Blacklisting Port Harcourt University
By Uche Igwe
July 11, 2011 05:41AMT
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Last week I had a reason to visit the website of the World Educational Services and made a very surprising discovery. There was a bold announcement on their site that they do not accept credentials from the University of Port Harcourt. I was unsettled by this especially when I contemplate the long and short term implications.

For those who do not know, the World Education Services is a US based non-profit organization that evaluates credentials of students seeking further studies in the United States and Canada. Essentially, the role of WES is to convert the grades from universities overseas to a standard comparable to those used in America. This assessment ensures a common standard and enables the universities where international students apply to grade them side by side their US colleagues.

In many universities in the US, WES credential assessment is compulsory for any (post) graduate study. It has become increasingly fashionable for students graduating from Nigerian universities to seek opportunities for post graduate studies in Europe or America. Despite the huge costs of such educational enterprise, many Nigerians go annually to these schools ostensibly in search of better standards. The rejection of the certificates from Uniport means that the ambition of graduates from this university to pursue further education in America and Canada is cut short. This is a clog in the wheel of the progress of many aspiring leaders in Nigeria and should not be ignored.

Granted, the standard of education in Nigeria has gone so bad and that is even the major reason for the exodus. However one is curious as to why out of all the universities in Nigeria, University of Port Harcourt is singled out for such a blacklist treatment. The reason for this must be investigated immediately and corrected. Coincidentally this is a university that has a great history and produced our president, Goodluck Jonathan, state governors Rotimi Amaechi and Timipre Sylva and many others.

The reputation of the Nigerian education system continues to dwindle by the day and people who brandish Nigerian certificates anywhere in the world are treated like lepers and discriminated against. The reasons are not farfetched. The carrying capacities of many Nigerian universities have all been exceeded. For instance a class room that was originally constructed to house 50 students is now taking more than 500. Not to talk about the accommodation situation and the dilapidating infrastructure. Many school hostels do not have pipe borne water and students die daily from preventable water borne diseases. It is commonplace to see 90 per cent of students standing during lecture sessions.

A few existing laboratories are only empty rooms and graduates from science based disciplines hardly get the equipment to do practical work all through the duration of their stay. Lecturers turn blind eyes to cases of examination malpractices and often make themselves facilitators or conduits. In the end the certificates awarded are worth nearly nothing. Stories of cash-for-score and cash for scores are increasingly becoming a celebrated practice rather than a contemptible scandal. Some unscrupulous university staff are ready collaborators for admission fraud and certificate forgery.

Rather than confront these deficiencies and work to improve on each of them, university authorities in Nigeria are rather busy handing out honorary doctorate degrees indiscriminately to those who either have questionable degrees already or none at all. These transactions often happen at a fee.

However, none of these are enough reasons to hand down a blanket ban on a whole university. The management of the University of Port Harcout should contact the World Education Services and find out the reason why they were blacklisted. And quickly map out strategies to reverse it. Beyond this, everyone who is an alumnus of this great institution must see this as both a challenge and a responsibility.

Furthermore we must all work to improve both the reality and the image of the Nigerian education system. There is an aspect of this that rests on government that I believe has declared an emergency on the education sector. There is also another symbolic aspect that behooves on all of us to change our mindset. We must reawaken the spirit of hard work and excellence within our communities. That is what Nigerians are known for. It starts at family level and creeps high when we make a difference elsewhere to affect how we are rated in other places around the world.

Uche Igwe wrote from Africa Program Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC. He is on ucheigwe@gmail.com

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Opinion/Editorial/5730293-182/blacklisting_port_harcourt_university__.csp

Why wont any sensible and credible organisation ban the university that award a doctorate degree to Patience Jonathan of all people.
The Ph.d-ship of GEJ is still lieing in the balance and you are adding insult to injury by awarding 'mrs umbleela' DR-ship? Serves you right!

ekt_bear:

Coincidentally this is a university that has a great history and produced our president, Goodluck Jonathan, state governors Rotimi Amaechi and Timipre Sylva and many others.

If that is that all the University can boast of, then the blacklisting is justifiable.

lol, well that's because uniport is unique.

Lmao @Rhino.5dm

Lmao @Rhino.5dm

I think the writer was being mischievous in his article as the entire article is deliberately misleading. On the WES site, the announcement was;
'Pls note that WES does not evaluate academic records from the University of Port Harcourt'
So how does the announcement above interpret to WES not accepting credentials from Uniport and the writer panting it to look like it all has to do with the credibility of degrees from the institution? My guess is the body has experienced difficulties verifying credentials from the institution (which happens to be a prerequisite and wld normally require correspondence from between both sides) and decided to place a blanket ban on the institution or something else but definitely not becos of the quality of her graduates. Uniport remains one of the top 10 universities located in a hippie city in a relatively educationally competive and challenging region in a country with more than 60 universities. If gold should rust what about iron?
I really cant blame folks for always putting down Ngrn education esp when we've got people like Rhino.5 whose mouths r just too far ahead of their brains! ut definitely not becos of the quality of her graduates. Uniport remains one of the top 10 universities located in a hippie city in a relatively educationally competive and challenging region in a country with more than 60 universities. If gold should rust what about iron?
I really cant blame folks for always putting down Ngrn education esp when we've got people like Rhino.5 whose mouths r just too far ahead of their brains!

wesley80:

I think the writer was being mischievous in his article as the entire article is deliberately misleading. On the WES site, the announcement was;
'Pls note that WES does not evaluate academic records from the University of Port Harcourt'
So how does the announcement above interpret to WES not accepting credentials from Uniport and the writer panting it to look like it all has to do with the credibility of degrees from the institution? My guess is the body has experienced difficulties verifying credentials from the institution (which happens to be a prerequisite and wld normally require correspondence from between both sides) and decided to place a blanket ban on the institution or something else but definitely not becos of the quality of her graduates. Uniport remains one of the top 10 universities located in a hippie city in a relatively educationally competive and challenging region in a country with more than 60 universities. If gold should rust what about iron?
I really cant blame folks for always putting down Ngrn education esp when we've got people like Rhino.5 whose mouths r just too far ahead of their brains! ut definitely not becos of the quality of her graduates. Uniport remains one of the top 10 universities located in a hippie city in a relatively educationally competive and challenging region in a country with more than 60 universities. If gold should rust what about iron?
I really cant blame folks for always putting down Ngrn education esp when we've got people like Rhino.5 whose mouths r just too far ahead of their brains!

Na you be uniport VC?

Rhino.5dm:

Why wont any sensible and credible organisation ban the university that award a doctorate degree to Patience Jonathan of all people.
The Ph.d-ship of GEJ is still lieing in the balance and you are adding insult to injury by awarding 'mrs umbleela' DR-ship? Serves you right!

abeg leave all dis people ,

unique uniport for life,

like it or not, we are firm.

@ poster, have you ranked all the universities in Nigeria?

J12:

If that is that all the University can boast of, then the blacklisting is justifiable.

O yea, wetin u dey justify? what is the position of naija;s best university in Africa let alone in the world?
this is 2011, do u think thats the issue with this country now?
I believe u know what grading system is in computing CGPA, have u compared other schools with that of Uniport?

some of u just open mouth and scatter yearn,

rather than every Nigerian should rise up and front for how to get things right in this country, hear u guys raising thumbs up for an article u saw on a website against ur school as if that would resolve the problems inherent in all d schools, rubbish!

The issue is purely the process it takes to verify transcript at Upee not the standard. WES wants certain officers to always sign off and stamp . This issue has been since June 2010, not new. The Alumni Asso is sorting this out with the new VC, Ajienka. So Chill.

U can imagine d vagueness of d thread topic,

I believe the writer was just angry at the findings and misplaced the reason wes doesn't evaluate from the institution. Let's stop the bashing on him and point him in the right direction.

Also, there are other bodies that do evaluation like IES, etc.

God should save this country from all its education challenges though...cos I pity future generation especially meeting standards in this highly dynamic world

akinlolusewanu9:
I believe the writer was just angry at the findings and misplaced the reason wes doesn't evaluate from the institution. Let's stop the bashing on him and point him in the right direction.

Also, there are other bodies that do evaluation like IES, etc.

God should save this country from all its education challenges though...cos I pity future generation especially meeting standards in this highly dynamic world

WES now ICES stated the same issue on their site

yinkeys:

WES now ICES stated the same issue on their site

If you had been to different schools in Nigeria ,u would know that uniport is an institution where cultists are trained. Where Prostitution is learnt fastly at a lower price. This institution had produced more mad people than the sane ones. Depressed people everywhere in the school. No wonder there are too many suicide rate among its students.
Let me tell u why! Uniport lecturers, "score Your name and not what u write in the Exam. Riverns are too tribalistic.To have a good grade in Uniport ,u must learn how to play politics from the day u resume or else u would regret coming there irrespective of your night class reading. With this,you could be a Dr in Uniport without knowing how to write a drug. I used to visit Uniport then, it's a useless university.
How many Uniport graduates are unique in medicine,literature,Economics ,sciences etc except in film making and dancing. In my state, if u attended uniport u would be seen as one who did not go to school.

Uniport aka UNIVERSITY OF POT-HALLOT.

Masionreay:

If you had been to different schools in Nigeria ,u would know that uniport is an institution where cultists are trained. Where Prostitution is learnt fastly at a lower price. This institution had produced more mad people than the sane ones. Depressed people everywhere in the school. No wonder there are too many suicide rate among its students.
Let me tell u why! Uniport lecturers, "score Your name and not what u write in the Exam. Riverns are too tribalistic.To have a good grade in Uniport ,u must learn how to play politics from the day u resume or else u would regret coming there irrespective of your night class reading. With this,you could be a Dr in Uniport without knowing how to write a drug. I used to visit Uniport then, it's a useless university.
How many Uniport graduates are unique in medicine,literature,Economics ,sciences etc except in film making and dancing. In my state, if u attended uniport u would be seen as one who did not go to school.

Uniport aka UNIVERSITY OF POT-HALLOT.

That's your opinion.
Not all you put down is accurate.
What will you say about graduates from there that work with shell, chevron
Or the ones that go get a good post graduate degree from Imperial, Robert Gordon etc
Some of them usually come out tops in graduate programs there

Hello house. Please I need your help. Am about to start my evaluation with Wes and I just realized that the last letter of my first name on my waec certificate is different from the last letter of my first name on my undergraduate certificate but the one on my undergraduate certificate is the name am using now. Please I would like to know if it would not affect my evaluation process. It's just the last letter of my first name that is different H and T. But since am evaluating my undergraduate transcript does it matter. Please I need help. Thank you