On the alleged prohibition of the SUG from students' account, Mr. Ojukwu said that the Vice Chancellor is never a signatory to the account. He said that signatories to SUG account include the Dean of Students and the SUG Financial Secretary. Mr. Ojukwu explained that the delay in the payment of the allowances of the SUG officials is due to the nonavailability of SUG budget as the President Mr. Eyisi is yet to present the union's budget.

On the alleged frustration of the union's efforts to compel food vendors within the university to reduce their charges to N150 per plate and other alleged harassments of the union officials, Mr. Ojukwu said the president acted without the approval of the students' representative council and the university had no option than to prohibit such which can lead to anarchy.

On the alleged late night invitation of the SUG president by the vice chancellor to sign some documents, the university's information and public relations director disclosed that such never happened and that the vice chancellor never invited him to sign any document as he alleged. Mr. Ojukwu disclosed that the vice chancellor called a meeting to address students in order to promote peace and justice in the university but the SUG president refused to attend. Mr. Ojukwu further said that Mr. Eyisi has failed to unite his fellow union officials as all of them are against him. He said that Mr. Eyisi has been having problem with other executives of the union including his vice but the university sees such as an internal affair of the students and therefore has always avoided to intervene in line with the policy of non interference in students' matters championed by the vice chancellor. He however advised Mr. Eyisi to reconcile with his fellow elected officials and face his obligations to the students instead of seeking for cheap popularity. He further advised the students' leader to avoid been influenced further by some aggrieved greedy persons who never want the progress of the university.

Mr. Ojukwu finally said that accusing the person of Prof. Joseph Ahaneku of corruption is ridiculous because he is a highly disciplined and principled man. "Can you imagine that when I made a request for the replacement of the toner of my printer, the vice chancellor ordered an investigation to certify the last time such replacement was made, I have worked with two vice chancellors before Prof. Ahaneku and to be honest with you, he Ahaneku is the most disciplined" he said.

UNIZIK ADMIN VS SUG: More Tension As SUG President Declares His Readiness For The Worst

* By Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu

Current tension in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka (UNIZIK) over a letter dated 4th May 2015 that was written to the university's vice chancellor Prof. Joseph Eberendu Ahaneku by the Students' leader Noble Eyisi appears to be on the increase as Comrade Eyisi alleged some acts of intimidation and harasment from the university authorities. The students' leader also declared his readiness for the worst from the university over his alleged failure to sign a document offered to him Tuesday night.

It is recalled that when Mr. Ahaneku assumed office as the Vice Chancellor, a new policy that demanded what was known as Biometric capturing fee of N7,500 from each of the newly admitted students was implemented. Also, an increment of N1000 in the costs of  Post UTME forms was implemented forcing the prospective candidates to pay N2,000 instead of the initial N1000. Worried by these and other policies of the university, the students' leader Noble Eyisi wrote a letter to Mr. Ahaneku for some explanations.

According to Mr. Eyisi, the vice chancellor should explain what the university did with the total sum of N45,000, 000 generated from the 6000 students admitted in the 2014/2015 academic session through the 'Biometric Capturing Fees that forces each of the new students to pay N7, 500 each.

Mr. Eyisi also asked the vice chancellor to explain the status of students' account sustained annually through union fees that are captured in the school fees. He lamented that despite the fact that the account belongs to students, the Union does not have access to it. He also wondered why the university authorities frustrated the efforts of the union to compel the food vendors within the university to reduce cost of their charges to N150 per plate since a bag of rice has since been reduced to N8000.

Mr. Eyisi further reminded the Vice Chancellor that the university is a public institution and urged him to always execute policies in a transparent manner in line with the spirit of change that is currently trending in the country as the incoming administration of Nigeria's president-elect Muhammadu Buhari has severally vowed not to tolerate any atom of corruption in the country.

Moreover, the students' leader on Wednesday May 13 2015 alleged further harassment on him and his staff by the university authorities. He made the allegation through a post on his Facebook timeline.

According to Mr Eyisi, he was called upon in the weak hours of Tuesday night by the Vice Chancellor and his people to sign a document but he refused to apend his signature and declared that he is waiting for the worst to happen.

Mr. Eyisi alleged that the letter was released in the morning of Tuesday 12th May 2015 to all Unizik Students as it was Copied to them originally, but then an order from above was given to raide all class rooms and seize the document from public knowledge. He futher alleged that the SUG President's Rooms were raided and turned up side down and that the SUG Bus was empounded and ransacked

Mr. Eyisi further stated that the Privacy and Security of Unizik SUG PRESIDENT has been breached and that an order for the arrest of some key SUG Officials has been given. According to him, around 9pm Tuesday, the President's aides were ambushed intimidated/bullied by the men of the Anti Cult and their phones were seized.

He finally declared that students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka are definitely worth the struggle and promised not abandon them or sell them out.

Meanwhile, the Director, Directorate of Information and Public Relations of the university Dr. Emmanuel Ojukwu in a text message Tuesday night, informed me that he will release the university's stand over the issue today. However, as at 5:30 PM Wednesday, no reaction has been received from the Information and Public Relations Directorate of the university. It is expected that the university will disclose its stand over the issue before the day ends.

Welcome To Another Edition Of The Historical Month Of The Year

* By Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu and History Orb

Fellow Nigerians, I warmly welcome you all to another edition of the month called May. May is not just a month; it is a month of icons, historical events, freedom, governance and humanity worldwide. Above all, it is my month of birth.

In case you don’t know, persons born in this month are unique and are always important citizens to the society. Therefore, if you were born in this special month, Congratulations!!!!!!!

Below are some of the historic events that occurred and are been celebrated worldwide in this special month.

May 1

May 1st - Observed as May Day, a holiday and spring festival since ancient times, also observed worldwide as a workers' holiday or Labour Day.

May 1, 1707 - Great Britain was formed from a union between England and Scotland. The union included Wales which had already been part of England since the 1500's. The United Kingdom today consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

May 1, 2004 - Eight former Communist nations and two Mediterranean countries joined the European Union (EU) marking its largest-ever expansion. The new members included Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, along with the island of Malta and the Greek portion of the island of Cyprus. They joined 15 countries already in the EU, representing in all 450 million persons.

Birthday - World War II General Mark Clark (1896-1984) was born in Madison Barracks, New York. He commanded the U.S. Fifth Army which invaded Italy in September of 1943, fighting a long and brutal campaign against stubborn German opposition.

May 2

May 2, 2011 - U.S. Special Operations Forces killed Osama bin Laden during a raid on his secret compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The raid marked the culmination of a decade-long manhunt for the elusive leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization based in the Middle East. Bin Laden had ordered the coordinated aerial attacks of September 11th, 2001, in which four American passenger jets were hijacked then crashed, killing nearly 3,000 persons. Two jets had struck and subsequently collapsed the 110-story Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, while another struck the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C. A fourth jet also headed toward Washington had crashed into a field in Pennsylvania as passengers attempted to overpower the hijackers on board.

Birthday - Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903) was born in Carpino, Italy (as Gioacchino Pecci). He was elected Pope in 1878 at age 67 and lived to govern the church another 25 years, laying the foundation for modernization of Church attitudes toward a rapidly industrializing and changing world.

May 3

Birthday - Italian writer and statesman Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was born in Florence, Italy. He offered a blunt, realistic view of human nature and power in his works The Prince and Discourses on Livy.

Birthday - Golda Meir (1898-1978) was born in Kiev, Russia. She was one of the founders of the modern state of Israel and served as prime minister from 1969 to 1974.

May 4

May 4, 1494 - During his second journey of exploration in the New World, Christopher Columbus discovered Jamaica.

May 5

May 5, 1865 - Decoration Day was first observed in the U.S., with the tradition of decorating soldiers' graves from the Civil War with flowers. The observance date was later moved to May 30th and included American graves from World War I and World War II, and became better known as Memorial Day. In 1971, Congress moved Memorial Day to the last Monday in May, thus creating a three-day holiday weekend.

Birthday - Communism founder Karl Marx (1818-1883) was born in Treves, Germany. He co-authored Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto, advocating the abolition of all private property and a system in which workers own all the means of production, land, factories and machinery.

Birthday - Pioneering American journalist Nellie Bly (1867-1922) was born in Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania (as Elizabeth Cochrane). She was a social reformer and human rights advocate who once posed as an inmate in an insane asylum to expose inhumane conditions. She is best known for her 1889-90 tour around the world in 72 days, beating by eight days the time of Phileas Fogg, fictional hero of Jules Verne's novel Around the World in Eighty Days.

May 6

Birthday - Psychoanalysis founder Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was born in Freiberg, Moravia. His theories became the foundation for treating psychiatric disorders by psychoanalysis and offered some of the first workable cures for mental disorders.

May 7

May 7, 1992 - The 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, prohibiting Congress from giving itself pay raises.

May 8

Birthday - International Red Cross founder and Nobel Prize winner Henri Dunant (1828-1910) was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He was also a founder of the YMCA and organized the Geneva Conventions of 1863 and 1864.

Birthday - Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) the 33rd U.S. President was born in Lamar, Missouri. He became president upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1945. Two weeks after becoming president he was informed of the top secret Atomic bomb project. In the war against Japan, an Allied invasion of Japan was being planned which would cost a minimum of 250,000 American lives. Truman then authorized the dropping of the bomb. On August 6, 1945, the first bomb exploded over Hiroshima, followed by a second bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9th. The next day, Japan sued for peace.

May 9

May 9th - Victory Day in Russia, a national holiday commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany during the "Great Patriotic War" (World War II) honoring the 20 million Russians who died in the war.

May 10, 1994 - Former political prisoner Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as president of South Africa. Mandela had won the first free election in South Africa despite attempts by various political foes to deter the outcome.

May 12, 1937 - George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey in London, following the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII. King George reigned until his death in 1952. He was succeeded by his daughter Elizabeth, the current reigning monarch.

May 13, 1981 - Pope John Paul II was shot twice at close range while riding in an open automobile in St. Peter's Square in Rome. Two other persons were also wounded. An escaped terrorist, already under sentence of death for the murder of a Turkish journalist, was immediately arrested and was later convicted of attempted murder. The Pope recovered and later held a private meeting with the would-be assassin and then publicly forgave him.

May 14

May 14, 1607 - The first permanent English settlement in America was established at Jamestown, Virginia, by a group of royally chartered Virginia Company settlers from Plymouth, England.

Birthday - German physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736) was born in Danzig, Germany. He introduced the use of mercury in thermometers and greatly improved their accuracy. His name is now attached to one of the major temperature measurement scales.

May 18

Birthday - Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) was born (as Karol Wojtyla) in Wadowice, Poland. In 1978, he became 264th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, the first non-Italian elected in 456 years and the first Polish Pope.

May 20

Birthday - Founder of modern Zionism Theodore Herzl (1860-1904) was born in Budapest, Hungary. He advocated the establishment of a new land for the Jews rather than assimilation into various, historically anti-Semitic, countries and cultures.

May 21

May 21, 1881 - The American Red Cross was founded by Clara Barton. The organization today provides volunteer disaster relief in the U.S. and abroad. Community services include collecting and distributing donated blood, and teaching health and safety classes.

May 22

May 22, 1972 - President Richard Nixon became the first American president to visit Moscow. Four days later, Nixon and Soviet Russia's leader Leonid Brezhnev signed a pact pledging to freeze nuclear arsenals at current levels.

May 22, 1947 - Congress approved the Truman Doctrine, assuring U.S. support for Greece and Turkey to prevent the spread of Communism.

May 23
Birthday - Journalist Margaret Fuller (1810-1850) was born in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. She became the first American woman to serve as a foreign correspondent, reporting for the New York Tribune. Her book Women in the Nineteenth Century, published in 1845, is considered the first feminist statement by an American writer, and brought her international acclaim. Sailing from Italy to the U.S. in 1850, she died, along with her husband and infant son, in a shipwreck off Fire Island, New York.

Birthday - The first American female attorney Arabella Mansfield (1846-1911) was born near Burlington, Iowa (as Belle Aurelia Babb). She was certified in 1869 as an attorney and admitted to the Iowa bar, but never practiced law. Instead she chose a career as a college educator and administrator. She was also instrumental in the founding of the Iowa Suffrage Society in 1870.

May 24

May 24, 1844 - Telegraph inventor Samuel Morse sent the first official telegraph message, "What hath God wrought?" from the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., to Baltimore.

May 25, 1963- The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was established in Addis Ababa Ethiopia

May 26

May 26, 2001- The African Union (AU) was established in Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Birthday- A great Nigerian Patriot Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu was born

May 27

This day was set aside by the United Nations to celebrate children worldwide. It is populary called ‘The Children’s Day’.

May 28

May 28, 1961 - Amnesty International was founded by London lawyer Peter Berenson. He read about the arrest of a group of students in Portugal then launched a one-year campaign to free them called Appeal for Amnesty. Today Amnesty International has over a million members in 150 countries working to free prisoners of conscience, stop torture and the death penalty, and guarantee human rights for women.

May 28, 1975- The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was founded in Lagos Nigeria

May 29

May 29, 1999- This day ushered in Nigeria’s fourth republic and on this day, The Federal Republic of Nigeria gained its freedom from military intervention in politics. This day is always celebrated as Nigeria’s Democracy Day.

May 30

May 30, 1783 - The Pennsylvania Evening Post became the first daily newspaper published in America.