EXCLUSIVE: Victimised professor relapses, faces eviction, begs Nigerians for help

A spokesperson for the University of Uyo said he was unaware the lecturer defeated the university at the Court of Appeal, Calabar.

Inih Ebong, an associate professor of theatre arts, victimised for over two decades by the University of Uyo (UniUyo), has relapsed after responding to treatment for cardiac failure.

He also faces homelessness over his inability to pay rent.

UniUyo unjustly sacked the 73-year-old lecturer in 2002 for persistently criticising the university’s authorities over alleged corruption and maladministration.

Since then, five successive vice-chancellors failed to reinstate and pay Mr Ebong his accumulated salary and other entitlements despite a string of court victories, including last December’s Court of Appeal judgment, which finalised litigation over the illegal termination of his appointment.

Mr Ebong was diagnosed with cardiac failure in October 2020 . Doctors didn’t give him much chance of survival before a Nigerian billionaire and philanthropist, Femi Otedola, stepped in to fund his medical treatment following a PREMIUM TIMES report.

Prof Ebong’s deteriorating health

On Tuesday, 25 February, Mr Ebong told our reporter that his health has deteriorated. “It is very serious. My two feet are swollen,” he said on telephone at about 5:17 p.m. that day.

His breathing was unsteady as he struggled to speak with our reporter.

He said he had been on intravenous medication for days, but there was no improvement.

“I will take myself to the hospital and get myself admitted,” he muttered.

He said he has a doctor’s appointment on Friday but cannot wait till that day because of the pain in his stomach.

“I am also having stomach ache. The slightest morsel of food causes my stomach to swell. I have not been able to sleep; I stayed awake throughout last night. I sat at the verandah till dawn, groaning throughout the night.”

PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately reach Mr Ebong’s doctor for comment.

Mr Ebong’s wife, Uduak, told our reporter on Wednesday morning that the lecturer could not eat his meals on Tuesday because of the relapse. But she said there was a “slight improvement” on Wednesday morning.

“He was able to eat his breakfast this morning,” she said on Wednesday.

‘I don’t have anywhere to get the money’

About two weeks ago, Mr Ebong told our reporter he faced eviction from his three-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of Uyo because he could not pay the N400,000 annual rent. He appealed to Nigerians for help.

“It has gotten to a point where I can’t keep it to myself; that is why I am speaking out.

“I don’t have anywhere to get the money. The thought of where to get the money to pay rent has given me serious psychological trauma. I have come to the end of the road. I have no option than to appeal to the public for help,” he said.

Being out of a job for several years, Mr Ebong could hardly feed himself and his family.

To encourage other potential employers to avoid the lecturer, UniUyo published a disclaimer about him in Punch newspaper shortly after he was sacked in 2002.

After the Court of Appeal gave judgment in his favour in December, Mr Ebong, through his lawyer, forwarded the verdict to the Vice-Chancellor, Nyaudoh Ndaeyo.

He urged Mr Ndaeyo to obey the 2020 judgment of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, which ordered the university to reinstate and pay him (Ebong) all his entitlements and damages.

UniUyo has yet to respond to the lecturer’s letter, the third he has so far written to Mr Ndaeyo, a professor, over the matter.

Weighed down by hardship, illness, and emotional trauma, Mr Ebong, in a 16 January 2021 letter to UniUyo vice-chancellor, chronicled his travails and informed him he was open to a peaceful resolution of the matter.

“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.

On 12 March 2021, the vice-chancellor, through the then-registrar, Aniediabasi Udofia, replied to Mr Ebong’s letter. He told the lecturer the university was dissatisfied with the judgment of the National Industrial Court and had, therefore, appealed it.

“It is advisable for parties to await the decision of the court (of appeal),” the university said.

But since the Appeal Court delivered its judgment in December, UniUyo has yet to obey it.

“I am not aware of it. You know this has been a protracted case,” a university spokesperson, Udoro Udo, said on Wednesday about the appeal court judgment in response to an enquiry from our reporter.

[If you are interested in assisting Mr Ebong, you can reach out to him via +234-708-625-9709, or send him a donation (Inih Ebong, Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB) 0042760051).]