UNIPORT, Others Resume Academic Activities, Today

After a five-month strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) which stopped academic activities in government owned universities, authorities of the university of Port Harcourt have said, the institution would resume, today.

Other institutions such as Niger Delta University, Amasoma and Delta State University, Abraka will also resume today.

The Public Relations Officer of UNIPORT, Dr Williams Wodi, confirmed this to The Tide yesterday.

According to the university’s image maker, students are expected back to the campus immediately to face their studies.

Having lost over five months, it is expected that both lecturers and students would be subjected to a ‘crash’ programme to enable them contain with backlog of academic activities.

The Tide gathered that management of the affected universities, especially those who participated fully in the industrial action are faced with serious time problem as the remaining period in the session may not be enough for the accumulated work.

Admission formalities for new students, registration and clearances which normally take about two weeks in the campus and the rush to conclude lectures may make academic work cumbersome for the students who may have little time left for examinations.

UNIPORT lecturers expected the Senate of the institution to carry out necessary amendments on the academic timetable to accommodate the accumulated programmes.

Mr Echefu Amadi a post-graduate student of the institution told The Tide that the main problem was fund which would be urgently needed to pay school fees before a student would be allowed to participate in the academic activities.

Mr Amadi also expressed fear that most social activities may be sacrificed for serious academic work.

“It’s sure going to be a challenging period for us as it will be all work and no play, which surely will make Mr Jack a dull boy,” he remarked.

The Tide gathered that the Niger Delta University has scheduled the first semester examinations to commence on January 13, 2014, barely one week after resumption of academic activities.

It was also gathered that the University of Port Harcourt may soon begin the first semester examinations, although no date has been made public.

Chris Oluoh