The Governing Council of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) has fired Prof. Chubuike Ugochukwu Uche, a professor of accounting, for making false allegations of several questionable academic claims and falsifications of credentials against Prof. Mrs. Uche Modum, a longtime professor of accounting at the same university.
Several sources at the university, including some members of the council revealed that the decision to sack Prof. Ugochukwu Uche was taken when the self-styled whistleblower could not provide substantial evidence to back up his claims and allegations against Prof. Modum. The sources further added that the University set up a committee to look into all the allegations raised by Prof. Uche and also invited Prof. Modum to clear her name.
A source who pleaded anonymity said: “I was a member of that committee that investigated the matter though I am not authorized to speak on behalf of the committee. The woman brought all her original documentary evidence to prove that she neither claimed what she was not nor forged papers to be made a professor. The Committee sighted all the documents tendered by Prof. Modum and was satisfied that she did not forge any document. We also invited Prof. Uche to come forward with the evidence he had against Prof. Modum but he had failed to produce any. This is an academic institution and any allegation of academic fraud against anyone is not taken with kids gloves. We made sure we got to the bottom of the matter before reporting back to Council for immediate action and it is possible that the Governing Council also saw in our report that the allegations lacked merit that led to the sacking of the young man”.
Prof. Uche alleged that Mrs. Modum forged a letter from a top American journal, Management Accounting (now Strategic Finance), which purportedly accepted two of her papers. The shoddily written “acceptance letter,” which was disavowed by the journal's editor-in-chief, Kathy Williams, in a letter dated June 24, 2011, was part of the documents Mrs. Modum submitted in support of her application for promotion to the rank of full professor.
Mrs. Modum also was alleged to have claimed in various official documents that she worked in a “Jones and Jones Inc.,” ostensibly a certified public accounting firm she purported to be based in Dayton, Ohio, in the US.
Prof. Ugochukwu Uche further revealed that Mrs. Modum had also changed her official date of birth, without which she would have since retired from the service of UNN. Wilberforce University in Ohio confirmed that Mrs. Modum's current date of birth was different from her date of birth when she was a student there adding Mrs. Modum has also admitted ownership of multiple dates of birth in writing.
The woman at the centre of the controversy rocking the Department of Accounting and the Council of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, (UNN), Prof. Mrs. Uche Modum has described as false the allegations of falsification of credentials contained in a petition sent to the Governing Council of the University by a professional colleague and a co-staff, Prof. Ugochukwu Uche.
Speaking to The Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Harrison Ogara on phone, Prof. Modum said she was never involved in any forgery or falsification of any document that led to her award of professorship stressing that Prof. Ugochukwu that made the allegations was known to be someone who hated himself and others around him.
Prof. Modum said she had no need to take the matter to Court when the University that employed her had not found any iota of truth in the allegations of the young man.
The chat between Prof. Modum and The Starlite Editor- in- Chief was recorded thus:
The Starlite: Good evening Prof.!
Prof. Modum: Good evening Mr. Ogara.
The Starlite: Yes!, I am calling you in relation to a petition against you by one Prof. Ugochukwu Uche of your Department alleging that you falsified documents and used other people's works without authorization to rise to the position of a professor. The question is: Do you know Professor Ugochukwu Uche?
Prof. Modum: Yes! I know him and I also know that all he said in the petition was a bundle of lies.
The Starlite: Do you mean all the allegations he leveled against you are lies?
Prof. Modum: They are all lies. These allegations had been with various Councils of the University of Nigeria and we have been following the matter.
The Starlite: If you say the allegations are lies, why have you not taken any legal action against him, at least to clear your name?
Prof. Modum: Noooo! The University is handling it her own way. And when someone writes a petition against you, you don't go to court. It is left for the authority to which such petition was made to investigate the matter and at the end take a decision on the matter.
The Starlite: Yes we know that the university is looking into it but are you aware that it is all about your integrity?
Prof. Modum: Yes! It is about me but the truth is that I am a staff of UNN. The School has a procedure. I am following the procedure closely and if the school after their investigations finds me not culpable, I have no reason to waste my time talking to someone who is making wild allegations.
I taught the young man, Prof. Ugochukwu in his under graduate days. His family used to be close to mine. Indeed, his father was my Gynecologist. We have close family relationship. What baffles me is the vigour with which the young man had been applying for my head. Prof. Ugochukwu was a very stubborn member of the class during his first year. In deed, at some point he performed so poorly that I had to inform his father who then advised me to allow him fail the course. He indeed failed the course and had to retake the exam.
While he was pursuing his higher degrees, I was of immense benefit to him. There was also another woman whose name I wouldn't want mention that worked with me to let him attain/get to the point he had attained academically.
The Starlite: You said both of you had close family relationship, is it possible that there might be something between two of you that transcends what we are talking about now?
Prof. Modum: Well, I wouldn't know of any but what is clear is that wherever his father is now, he would be angry with his son over his attitude to me. I have not done any wrong to him to deserve all these embarrassment from Ugochukwu.
The Starlite: Madam, Prof. Ugochukwu Uche claimed that you falsified your date of birth and that was what had been keeping you as a staff of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Do you have anything to say in respect of that?
Prof. Modum: Has he showed you any documents to back up his claim? The burden of proof rests on his shoulders. Let him show the world any document that proves him right in his allegations.
The Starlite: Prof. Chibuike Ugochukwu Uche stated that the only official response from the University on what he claims of your apparent string of forgeries came from the immediate past Vice Chancellor, Barth Okolo, who on December 14, 2012 stated that you, “Prof. (Mrs.) Modum might have made a mistake, but does not deserve all the insults. It is already too late to do anything since she has been educating students in the most excellent manner. What she did not have in publications, she now has in experience.” Is this true?
Prof. Modum: Did Prof. Ugochukwu Uche show you any copy of that letter from the former Vice Chancellor? Look, this is university and I am aware that right from the time he made those allegations; the university must have got to the bottom of the matter and discovered that there was no iota of truth in what he was claiming.
The Starlite: Could that be the reason why the University Council sacked him some two weeks ago?
Prof: If the university finds out that what he was claiming was false, they reserve the right to mete out any appropriate punishment which could be a sack. But the truth is that the school has not found me wanting in any of those claims made by Prof. Chibuike Ugochukwu Uche.
The Starlite: Prof. Ugochukwu claimed that you are being shielded by the immediate past Vice Chancellor, Prof. Bartho Okolo and the current Council Chairman, Mr. Emma Ukala due to the relationship that had existed between them and your husband. In order words, the cockroach does not expect any justice in a committee of chickens. Is this correct Prof. Modum?
Prof. Modum: This issue has nothing to do with my husband, Prof. Bartho Okolo or Emma Ukala. It is purely a straight forward thing. Let him come forward to substantiate his claims. Simple! You don't make such unsubstantiated wild allegations and expect to be given a pat on the back.
Prof. Ozumba Reacts:
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, (UNN) Professor Benjamin Ozumba has denied the allegation published in an online media that he was used to conceal the truth in a matter relating to the sacking of one Professor Chibuike Ugochukwu Uche who was alleged to have exposed several questionable academic claims and falsification of credentials by one Professor Uche Modum both of Accounting Department of the University.
Speaking to The Editor-in-Chief of The Starlite, Prof. Ozumba said he was brought in to preach peace among the warring parties adding that as a peace maker which he is, he had no reason not to wade into the matter with a view to resolving the feud which according to him had lingered for years before he came in as the Vice Chancellor of the University. He added that after the Council had looked it into the matter and discovered that Prof. Modum's academic records had no garbage after it and that was why it mandated Prof. Chibuike Uche the originator and founder of the rumour making the rounds to apologise to Prof. Modum - an order which he refused to obey.
He said: “Really, I am aware of the long standing feud between the two professors and I was called in to sit with the two of them with the purpose of brokering peace. I did all in my powers to settle the matter. The matter had been before past Councils and lingered to this point.
At my level, I cannot be used to do negative things. The main reason why I was brought to the University as the Vice Chancellor in the first place was to broker peace and to heal the wounds created by administrations before me. I was sent in by God to repair the broken wall of the university and that is what I have been doing for the past one year. I thank God that we are making appreciable progress in that respect.
Some weeks ago, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka hosted Vice Chancellors from other African Universities and the report they so far made is that we are the best. They left the shores of this country very envious of the status of the University of Nigeria. Before I came on board, what was in vogue was that it was not possible to drill borehole in Enugu due to large deposits of coal but today the story has changed.
“We now have portable water for the Enugu campus in abundance. As I speak now, we are hosting the West African Universities Games. This was rejected by other universities but we accepted to do it because we are the University of Nigeria. We are a brand unto this country and so if other universities in Nigeria run away from such responsibility we cannot afford to run because we are the University of Nigeria.
“These are the stories that should be trending not about one crisis or the other. Mr. Ogara, we have gone past that stage of bickering. We now have atmosphere of peace on campus that we implore all the stakeholders to key into this vision”
On the allegation that he was used by the Chairman of the Council by deliberately refusing to submit the letter that originated from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to the Council seeking to stop Council from taking a decision until it hears out Prof. Ugochukwu Uche, Prof. Ozumba said he was overseas when the letter from the National Human Rights Commission came and by the time he came back to Nigeria, the University Council had wound up their sitting and had taken a decision. “When the letter from the NHRC came, I was in far away Korea and so could not do anything to that effect.”
When The Starlite asked the Vice Chancellor if he as the head of the institution took his time to investigate the claims made against one of his workers by another colleague, he said he had no knowledge of how to conduct investigations adding that investigations are better left for investigative journalists like Mr. Ogara and other relevant agencies saddled with such duties.
'I am an administrator and a peace maker. I try to bring peace where there is trouble. I don't go out to sniff out trouble. I kill trouble each time it rears its ugly head. I embrace peace and enthrone it where ever I find myself. So, I am not an investigative journalist like you.
Prof. Okwueze Reacts:
Speaking to Prof. Malachy Okweze who was also a member of the Council and the Committee that handled the matter, he said he was aware of the feud between the two professors but declined to make his personal take on the issue known. He rather stated that it will be wrong to attach the decision of council or committee to an individual member stressing that whatever anybody wants to know on the issue, such person has to go to the records to find out the true position of the council.
Asked to shed more light on why Prof. Modum could not go to court to claim damages over what could well be termed as libel against her person, Prof. Okwueze said it was not his case to advise anyone on what next line of action to take in a matter of that nature adding that in a fight between two persons, the one thrown to the ground may stand up and decide to walk away without squaring up for further fight while the other may choose to take the matter further. He stressed that what informs the person's next line of action would be his perception of the whole fight. If Prof. Modum felt she was not wronged in any way, she has her liberty to forget the matter and face her business but if she feels otherwise, she knows the next line of action.
On whether the council took time to investigate the claims which are regarded as weighty in academic circle, Prof. Okwueze said it was not his duty to address the press on issues decided by council.
He said he was surprised that the recent event shows that the University Council went on to sack Prof. Ugochukwu Uche adding that he was no longer a member of the council to have first hand information on what transpired in the last Council sitting. He stressed that he would find out what actually transpired during the council sitting.
The Starlite Findings:
In a bid to get to the bottom of the matter, The Starlite took time to seek to lay hands on documents that could assist in verifying the claims made by Prof. Uche against Prof. Modum and discovered that:
Contrary to the claim by Prof. Uche that Prof. Modum's published papers were non-existent, the papers actually exist and they were all sighted by the Committee set up by the University to investigate the claims. These papers include (1) “Cost Accounting: A historical Study; (2) Information flow as a marketing strategy; (3) Opportunity cost: Idea of indispensability; (4) Non manufacturing costs: A visit to mathematical models; (5) Pert: A tool for project implementation and (6) Accounting information System; a case of quality control.
Based on the above charges, well meaning elders (including the most senior professors) of the faculty and beyond actually called and advised Prof. Uche that he ought to have carefully studied the Yellow Book applicable in the period in question (1980s and beyond which was the Bible for academic promotion in the University of Nigeria). It was further gathered by The Starlite that in the above allegation against Prof. Modum, no rule in the Yellow Book was violated by Prof. Modum because the onus of publishing accepted articles was on the publishers and not the author of the articles among others.
The council had invited the two Professors and after deliberations and submission of its report to council in January 2011, the council exonerated Prof. Modum and asked Prof. Uche to apologise in writing to Prof. Modum and circulate his letter of apology to all whom he had sent his allegation.
In the cause of investigating the matter, Prof. Uche was given ample time to appear before the committee with concrete evidence to prove his case but he never did and that was why the council in its wisdom claimed that it cannot wait for Prof. Uche for eternity before taking a stand on the matter moreso when it was apparent that Prof. Modum through documentary evidence has convinced the Council that she did not commit any academic fraud.
On the allegation of age malpractice, it was discovered that the only place where there was an error was during the production of Prof. Modum's School Identity card which was also corrected to bear the real date of birth. In other words, the Wilberforce University, Ohio, USA knew that there was no ambiguity in her age as her actual date of birth of 28 February, 1948 was reflected on the top right part of her transcript.
It was after the council was satisfied that Prof. Chibuike Uche's allegation lacked merit that it decided to mete out appropriate punishment to him and sacked him from the University.
In the meantime The Starlite tried to reach Prof. Chibuike Ugochukwu Uche who is said to be on his sabbatical in the Netherlands through his phone number +31(0)649340263 and his E-mail addresses uchechibuike@gmail.com but was unsuccessful
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