In the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, it is no longer news that the rumoured dark days headed for is now and the termites of false accusations is going to eat society in more ways than we can imagine. It is the case of a Faculty where an Associate Professor is accused unjustly of non-existent offences because certain power mongers are out to tarnish her towering image and hard reputation just to give her a bad name so they can be appointed Dean in her stead.
These people have ruined the social strata of the institution for personal aggrandizement and most people are helpless. Just one baseless and blatant complaint, they will deploy lies to ruin your life, image and career.
If this continues, there will be a time when the institution will cease to cater for itself, then there will be great educational chaos and administrative collapse. This is not very farfetched, because it is happening already: A baseless and mischievous petition titled “Corruption in the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar: Multiple Petitions Filed Before the ICPC and Public Complaints Commission (Ombudsman) Against Acting Dean, Assoc. Prof. Rose Ohiama Ugbe” is making the rounds.
It is on record that the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Florence Obi, approved the appointment of Assoc. Prof. Rose Ohiama Ugbe as the acting Dean of the Faculty of Law via a release issued by the Registrar of the university, Mr Gabriel Egbe. The appointment took effect from Tuesday, August 22, 2023, and by the wordings of the document, is to subsist till a substantive dean is elected for the Faculty.
The release stated that as acting Dean, Assoc. Prof. Rose Ohiama Ugbe will take up the responsibilities and duties associated with the office and also oversee the Facultys academic programmes, foster a healthy relationship among staff and students, and create a positive environment for teaching and learning.
Other functions as contained in the release include supporting faculty members in their research activities and collaborating with the university administration in ensuring full implementation and actualization of the visions of the University.
So far, the Acting Dean has not erred in the discharge of her statutory responsibilities. Nothing negative has been communicated to the office of the Acting Dean since inception as there had been no indication that anything was wrong or amiss with her deanship and leadership. It is a direct undermining of what is cherished at the University in terms of collegial governance as all the hasty allegations listed are unsubstantiated and unproven.
Investigations have revealed that the alleged petition is false in its entirety, malicious, spurious and a figment of the imagination of the purveyors. Indeed, all the allegations are blatant lies. For one, it is not true that the acting Dean gave Nigerian Law School (NLS) admissions to any highest bidder, neither was admission given to students of private Universities in Calabar or elsewhere. The only private university in the state that offers law is Arthur Jarvis who just got law accreditation this year to admit law students. So what are the liars talking about? How could she even do that when the quota of 170 for Unical is not sufficient? Even if it were sufficient, Assoc. Prof. Rose Ohiama Ugbe could not have done that as law students are only mobilized for Law school with University Certificate and result and all the students mobilized all have their results approved by the University senate and all presented their certificates before they were mobilized for Law school.
The Dean instruction to her law school mobilization officer, Pastor Ubi Onen was very clear on this and only students who presented their original law school certificates/verified result were mobilized for law school. There is also a Law School Mobilisation Committee put in place by the Administration of the University headed by a Professor so how could the Dean collect money to mobilize non-Unical students? She has never and will not collect any money for Mobilisation of anyone to Law School or for any reason whatsoever. Unlike the purveyor of this false narrative, Assoc. Prof. Rose Ohiama Ugbe is not cut from fraudulent cloth so she would not have done that because she is not that kind of person.
It is also worthy of note that Assoc. Prof Ugbe does not have the power to increase school fees as frivolously alleged and have not done so. As regards the Faculty journal, For Law School, it should be on record that, for about 5 years before she was appointed Acting Dean in August 2023, there was no Faculty Journal published. It was published this year 2024 and also hosted online. Despite the hike in prices of materials and cost of printing, there are hard copies that were distributed to students through the office of the Faculty Officer. Due to the high cost of things, it was agreed at the Faculty Board by the entire Board made up of all lecturers that each student should pay ₦5,000 to receive a copy of the Journal and ₦5,000 for dinner. It was not a unilateral decision by the Dean as spuriously alleged.
Similarly, contrary to the unfounded allegation that the Faculty of Law does not have Heads of Departments, there are four (4) HoDs according to the requirements of NUC and CLE. It is not true that Assoc. Prof. Rose Ugbe fixed charges to be paid by students for the departments. It was the decision of the University that in each department in the University, each student should pay ₦1,000. Assoc. Prof. Rose Ohiama Ugbe does not use or disburse departmental charges. The HoDs themselves do, so how can she be accused of funds expended by the four HoDs themselves?
While an important function of every administration is to ensure thorough investigation of issues, those behind the pseudo petition have clearly shown that the opposite has occurred in practice. The fallout of this has fostered a sense of distrust among students and staff who are now worried about the penchant by some people for always tarnishing the image of Staff of the University for pecuniary and thirst for power games? The spread of such spurious allegations against Assoc. Prof. Rose Ohiama Ugbe is to malign her hard earned image and reputation. They know the unfounded and mischievous trumped up case is a hoax which only highlights contrasting instances of near-unanimity. If theres one thing the Faculty staff and students can currently agree on, it is their total confidence in Associate Prof. Ugbe since her inception of office. She has worked to make their concerns heard and should be applauded for her efforts and administrative doggedness thus far.
Students and staff and indeed the university community are shocked, surprised and devastated to learn of the brazen lies to remove her from her role and persecute her for nothing. They believe there is no legitimate reason for her removal and this is not how collegial governance happens at a university. Staff spoken to, are shocked that the University hierarchy can allow itself to be used to engage in such tribal induced manipulation to remove an innocent woman just so they will be room for their tribesman to be Dean.
Asso. Prof Ugbe has worked hard as Dean of Law. Among other initiatives under Asso. Prof Ugbe’s leadership, the Faculty of Law has established a reputation as a leader in the study of law and promotion of an all inclusive engagement. She is a highly respected leader, professor, lawyer and researcher, who brought a wealth of experience to her role. It is sad that anyone will seek to reward such an amazon with bad press so they can be Dean or for any reason.The Faculty of Laws success is built on the reputation and energy of its students, Faculty and staff, and Associate Prof. Rose Ohiama Ugbe has guided and supported significant innovation in research and teaching since she was appointed Acting Dean in 2023. Her focus on excellence, equity and social justice, and on fostering an environment of collaboration and collegiality, has firmly established University of Calabar Faculty of Law as a leader in teaching and learning and faculty research.
Under her direction and with the support of a dedicated team of Faculty and staff, the Faculty of Law has steadily maintained a standard in line with global best practices representing an authentic commitment to issues of representation, community-based research, curriculum renewal and innovative pedagogies in law. With Associate Prof. Rose Ohiama Ugbe’s firm support, scholars in the Faculty, everything has been a departure from the past. Also of note is the Facultys commitment to students and staff welfare and any issues sensitive to the challenges confronting the faculty.
Over the course of her career, Associate Prof. Rose Ohiama Ugbe has built a reputation for creativity, bold thinking, transparency and vision with an outstanding pedigree in academic leadership.It is an incontrovertible fact that the purveyors of these false allegations could not find anything to besmirch her, which is why they orchestrated the puerile article with intentions to undermine her position as the acting dean of the law faculty.
The fake petition released is grossly inaccurate and misrepresents faculty processes and facts between 2023 and now. With a deep sense of utmost dismay, it is a show of sacrilege by the perpetrators to disparage the academic credentials of Associate Prof. Rose Ohiama Ugbe and history will judge them all harshly.