Date: Friday 18th March 2016

Dear Sir,

ARREST AND INVESTIGATE IMSU MANAGEMENT OVER CONVOCATION.

I want to draw your attention to an imminent carefully calculated fraud. I wouldn’t want to mince words, so I will state my claims devoid of any modicum of equivocation.

Imo State University’s management is notorious for always having unscrupulous elements who exploit students for fun, they are on it again.
Imo State University is set for her 2016 convocation ceremony. The first since 2009. This is first in seven years which implies:

(1) Over 30,000 people are involved in the convocation. With over 11 faculties, with an average of 5 departments per faculty churning out thousands per year, 7 years will amount to over 30,000 persons on “awaiting convocation” list.

(2) Post Graduates i.e. Masters and PhD fellows are involved too.

(3) Convocation fee for a Bachelor degree recipient is N20,000 while Masters and Doctorate Degree recipients pay N3000

(4) N4000 willl be paid for convocation gown and brochure. This wasn’t stated in any media publication of the ceremony.

This petition isn’t intended to bore you with the convocation statistics. Now let’s look at the finance which you are more familiar with.

Firstly, let’s be generous with fairness by assuming that some certain thousand out of that assumed 30,000 didn’t complete the program or aren’t just interested in the convocation. We’ll assume just 20,000 need their certificate. Note, Imo State University issues only statement of result at the point of NYSC call up. Original certificates only show up in years. Hence, the convocation that comes once in a blue moon. This implies that 99 percent of graduates from 2009 have no Original certificate, so are compelled to pay this ludicrous sum.

Now, for every 1000 persons paying 20,000. This will amount to N20,000,000. Multiply this by 20 then the figure becomes N400,000,000 (Four hundred million) at least.

For Post Graduates. Let’s assume they are half the number of the former group. Now in the same manner, Multiply N30,000 by 10,000, we will have N300,000,000. (Three hundred million)
Multiply N4000 Convocation gown fee by the above 30,000. We will have N120,000,000.
Sum this whole figures and we are talking about 820 million naira. If you have the time to add the sum for those who ran weekend programs between 2009 and 2014 when it stopped, then we will hit 1 billion. This is almost Imo State’s alleged post bail out fund allocation. Which is claimed to be around 1.9 billion.

Again, it’s not my intention to bore you with an assumed detail of the convocation revenue. I just want you to be fully aware of tune of money involved, just in case you feel it is a negligible amount.
Note: 2010/2011 set who were cleared for NYSC in November have already payed this money.

May I say that I consider paying N20,000 for a certificate I earned the height of cooperate brigandage. Tantamount to highway robbery.

Now:
(A) The executive governor of Imo State, who is the Visitor of the school said and is still roaring that education is absolutely free in Imo State. A claim he reiterated in his speech in Chatham House. This assertion is giving credence by a gigantic billboard in front of the school by the school management thanking the governor for making IMSU absolutely free.

(B) If this is true, it is an overwhelming indictment on the acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ada Obasi and the entire management.

(C) She can only partially exonerate herself if and only if she can prove to us that this theft was sanctioned from above. Even at that, she should have a case to answer

(D) Departments in Imo State University should be compelled to publish a comprehensive list of eligible certificate recipients in their department from 2009 till present. This will enable you get a clearer picture.

(E) The bank accounts which these monies are payed into should be traced.

The executive governor cannot be saying one thing to the students and the public with no documentation while another thing is calmly going on inside the school. This is pure fraud unclad. If the people in charge are innocent, I am sure you know where to channel your investigation.

This is clearly in line with president Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade. So Sir, please do the needful.

Yours Faithfully
Ebubechukwu Ibecheozor.