By Tony Adibe
In Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, where male lecturers are often accused of engaging in sex-for-marks with female students while financially milking dry the male students, it’s a rarity, if not unheard of, for a lecturer in any tertiary institution to donate a car (prize) as way of encouraging male students to study harder and compete with their female colleagues.
The aim is to challenge the male students, who for the past four years seemed to have been in “academic slumber” while their female counterparts always smiled home with all the prizes instituted by the university to enhance academic excellence among students.
NewsBits was reliably informed that four years ago the Vice Chancellor of Godfrey Okoye University (GO-UNI), Enugu Rev. Fr. Prof Christian Anieke initiated and introduced the “Vice Chancellor for One Day” programe. This initiative enables a winner to sit on the VC’s official seat, ride in the VC’s official car and enjoy performing all the duties of the Vice Chancellor except signing of cheques! That is the exclusive preserve of the bona fide VC!
The key objective of the One Day VC platform is to encourage academic and moral excellence among the students: For a student to win the prize for Vice Chancellor for One Day, such a student must gain 5.00 CGPA in two semesters. And since the VC for One Day was introduced four years ago, only the female students have maintained the lead, winning even the best graduating students in all the departments, taking the shine off their male counterparts.
“All these years, the major prizes have been packed by the female students of the university,” said Prof. Anieke. This development didn’t quite go down well with some male lecturers in the university. One fateful day, a worried lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Mr. Alphonsus Onyeacho Nwafor walked into the VC’s office to express his concern about the fact that the male students in the university are lagging behind academically.
But before leaving the VC’s office he pledged that any male student who emerged as the Vice Chancellor for One Day would receive a car prize from him. Although Prof. Anieke thought it was a huge joke considering the situation of the country’s economy – where the naira is not easy to come by courtesy of the Central Bank of Nigeria redesign of the naira. But what the VC felt was a joke later became a reality when the car key and papers were handed to him to present to the winner.
Therefore, at the Catholic private University – Godfrey Okoye University (GO-UNI), Enugu, history was made on Friday May 5, 2023 when the donor Mr. Alphonsus Onyeachu Nwafor , fulfilled his pledge by giving out a Camry XLE car valued N3.950m to the winner , a male student, Vitalis Chinemerem Nwafor, who won the Vice Chancellor for One Day 2023. Vitalis, an indigent 400 level student in the Faculty of Education, will be graduating in within the next two months after writing his final examinations.
“Not everyone, not every school celebrates outstanding students in the capacity of Vice Chancellor for one day. But this school has given me the opportunity to not just to sit down on the position of the Vice Chancellor for one day but also for receiving a car as a reward for being the first male to emerge,” said Vitalis, who was given the opportunity to address the crowd of students, staff, friends, and relations who witnessed the handover of the car to him.
He further said: “My name is Chinemerem Vitalis. I’m the Vice Chancellor for One Day in Godfrey Okoye University. Today, I feel blessed. I feel God has made his promises efficient in my life. My name Chinemerem has fished me out. God will keep following me; God will keep doing for me.
“I’m appreciative to God for the gift of this school, a school like Godfrey Okoye University where outstanding students are being celebrated. I’m appreciative to God for somebody like Mr. Nwafor Alphonsus, who single-handedly decided to encourage and award meaningful students who do things to change the society.
“I appreciate Mr. Nwafor. I appreciate our faculty for believing in me, that I can do this. I am hopeful that every other male student in this university must aim at excellence to achieve this type of feat. That’s my humble wishe for the students.”
Vitalis also spoke about some of the challenges he had to tackle in his attempt to break what some regarded as “a jinx” – a situation in which only female students won all the prizes for excellence in the university.
He said: “Yes. I had to experience many challenges. Majorly, I’m not from a rich background. I’m from a poor family. We’re indigent. In my year two, I almost dropped out because there was no money to continue paying my school fees. But a woman, Dr. Mrs Veronica Mogboh decided to take it upon herself to sponsor my education. And today, see the result.
“Aside from Dr (Mrs) Vero Mogboh, I have been encouraged by my Dean, Professor (Mrs) Awaghah. Anytime I had financial issues, I would go to her, and she would help me. Also, Dr (Mrs) Agusiobo has equally been a source of help to me. My other lecturers – the H.O.D, Professor Ene. I had to face all these challenges believing that I would still make it proudly and today, the result is what we have witnessed.
“Today, I am reaping the benefits of my patience and diligence. I still believe that God is going to do marvels in my life.” The Vice Chancellor for One Day also spoke glowingly about the donor, Mr. Nwafor, describing him as “a man that made me understand the importance of giving,” adding, “I am grateful to you, sir. For making this dream of both I and my family come to pass.”
He further described the lecturer as an inspiration and motivator to all the male students who have suddenly waken up from their academic “sleep” to face the challenge of engaging in a healthy competition with their female colleagues. “This man has inspired not just me but many other persons…Many male students are motivated to work harder academically just because of the reinforcement he made,” Vitalis said.
Earlier, Prof Anieke, lauded the lecturer with a heart of gold for encouraging the students generally, but particularly the males he had challenged. “What he has done is not out of dislike for the girls, but he wanted to prove a point: that the boys can do as well as the girls. He wants to promote gender equality in the real sense of it. If you have boys and girls as your children, you would like both to do well. Nobody wants to have an idiot as a son,” said the VC as he corrected the wrong impression that Mr. Nwafor probably wanted to encourage the male students more than the females.
Prof. Anieke further said: “Permit me to thank Mr. Alphonsus Nwafor, an alumnus of this university. He graduated here with first degree. He did his second degree here. And a Masters programme. But it’s not just that; he made up his mind by the time he graduated to continue to support youths of this university.
“Many students have received his prizes. If you have an “A” in his course, you will get N5000 cash prize. He represents my expectation of the products of Godfrey Okoye University. He is simply going to be greater. This is one university that doesn’t mince words when it comes to its desire for excellence as far as youths are concerned.”
Prof. Anieke recalled that when the university commenced the University Vice Chancellor for One Day, it was because “we believe that if you challenge young people, they will do well for themselves, for their families and their friends.”
He emphasized that so far, members of the university senate would not have been disappointed, explaining that “all those who emerged the overall best are doing extremely well in life; the indication that this programme is a good one.”
Explaining further on the philosophy guiding the One Day VC programe, Prof Anieke said: “Of course, it takes humility to do this but I believe there is a relationship between a good desire and humility.
“It takes humility to ask your student to take your seat in the morning. It takes humility to ask your student to drive in your official vehicle. But we know that it is not about us; it is about young people.
“And also, we believe that if they have tasted success, they would crave for it all there life. I do not feel that the winner would go for anything less than excellence in future. I do not feel so because he has sat on the seat of the Vice Chancellor. He has addressed the senate of the university. He has addressed our secondary schools, our group of institutions. He knows the powers of the Vice Chancellor. The only thing he did not do was to sign a cheque. I still reserve that one for myself.” This generated laughter and ovation from the crowd!
The Vice Chancellor said that the winner, Vitalis, having tasted the beauty of success and excellence, cannot afford to aim at anything less. Prof Anieke urged the students to always move away from the “beauty of evil” and see the beauty of success. “Success has many friends, but failure is an orphan,” remarked the Vice Chancellor, who quickly added: “This particular student will no longer be anonymous. I have received a call from the Chairman of the Local Government Area. I have received calls from the professors in the university. His name will be in the Hall of Fame of our university.
“I say to the students, it’s possible that you all cannot emerge the Vice Chancellor for One Day, but you can be the best in what you are doing in your department.”
He reminded the students that nobody has ever been given the title “best Indian Hemp Smoker” nor has anybody ever been given the title ‘best drug taker’. “So why do you want to excel in something that doesn’t bring honour?,” asked the Vice Chancellor, who stressed: “We are actually showing you, in your university the beauty of success. Think about where you are going to excel.”
Prof. Anieke added: “So today, he (Mr. Nwafor) has brought this car to be given to the first male to emerge as the Vice Chancellor for One Day. Congratulations.”
However, the donor of the car, Mr Nwafor said that in the university, there are two forces – negative and positive forces that pull a student, explaining further that one force is centrifugal and the other is centripetal.
According to him, “The centripetal is taking you close to the centre while the centrifugal is taking you away or outside. And the centrifugal is negative because it is dominated by exam malpractices, smoking Indian hemp and the rest of them. But the centripetal is taking you to the centre where positive things are happening in the university.”
He further said: “This also brings me to what happens to somebody when he/she loses his vision. When you lose your vision, you lose your focus. Today, what is your vision? What is your specific objective for coming to Godfrey Okoye University? Today, Nwafor Vitalis has achieved one of his specific objectives because he focused on his vision. And the result is what we are seeing today.”
The lecturer said: “I posed this challenge to the male folks of this university: If you can become the Vice Chancellor for One Day or become the Best Graduating Student, I will give you a car because I want them to feel that they have a vision. They have an objective for coming to this university; not just coming to study and go without having anything to show for. That’s what actually motivated me. I want the male folks of this university to shine out.”
He said in education there is what is called intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, stressing that “We need to intrinsically and extrinsically motivate our students. And our Vice Chancellor has been doing that and we are learning from him. The Vice Chancellor is a motivator.”
Handing over the car key and particulars to Prof. Anieke , the lecturer said: “I am the happiest person today because I threw a challenge to the male folks and Vitalis threw the challenge back to me. I said I challenge you pick one post, and he has taken the post. And because he has taken the post, I will also stand firm to redeem my pledges.
“Today, my Vice Chancellor, it’s my honour and privilege to redeem the pledge and present the car which I promised – here are the papers and here is the car key. Congratulations.” The ovation and songs of praise that followed almost pulled down the roof of the arena as the proud winner was handed over the key and papers of his car!
