Zika Bobby
The Vice Chancellor of Madonna University, Nigeria, Prof. Chuks Ezedum, yesterday in Abuja, dismissed as false and mischievous, insinuations in some quarters that parents and guardians were withdrawing their children and wards from the institution.
Some media reports had alleged that the development was as a result of the ongoing trial of some students and former students of the institution who were facing trials in a Federal High Court following some online publications made against the university.
The Vice- Chancellor said in a news conference in Abuja that the reported panic withdrawal was false, malicious, unfounded and a figment of the imagination of the peddlers of such “rumour.”
He said there was never a single parent or guardian requesting the withdrawal of any of their students whatsoever, adding that at the time of the briefing, all the University’s staff and students were happily engaged in very productive teaching and learning in a very safe and friendly university environment.
The Vice- Chancellor pointed out that Madonna University did not charge anybody to court, adding that the matter in court was not in any way between the accused persons and the university.
He also used the opportunity to berate the purported ultimatum issued to the university by some officials of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), South East zone.
The Vice- Chancellor said the NANS officials ought to have known that Madonna University, being a private university has nothing in common with NANS as an organisation.
He noted that the students of the university are not members of NANS, hence, they have no business with the organisation, adding that the university was not in any legal dispute with the accused former students since they are being prosecuted by the Nigerian government. He called on the general public to be guided by the truth of the matter as given by him in the press conference.
Also speaking, the immediate past president of Madonna University, Nigeria Alumni Association Worldwide, who is also a member of the Alumni Association’s Board of Trustees, Mr. Chima Achu, dismissed the purported panic by parents of Madonna University students as a lie and fake news.