BY DOMINIC KIDZU
Is the Vice Chancellorship of the University of Calabar a subject of zoning to tribe, tongue, zone or region? Nothing can be further from the truth. The very thought of attempting to do so rankles to no end, and makes the mouth turn sore.
This is because the university as an institution, any university for that matter, is a centre of excellence where the brightest bulb in the chandelier, at any given time leads from the front, by popular choice, for the growth and betterment of the institution.
That is why a search team is usually set up once the tenure of the sitting vice chancellor nears its end. The main brief for the search team is to search the whole wide world for a suitable individual to serve in that position for – in Nigeria, a period of five years.
The current misleading narrative being peddled around the state that the position is the turn of tribe A, or zone B or C, or even D, like the Emilokun mantra of President Tinubu is a product of high mischief because the purveyors of the misinformation know the truth, but chose to sidestep it in the pursuit of their dark and selfish designs.
It is our turn or the politics of proximity as, a driving philosophy in this matter is clearly injurious to the spirit and precepts of any university, let alone a federal University.
These authors of “swallow all that is available during our time” must understand that there is a limit to local politics and tribal tussles beyond which fundamental institutions could be needlessly imperilled.
“This is arrant nonsense” as Obono Obla described it in a recent post. We should not attempt to sacrifice merit or limit the scope of search for a competent vice chancellor of the institution to a few local government areas, even if we have the capacity to do so. The university of Calabar, my alma mater deserves the best. Let the hyena drink, let also the squirrel drink from the community stream at all epochs.
