By Emeka Ibemere
It
was one sunny Saturday October 5, 2013, at the University auditorium. He walked on solicited, clutching his
certificate and reeling out his registration number; as the first student on
the roll of 15 students that started the first indigenous autonomous university
in Nigeria.
For
Ninety-three years old Elder- Chief Christopher Nzekwe Eneasato, it was returning to home- the University of Nigeria
Nsukka (UNN), where he started his quest for higher learning, after exactly 53
years of graduation.
Eneasato
was the first of the pioneers invited by the Vice Chancellor of the UNN, Prof
Bartho Okolo as the first Nigeria higher education institution, honoured the
pioneers whose exploits and successes so far validated the idea of a wholly
Nigerian university, an idea hitherto derided as fantasy.
Few
weeks ago, UNN rolled out the drums and red carpets to celebrate the Golden
Jubilee of the graduation of the pathfinders as part of the annual Founder’s
Day celebration and lecture of the institution.
The
outstanding performance of the 1963, set at the competitive civil service
examination gave the institution an enviable brand name and silenced derisive
criticisms that trailed the establishment of the institution.
University
of Nigeria opened its large sprawling gates to only 200 students on October 7,
1960, a few days after the declaration of Independence by Nigeria by 1963, 150
of those students graduated with degrees of the university.
Among the pioneers who reported for the 50th Anniversary
celebration were five professors including the best graduating student of the
class of ’63, Professor Johnson Asiegbu. Others were Prof Peter Esedebe, Prof Romanus
Egudu, Prof Onigu Otite, and emeritus Professor, O.S.B. Omoregie. Also present
were Retired Captain S.O. Ehiede, Chief S.I. Ayela-Uwangu, Chief M.I. Momoh,
and Raphael Nwamefor. The others
included Mrs Comfort Ukwu (nee Akwah), Sir Sydney Onyegbuna, Mrs Maria
Anyaegbunam, Chief Martin. O. Anih and a representative of Dr. Eleazu
Ibeabuchi.
It was gathered that their feats are now part of the folklore of the University
of Nigeria Nsukka. Asiegbu for instance obtained a First Class in Political
Science and went on to a bag Doctor of Philosophy after a programme at the
University of Cambridge. According to the University’s reports, the first batch
of graduates performed excellently in the Civil Service Examination ahead of
their counterparts from other universities in Nigeria and abroad.
UNN Vice Chancellor Prof Bartho Okolo recalled in an address at the
epochal event: “It
is public knowledge that some pessimists doubted the need for the establishment
of the University of Nigeria at the time of its founding. However, the first
real test of the comparative abilities of our pioneer graduates, came in the
form of an examination into the National Civil Service”, he stated.
“This distinguished generation of Lions
and Lionesses excelled beyond anyone’s imagination. It was reported that
their excellent performance at that examination was the beginning of the
reputation of excellence that we all enjoy at the University of Nigeria today.
Their achievements opened doors for subsequent graduates of the University of
Nigeria. Some of these heroes may have fallen, but an event of this nature
serves to express our respect, admiration and gratitude for being worthy
pioneer students and graduates of this legacy institution. We salute them! We
congratulate them! We salute them for the legacy of excellence which they
bequeathed to us”.
The Pro- Chancellor of the University, Sir (Dr)
Emeka Enejere, said the celebration was important to reinforce the past of the University
in order for people to have a better grasp of its present state, and make
projection into its future.
He chronicled the history of the University from
its conception stage to the establishment of the Institution on October 7,
1960. He saluted the Zion- faith the pioneer graduates had in the University at
a time when many people called to question the viability of a degree awarded by
a Nigerian university.
“The role you played in the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka cannot be forgotten, we cannot thank you enough for bearing the name, Lions and Lionesses with dignity and candour.
Your alma- mater is proud of you, and your names shall eternally be
written in the book of records of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka”, he said.
One of the pioneer graduates and the best
graduating student of the 1963 class, Prof. Johnson Asiegbu, recalled how
critics derided and criticised them for being students of UNN, which many of
the cynics called “Zik’s Secondary School”. He said their determination to
succeed amidst daunting infrastructure challenges made them resilient and focused
on their mandate.
“UNN gave us an assignment when we came here in
1960, an assignment to restore the dignity of man. We came with enthusiasm from start to the
finish. However, within the environment
of the university and outside the university, we had challenges of
infrastructure and how people regarded our university and us. If that challenge
had affected us, it would have been a different history. Nevertheless, we never
lost faith because we knew we had a duty to do to ourselves and to our country”,
he added.
“Even the Federal civil service examination that was
organised in 1963, was meant to prove that Nsukka graduates were not worthy of their certificates but the
table fell on the critics as Nsukka graduates gave a good account of themselves
by occupying all the top positions in the examination. I am happy that the
University has sustained that tradition of excellence over the years,” he said.
Prof. Solomon Omoregie, a member of the set, said
that the spirit of hard work, which they learnt during their undergraduate
studies in UNN, was the bedrock of their successes in their postgraduate
studies abroad.
He recalled how his classmates had to line up
waiting for their turn to study a particular textbook recommended by their
Professors.
“If you had the opportunity to read that book for
30 minutes, you would not see it again for the whole session. That was how we
started”, he said.
The octogenarian, who has special interest in
poetry, donated copies of his last book to Nnamdi Azikiwe Library as part of
his social responsibilities to his alma- mater. Pioneers, P.
Olisanwuche Esedebe and J Okoro Ijomah, writing in University of Nigeria 1960-1985: An Experiment in Higher Education, recalled
the ridicule initial students suffered from the media, the public and students
at the University College, Ibadan over some of the courses introduced by UNN
including the General Studies programme.
“The idea of (B.A) Nsukka; instead of (B.A.)
London; became a standing joke. ‘Can you imagine’, asked one newspaper editor,
‘a Nigerian university with (M.A.) Awo-Omama; (PhD) Onitsha; LL.B (Jankara) and
(LL.M Oshogbo)’. He did not foresee that four years after the inception of the
University, B.A. (A.B.U); B.A. (Ife);
B.A (Lagos) would be a reality and a little later B.A. (Benin); B.A. Port
Harcourt); B.A. Jos; B.A. Sokoto., B.A. Kano, B.A. (Calabar) and so on.
Undaunted by what proved to be misguided criticisms, the authorities at Nsukka
wisely stuck to the General Studies programme,” Omoregie said.
Almost
all universities in the country now have a General Studies component for broadening
the knowledge of students across disciplines
The peak of the event was the presentation of
pencil portraits of old and young images of the celebrants by the Pro-chancellor
and Vice-Chancellor of the University. The
school also launched a book in honour of the pioneers.
.
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