Inih Ebong, a victimised and ailing Nigerian lecturer who won a final court victory last December against the University of Uyo (Uni Uyo), has written to the university, demanding an end to over two decades of his travails.
Uni Uyo unjustly terminated Mr Ebong’s appointment in 2002 because of his constant criticism of alleged maladministration and corruption in the federal university.
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About four successive vice-chancellors refused to restate the lecturer, an associate professor of theatre arts, despite strings of legal victories.
The Court of Appeal, Calabar, in December, dismissed an appeal filed by UniUyo for a stay of the execution of a 2020 judgment of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, which ordered the university to reinstate Mr Ebong and pay him all his entitlements and damages.
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The appellate court previously dismissed two other appeals filed by the university.
On 17 January, Mr Ebong, through his lawyer, Nse Williams, forwarded a copy of the Court of Appeal judgment to Uni Uyo Vice-Chancellor Nyaudoh Ndaeyo and demanded that the university comply with the industrial court judgment.
Mr Ebong reminded Mr Ndaeyo of his (the vice-chancellor’s) earlier words that “parties should await the decision of the court (of appeal)” when he (Ebong) requested a peaceful settlement.
“As the man of honour that you are, we demand that you make good and give effect to your above-quoted word of honour,” Mr Ebong told the vice-chancellor in the 17 January letter.
Continuing, the letter said, “Be reminded also that Court judgments, rulings and orders must be obeyed to the letter. Therefore, besides the payment of our client’s unpaid benefits and judgment debt of N10,000,000 in compliance with the said judgment, you are to withdraw your letter UU/REG/76/Vol. 1/52 dated 28 March 2002 immediately and serve the said withdrawal letter on us within seven days.”
The letter referred to here is the one which contained the termination of Mr Ebong’s appointment.
“Also, within seven days, you cause the calculation of the entitlements of our client from 1 August 2001 till date, including his gratuity and pensions from October 2021, when our client should have retired from the services of the University,” the letter from Mr Ebong’s lawyer added.
PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately get UniUyo’s comment on the matter as calls to the university’s spokesperson were not going through.
‘Bring my misery to an end’
Five years ago, on 16 January 2021, Mr Ebong wrote a similar letter to Mr Ndaeyo, a year after the latter’s appointment as vice-chancellor, appealing for a peaceful settlement of the dispute.
“Today, I am virtually bedridden at home while I await the inevitable to happen! May it not be said that the University was awaiting to resolve this matter posthumously.
“I am, therefore, appealing to you to bring my uncertainty and misery to an end by complying with the judgment and order of the National Industrial Court,” Mr Ebong said in the letter to Mr Ndaeyo, a professor.
The 73-year-old lecturer had been diagnosed with cardiac failure in October 2020 and was dying before a Nigerian billionaire, Femi Otedola, stepped in to take care of his medical treatment, following a PREMIUM TIMES report.
After being unemployed for several years, the associate professor of theatre arts could hardly feed himself and his family, let alone pay for his medical treatment.
Apparently, to get other potential employers to avoid Mr Ebong, UniUyo published a disclaimer on him in Punch newspaper shortly after his sacking in 2002.
Weighed down by hardship, illness, and emotional trauma, Mr Ebong, in the 16 January 2021 letter to Prof Ndaeyo, the vice-chancellor of the university, chronicled his travails and informed him that he was open to a peaceful resolution of the matter.
“Contrary to the impression that I am not amenable to dialogue with the University, I wish to put it on record that successive administration of the University had shut the door at me, making it difficult for me to make any progress in this regard.
“On 31 January 2020, I wrote to your predecessor and forwarded a copy of the aforesaid judgment (of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria) for his perusal and necessary action, but there was no response. Also on 21 May 2020, I wrote to the pro-chancellor, and I am still awaiting his response.
“It is my belief that we can dialogue and bring this saga of injustice to a neat and tidy end, without any further recourse to litigation.
“I am again taking the initiative to reach out to the administration for dialogue, and look forward to your kind reciprocation of this gesture,” Mr Ebong said to the vice-chancellor.
The vice-chancellor, through the then-Registrar of the Uni Uyo, Aniediabasi Udofia, on 12 March 2021, replied Mr Ebong’s letter. He told the lecturer that the university was dissatisfied with the judgment of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, and had, therefore, appealed against it.
“It is advisable for parties to await the decision of the court (of appeal),” the university said.
The university had also rebuffed a similar letter from Mr Ebong’s lawyer, Mr Williams.
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