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| Fr. Evaristus Bassey |
By Achiever Peterson
A Catholic Priest, Fr. Evaristus Bassey, has criticized the academic culture in Nigerian universities, where faculty members often neglect students in pursuit of personal career advancement.
Bassey, Parish Priest of St. Mary Pro-Cathedral, emphasized that many academics abandon students to focus on publishing papers to become professors.
However, Bassey, also a former National Director of Caritas Nigeria, commended the University of Calabar (UNICAL) for its infrastructural improvements and administrative achievements.
He challenged UNICAL to aspire to become a world-class institution during its golden jubilee celebrations and 37th convocation, themed “Spes Nostra non Confundit - Our Hope Does Not Disappoint
The cleric called on the staff to eschew corruption and concentrate on the formation of mind and character of students as this was a core obligation.
According to him, the fact that because universities placed a high premium on published papers, many academic staff were abandoning students to themselves and not giving the necessary guidance, because everyone wanted to be a Professor.
He told all to embrace the advice of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) to overcome cynicism and work towards Nigeria becoming a great nation despite the disappointments of the past.
For UNICAL to become world class, he suggested that the method of students evaluating staff at the end of every course as is done in some universities abroad should be emulated, so that there are consequences for lack of staff performance.
He urged everyone to do their utmost in matters that were under their sphere of control so as to ensure world-class outcomes.
The Vice Chancellor of UNICAL, Prof Florence Obi, thanked all who were able to make it to the event and expressed the hope that with God on their side the university would continue to move ahead in great strides.
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