By; AMOS TAUNA, Kaduna
The Publisher of Education Monitor Newspaper, Waziri Isa Adam, has compassionately appealed to the Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Prof. Kabiru Bala to clear his name of the allegations of corruption levelled against him.
In a statement issued by the publisher of the Education Monitor Newspaper, titled, “Stop beating around the bush, come out clean on the allegations of corruption against you -queried lecturer challenges ABU VC”, the publisher of the paper cum lecturer, department of Mass Communication in ABU, Zaria, had in his September edition, “how VC, Kabiru Bala, Target ABU for destruction”.
The publisher alleged that the Vice Chancellor of the institution acquires N49m official car for self, devoid of due process, even as he decries lack of money for basic academic programs, adding thathis firm, cronies, wife, son, involved in scramble for juicy contracts.
The statement also alleged that the Vice Chancellor perpetrates corruption, shields benefactors that squandered N400m,flouts University laws, abuses due process with impunity and applied selective justice for members of the Varsity community.
The statement noted that the Vice Chancellor angered by the report, complained that he was not contacted for his own side of the story, requested that the story be retracted and apology offered.
According to the publisher, “While the newspaper was trying to respond to his protest letter and to request him to do a rejoinder on the allegations, refuting or defending all the allegations raised in the publication, which we were ready to publish prominently to clear his name, he quickly rushed to the press with a failed attempt to blackmail me that I could not finish my PhD at the University of Lagos after 11 years, and after having enjoyed a scholarship of the paltry sum of N1.6m.
“This cheap, newsless and rediculous blackmail has no relation with the allegations of corruption which he is deeply enmeshed in.”
The statement added, “What every discerning intellectual or scholar expected him to do as a leader occupying a public office, is he should respond to the allegations point by point, to clear his name, instead of beating around the bush by taking it personal and attacking the reporter out of context.
“To resort to accusing the reporter for not finishing a PhD is nothing other than a simple attempt to distract public attention from the volumes and embarrassing allegations of corruption against the Vice Chancellor.
“It will interest the public to know that there are uncountable number of lecturers who have spent more than 30 years pursuing their Phd, and there are several others who have spent more than 18 years pursuing only Masters degree within the ABU, but he has not queried any one of them, but an innocent journalist performing his watchdog function.”
The publisher opined that a typical example of the Vice Chancellor’s demonstration of selective justice is his singling him (publisher) out alone for query in a public domain, adding that subjecting me (publisher) to judgement in the court of public opinion, as if he is the first lecturer in the history of the university that took this long on a PhD programme.
He explained that it would interest the public to know that he applied, for a one year leave of absence (permission to proceed to my University in Lagos to tidy up his work and do his defence, on his own, without requesting for salary or any form of financial support from the University), explained that the Vice Chancellor denied him the opportunity, which is his own right.
He alleged that for sheer wickedness, and only for him to now come out, without fear of God, to mischievously misinform the public that he have failed to complete his Phd program.
“For record purposes, the public need to know that the Vice Chancellor-turned-dictator who owes stakeholders of the university a duty to explain his involvement or otherwise in the alleged cases of ongoing corruption in the university, claims that nobody can challenge his authority in the University, as did by Education Monitor, that is why he resorted to adopting flawed steps to blackmail, declare an all out media war against the Editor-in-chief of the monthly tabloid,” he alleged.
