Group operating under the aegis of Transparency Movement team has faulted the conferment of honorary doctorates degrees by the Federal University Lokoja (FUL) to five prominentNigerians during the 5th Convocation Ceremony of the Institution.
It alleges that they were done for financial donations and contravening policies against the award of Honorary degrees to serving government officials, amongst other reasons advanced.
The group further accused the School Vice-Chancellor of the Institution, Prof. OlayemiAkinwunmi, of corruption.
In a statement made available to journalists in Lokoja and jointly signed by Cosmas Timothy and Ali Bawa Musa, respectively, the group called on the anti-graft agency to probe the activities of the Vice-chancellor of the University as they ignored all widely held academic practices endorsed by the Universities regulatory body in the Keffi declaration of Universities in the award of Honorary degrees and instead allowed their inducements by financial donations to proliferate and determine the choice of so-called cash for carry honorary doctorate recipients.
They said the call was necessary because of the high level of alleged corruption currently ongoing in the University.
The group beckoned on Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission to hearken to them
The statement reads that during the 5th Convocation Ceremony of the Federal University Lokoja (FUL), five (5) prominent Nigerians were conferred with Honorary Doctorate Degrees (Honoris Causa) by the Institution
We have it on good authority that the Institution Vice-Chancellor demanded some financial gratification from the beneficiaries as a basis for awards.
There is serious Corruption in FUL as the VC of the Institution Prof Olayemi Akinwumi has proliferated awards of honorary Doctorate Degree for Financial Donations, ignoring academic practices in the procedures for selecting awardees, contravening the maximum number of awardees in convocation and dishing out degrees in courses, the University lacks the license to award Doctorates and awarding honorary degrees to cronies who are serving government officials.
This practice is dangerous for our educational sector. We are appealing to anti-graft agenciesand regulatory body the National Universities Commission (NUC) to investigate this act, the group further alleged.
It could be recalled that the following person conferred with honorary doctorates degrees by the Federal University Lokoja (FUL) recently, the includes
1 AIG (Rtd) Cornelius Kayode Aderanti, SSA to the President of on Special Duty: Doctor of Science in Political science (Honoris Causa)
2. Dr Innocent Ozoemana Ezuma, the Lord Mayor in the Ancient Kingdom of Arondizuogu: Doctor of Science in Geology (Honoris Causa)
3. Alhaji (Dr) Sani Zangor Daura CON, Danmasanin Daura: Doctor of Science in Political Science (Honoris Causa)
4. Jibril Lawal Tafida, Chairman/CEO of JITA Group of Companies: Doctor of Science in Economics (Honoris Causa)
5. Professor Toyin Falola, Professor of African History and Jacob and Frances Sanger MossikerChair in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin, USA: Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa).
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