REAGAN UFOMBA: THE APOSTLE OF FAKE BURSARY AWARDS

When Abia State University Students confronted authorities of their institution on the policy of ‘no fees, no exams’; the immediate fall out was the closure of the inst

itution to avert further altercation. The rest is now history as issues were resolved in record time. As I write, the students affected have graduated.

At the middle of that challenge, Reagan Ufomba; a self – acclaimed later day Saint, came from obscurity and promised he was going to generously offer BURSARY AWARDS TO 200 ABSU STUDENTS (emphasis mine). That gesture according to him was to serve as palliative to the students. I hailed his immaturity. I commended his resort to cheap popularity but still prayed that he does not disappoint again this time. I am afraid, he did and unfortunately in the most bizarre manner. Today, less than one month after that promise, he has recanted and made a dangerous volte face. It is very easy to identify a confused, lying and deceitful person. Reagan is a combination of these vices. So painful!

I was quick to point out that even if he is able to fulfill his promise of awarding bursary to just 200 students out of the over 20,000 affected; it would amount to curing the illness without recourse to the causative element. I also knew that Reagan was insulting the intelligence of Nigerian students of ABSU extraction when he willfully elected to make them appear too cheap. I also knew that for the about fifty year Regan had lived, he does not have the culture of decency, integrity and honesty.

Recently, this pathological liar and apostle of fake bursary took on the most disappointing mission by arranging the names of some people who he attested to being beneficiaries of his phantom bursary awards. In that failed attempt, he still could not make up the names of the so called 200 students. There are at least 200,000 students of Abia origin who are in dire need of help. They are in every ward (I wonder why Bursary award has to be on the basis of political ward) and in all communities. Our friend Reagan, still could not make up the list of 200. IN ABSU alone, there are over ten thousand Abians seeking to be offered help.
Reagan said that his policies are always predicated on VALUE CHAIN. He needs to explain to us the extent this child’s play could go in impacting on enduring measures for improved standard of education. In Reagan’s mind, by offering bursary to fictitious names, we have solved the challenges of inadequate funding in the education sector.
Who are these people? Credible scholarship programmes or bursary awards are managed on the bases of :
1. Name of student
2. Instutition
3. Dept/Course of study
4. Matriculation number

Reagan might think we are still in the era of rice and stew politics when we cook rice to entice prospective voters. He did a poor job of this one and has gone a step further in proving that apart from being unintelligent, he is acutely daft. We need a fresh list of these beneficiaries on the sub heads listed above. Disclosure of information is another hallmark of a good leader.
One of the qualities of a good leader is having the ability to manage long term policies. Regan has been a billionaire (from his claim) for well over twenty years. We need to know when this phantom bursary award was instituted and who have benefitted. Our people cannot be taken on a jolly ride. While large number of Abia Youths are seeking to be employed, Reagan ‘established’ (okpokpo ashi) his multi billion naira cement factory outside Abia. I have been thinking how a cement factory sited in Calabar could impact on the life of an average Abian. What are the VALUE CHAIN imperatives of this venture?

I sincerely hope Reagan is aware of the overall implications of the wild goose chase he has undertaken. He needs lessons on integrity and straightforwardness. He is perfecting in this art of treachery and affront on the collective psyche of great Nigerian Students with his co – traveler; another political Lilliputian called Chinedu Nwogu. Chinedu should go through that Bursary list again and tell us just for one time that he has succeeded in further messing Reagan up. What was that mess all about?