INIH Ebong who was unjustly sacked by the University of Uyo in 2002 for his constant criticism of unfair practices by the top management of the university has been battling to stay alive.
Inibehe Effiong, a human rights lawyer that narrated Ebong’s current ordeal on Twitter noted that the lecturer is lying down in a critical condition.
The legal counsel said he was almost moved to tears when he seized the occasion of the much-celebrated world’s teachers’ day to a pay visit to the erstwhile university lecturer at his Uyo residence on Monday.
“As we mark World Teachers’ Day, I’m appealing to Nigerians to donate to the medical bills of Dr. Inih Ebong, an associate professor sacked in 2002 by University of Uyo due to his activism before he dies.
“Today, I visited Inih Ebong, an associate professor of theatre art at his residence in Uyo. I was almost moved to tears over the hardship and injustice that this patriotic intellectual has gone through for the past 18 years. He is terribly sick and can barely speak,” he said.
Effiong, who stated that the lecturer can no longer afford his medical bills as he is currently owing outstanding ones, appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to come to his aid. According to him, his physician said he has only a 20 per cent chance of survival.
“His doctor, a consultant cardiologist, told him that he has 20 per cent chance of survival.
“Dr. Ebong cannot afford his medical bills. He already has outstanding bills. You can see from the photos that I took with him today that he is surviving by sheer luck.”
Before he was sacked, Ebong, 69, was an associate professor and head of the Department of Theatre Art at the university.
After his sack, the university was said to have launched malicious and coordinated media attacks against him urging the general public not to associate with him.
According to Effiong, he lost a job offer from the University of Melbourne, Australia, due to these malicious disclaimers against him while three of his children were also frustrated out from the institution.
“He was a voice of conscience on campus. Three of his children were also frustrated out of the University of Uyo. He has passed through hell. This is a man that was trained in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Michigan State University, U.S.A., and the University of Birmingham, U.K. He returned to Nigeria to help his country.
“Meanwhile, Dr. Inih Ebong is 69 year-old and will clock retirement age next year. He can barely feed his family. I should mention that in addition to the sack, the university published a vindictive disclaimer in national newspapers and asked the public not to associate with him.
“The disclaimer made the life of Dr. Inih Ebong more miserable. He lost a good job offer by the University of Melbourne in Australia because of the wicked disclaimer. This man never stole a Kobo from the University of Uyo but they advertised him as a criminal. Such wickedness! Dr. Ebong was the Head of Department of Theatre Art in the university.”
This astute lecturer was said to have produced professors and eminent personalities such as Reuben Abati, a former presidential aide to Goodluck Jonathan.
Litigation and court victory.
Akpan Morgan Ekpo, who also sacked Edet Akpan, the then ASUU chairman of the university, and expelled Onofiok Luke, the then student union leader of the university, was then the vice-chancellor when Ebong was sacked from the university.
In 2020, after protracted and long years of a legal battle with the university, the Industrial Court sitting in Uyo presided by Justice M. A. Namtari, gave a judgment that the lecturer was unjustly sacked and ordered his reinstatement. The court ordered that his salary and entitlement for the years that his sack has lasted should be paid to him within 30 days.
In addition, the court also ordered UNIUYO to pay him N10 million as damages.
“The stoppage of the Claimant’s salary, the indefinite suspension of him from duties, and the purported termination of his appointment by the Defendants without due process were malicious, ultra vires, and unlawful, and therefore null, void and of no effect whatsoever,” the court had said in the judgement.
The court judgement, The ICIR has learnt, has been appealed by the university.
Kindly send him a donation as follows:
Inih Ebong, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) – 0042760051.
You can reach his wife, Uduak on +2349046469446.
You can reach out to me on Twitter via: vincent_ufuoma