…sources blame Vice Chancellor, Nyaudoh Ndaeyo’s “Desperate Cover-up of Corruption”
By our correspondent
Students of the University of Uyo’s Faculty of Law were left in anguish today (Tuesday) as they sat for a critical examination in a classroom furnished with nothing but wooden pews—no desks, no boards, and no writing surfaces. In a viral image that has sparked outrage on social media, some students were seen kneeling on the bare floor in order to write their three-hour examination.
“This is not just shameful, it is inhumane,” one final-year student lamented. “We were moved to this permanent site in a rush, but the building is far from ready. There are no desks, no functional library, no proper offices for our lecturers—just walls and disappointment.”
The relocation of the Faculty of Law to its new permanent site in October 2024 was widely publicized by the University authorities as a major milestone. However, insiders now say it was nothing more than a “facade” to cover up deeper rot in the university’s administration.
More damning is the revelation that the building was financed by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), an agency of the Federal Government established to ensure quality infrastructure in Nigerian universities. Despite this, the administration of the University of Uyo delivered a substandard building that lacks basic furnishings, proper ventilation, and even whiteboards.
“The finishing of the building itself is questionable,” said an inside source familiar with the project. “It appears to be without form to qualify as a law faculty when you compare it with what is obtainable in other universities. The funding for the Faculty of Law, University of Uyo was released by TETFUND in December 2015—the same time the financing for the Faculty of Law at the University of Port Harcourt was made available. Port Harcourt completed an ultra-modern complex in 2021, fully furnished. Their law faculty is new and has fewer students, yet they invested in the future of their students. In UniUyo, the funds were diverted, and successive administrations since 2015 have made frantic efforts to cover up their greed and corruption.”
Multiple sources within the University—who requested anonymity for fear of victimization—accused the current administration under Vice Chancellor Prof. Nyaudoh Ndaeyo of continuing the legacy of mismanagement. “The funds were there. The blueprints were clear. But what they built does not reflect the TETFUND standards in any way. They simply pocketed the difference,” a senior academic alleged.
In what appears to be a desperate bid to deflect blame, university management is now reportedly targeting junior staff for questioning. “They are trying to hang this mess on innocent workers who had nothing to do with contracts or finances,” another internal source revealed. “This is textbook scapegoating.”
Prof. Ndaeyo, who is due to leave office in the coming year, has also been accused of seeking to impose a loyalist as his successor. “It’s a survival strategy,” said a source in the Registry. “He knows a neutral successor might probe these shady dealings. So the goal now is to plant a stooge who will protect him and bury the rot.”
The performance of students in the Faculty—once regarded as one of the top Law programs in the South-South—has declined steadily. Lecturers now improvise tutorials in makeshift locations due to lack of offices and classroom resources. The law library, which was part of the initial TETFUND package, remains non-existent.
“Lecturers teach without boards. Students kneel to write exams. The Vice Chancellor is scheming succession plans. That’s the real state of UniUyo today,” said another exasperated staff member.
Calls to the Vice Chancellor’s office went unanswered at the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, students continue to pay full tuition and examination fees under what many describe as “medieval academic conditions.”
“This is not an education system,” said a second-year law student. “It’s a punishment camp. And it’s not just mismanagement—it’s a crime against the future.”
As the nation watches and the university community whispers in fear, one thing remains clear: the future of legal education in UniUyo is under siege—held hostage by corruption, negligence, and a leadership desperate to bury the evidence.
