Incompetent staffs flood UNIUYO GST Directorate

…frustrate students’ study, engage in sorting spree 
* As Students wants immediate removal of Director

While a tertiary institution like University of Uyo is expected to boast of sound and highly qualified teaching and non-teaching staff to train and handle students’ in academic and other fields, the reverse appears to be the case especially in the General Studies, GST unit of the institution.

It was a total disappointment when a greater number of students met with our reporter recently to pour out their grievances over the conduct and abnormalities they said have surrounded the first semester GST tests conducted by the General Studies Unit of the University of Uyo, alleging that the GST directorate is made up of bunches of incompetent and ill prepared personnel with the Director Dr. A. Anoh leading the pack.

The spokesman for the students a third year student of the Faculty of Arts told our reporter that they decided to take the action in the absence of any other reliable means of voicing out their sufferings in the hands of the incompetent staff of the GST unit.

The leader who refused his name in print for fear of being maliciously attacked by the said Directorate said many students have suffered academic setback owing to the incapability of staff of the Directorate, especially the non-teaching staff, to discharge their expected duties, a situation they described as poor work experience by the accused staffs, adding that both the staff and the GST Director, Dr. Anoh, lack the administrative knowledge to run the directorate.

He said, “We are here to tell the whole world the trauma we are facing in our academic pursuits because of insensitive staff in the GST directorate of the University of Uyo. First, it was illegal extortion of N2,000.00 as additional GST fee after paying school fees and now, having being rescued from the illegality following mass protest by the students, they resort to frustrating students through unnecessary procedure and stress in registering the compulsory GST courses.”
“How can a well thinking human being direct all students of an institution numbering tens of thousands to pay course registration fee in one bank with deadline ranging in a week or two?” The student asked.

Our reporter gathered that students offering GST courses in the University of Uyo have been walking through the pit of fire in UBA outside the University Community before getting their courses registered as the bank often considered its normal business transaction with the highly placed customers more important than registering students’ courses.

Furthermore, the students complained that apart from the inexperienced payment method arranged by the said directorate, one staff of about sixty to seventy years old will be assigned per faculty to register students totaling about fifteen to twenty per faculty.

In their words, “Most of these old fools who claim to be staff in the directorate do not even know their left from right and as a result, they always end up making blunders in the registration while the students will face the consequences of their illiteracy with no mercy from even the so called director who harbors them. Unfortunately, the few ones who are young and vibrant cannot handle student-related matters because their highest qualification is the SSCE or its equivalent.
Apart from stupidly being arrogant and insulting, most of them hardly come to work and on time owing to their personal businessess which they are secretly running outside the office.”

While condemning what they called ‘pass-as-you-pay’ deal of the GST directorate, the aggrieved students alleged that illegal money for grades in GST tests and exams always remain the reason behind the undue prolongation of the release of GST results since the present Director, Dr. Anoh came on board.

When our reporter contacted a staff of the GST directorate who identified himself as one of the drivers in the directorate, it was learnt that some high ranking staff of the directorate are aware of the illegality but cannot help since they have been duly given their lion-share.

According to the driver who pleaded anonymity, there is nothing anybody can do because the school authority can hardly find out what has been going on in the directorate. Even some of us who are not party to illegality, especially when you are not a senior staff, cannot dare say a word as such person could be booted out.

Another source close to the GST Director, Dr. Anoh told, our reporter in strict confidence that what the student is suffering is as a result of ‘a cabal-interest’ in the directorate and however denied involvement.

Meanwhile, thousands of students of University of Uyo have called on the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Comfort Ekpo to investigate and screen the staff of the GST directorate in order to check incompetent and weak staff so as to bring in capable and fresh hands who are cueing up for the job, threatening that they will go as far as they could to revenge and seek justice for their maltreatment by the GST Directorate.

“We cannot allow anybody to poison our academic pursuit any longer. 80 per cent of the failure in GST courses is usually due to the illiteracy of the non-teaching staff and incompetency of the Director. It is always either error in one document or the other by the staff, incomplete registration of students or non-compliance for sorting by the students that amount to mass failure in the GST courses. But this time, we will not keep quiet, that is why we are telling the whole world before we commit another havoc,” the student warned.

While calling on the school authority to look into the matter before it is late, the students also called for improved administration and a make-up test for the affected students.