A Professor of Law at the University of Calabar, Cross River State, Rev Prof. Emeka Uhuka has been demoted from the rank of a professor to the position of graduate assistant.
Uhuka’s demotion followed the recommendation of a committee set up by the school; Academic Fraud Investigation Committee (AFIC) which recommended that the law lecturer be demoted with immediate effect.
Also another lecturer of the university that has come under the school’s swinging Sword of Damocles is Prof. Israel Worugji, a Professor of Law whose job is on the line over the questionable certificates he parades.
According to sources within the university, Worugji, faced with the imminent unpalatable recommendation of the AFIC, is lobbying members of the committee to give him a soft landing and save him from the humiliation which may follow their recommendation.
Education Tell gathered that some of the “sins” of Rev. Prof Uhuka which nailed his demotion coffin was that the committee found among others that;
The lecturer did not have a first degree from the University of Abuja as he claimed, but from the British America University; he was not called to the Nigerian Bar or any other Bar around the globe; holds a questionable Masters of Law (LL.M) degree as the LL.M degree was obtained barely 2 weeks after obtaining his first degree and that Uhuka has no Ph.D degree but records show that he is a doctoral candidate.
Other indictments include that Rev. Prof Uhuka has zero University teaching experience; has no evidence of Publication amongst others hence the recommendation for his demotion from the rank of a Professor of Law to the rank of a Graduate Assistant.
The professor was said to have claimed from his CV that he obtained a diploma in 1980 and WAEC in 1989, an obvious mix up.
The sources claimed that Rev. Uhuka has since absconded the university community due to fears of being handed over to the Police or ICPC for further investigation.
Similarly, Professor Worugji whose case has not been concluded by the committee is said to have refused to submit the original of his certificates including his Ph.D degree in Law certificate to the committee.
He is also said to have written to the University of Ibadan for correction of his Ph.D certificate which was obtained in May 2010. It is gathered that as at 2010 when Prof Worugji obtained his Ph.D certificate which reads “Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts”, he was informed by the then Registrar of the University of Calabar that he was not eligible for promotion to the rank of a Professor of Law because he had not “obtained a Ph.D in Law degree”.
Members of the Ivory Tower are still in bewilderment on how he wangled his way and got his promotion to the rank of an Associate Professor in 2006 without a Ph.D degree.
It was further learnt that Nine years after being told that he had not obtained a Ph.D degree in Law, Prof. Worugji has started the process of having his Ph.D certificate corrected to read his area of specialization “African Law”.
It is instructive to note that African Law is not a program of study, but an area of Specialization in the academic program of Core African Studies, while a postgraduate programme in law (LLM, MPhil & Ph.D) under the NUC minimum standard for PG programme in Nigerian universities is required to be domiciled in the Faculty of Law.
Prof. Worugji clearly holds a Ph.D from the institute of African studies in the Faculty of Art, University of Ibadan as African Law is just one of the areas of specialization but has no Law degree from any university in Nigeria or outside the country.
It is alleged that Worugji’s West African School Certificate (WASC) result is not his own, but belongs to a relative, which is said to explain his numerous change of name.
Meanwhile, the authorities of University of Calabar have issued a stringent warning to the professor to cooperate with the committee or face severe disciplinary actions.
The warning was contained in a letter signed by the school’s Registrar, Mr. Moses Abang. Both professors Uhuka and Worugji were on February 27, notified that they would face the university panel on the 13thand 14th March respectively. The panel’s finding resulted in the demotion of Uhuka.
