Exclusive: Former Rivers Governor, Peter Odili, Fingered in Alleged N2m Extortion of Medical Students

The PAMO University of Medical Sciences, located in Port Harcourt, Rivers state capital, has been thrown into turmoil and uncertainty over a major disagreement between the management of the School and parents of the students.

Parents are up in arms against the Management led by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Michael Diejomoah, over an unexpected upward review of school fees for the 2021/2022/session that has already commenced.

According to findings by www.tracknews.ng, all appeals by the parents to make the School Management reason with them and reverse the sudden increment have fallen on deaf ears and the consequent crisis situation now threatens the academic future of the students.

That five-year-old University is owned and run by former Rivers state governor, Dr. Peter O. Odili.

The University has some fee-paying students funded by about 38 parents and others who are on state government scholarship.

Our correspondent found out that students who are not from Rivers state and who do not enjoy the scholarship are faced with constant, arbitrary increment in fees and incessant threats of dropping out from school.

One of the concerned stakeholders who spoke to us on the condition of anonymity, has this to say:

“The crux of the tug of war has to do with a mid-session upward fee-review majorly for medical students (especially) and other categories of students with MBBS students’ fee-review attracting the highest of N2,145,000 (Two Million, One Hundred and Forty-five Thousand Naira) over and above the N4,000,000 (Four Million Naira) which was paid by the fee-paying parents at the beginning of the 2021 Session in June, 2021.

“In 2021 alone, parents paid N8,000,000 (Eight Million Naira) to get their children/wards through that year, yet a whopping additional N2,145,000 is being demanded in this present Nigeria that everyone is going through hard times!

“And that is after the students have been cleared of full payment of N4Million naira for same 2021/22 Session.”

According to our findings, the initial plan of the School Management was to stop defaulting students from resuming after the Yuletide but after an appeal by the Students’ Union, the VC allowed the affected students to resume only after signing undertaking to pay latest by 21st February, 2022.

The parents are however now campaigning for the total cancellation of the sudden increment, saying it is not only unfair, it also flies in the face of the nations economic realities.

In his reply to the parents when an appeal to drop the fees was made in January, 3rd, 2022, the Vice Chancellor via email entitled ‘RE: TUTION FEE STATUS AND OTHER MATTERS dated Dec. 31. 2021 insisted that “The Council and Management reviewed the recent increase in school fees very carefully. Decision was taken after due consideration of the economic circumstances currently prevalent in the country. A change or review is not possible.”

Meanwhile, all efforts by the parents to meet with the owner of the School, Dr Odilli, have proven abortive.

While Dr Odili allegedly met with some of the students and rejected their plea for leniency in reversing the exorbitant, sudden increment, he has declined to meet the parents as the School Management which is answerable to him continues to press for the N2.1m mid-session increment.

According to sources close to the parents, they are now seeking the intervention of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Governor Wike and the generality of well-meaning Nigerians, to help convince the School Management not to truncate the future of the innocent students.

Lamentations of A Distraught Parent

A distraught parent who preferred anonymity told our correspondent how the University’s exorbitant fees have caused personal and domestic crises for him and other parents. He said he went through hell before he could pay the 4 million naira school fees for the ongoing session in June last year, only for the School Authority to demand another 2.1 million naira when the session is not yet over.

He said the School Authority cajoled students to sign an undertaking with their parents’ signature on resumption from Christmas break in January that they would pay the excess 2.1 million naira on February 21.

While calling on all stakeholders, media and civil rights groups to come to the aid of the parents and save the future of their wards, the parent told our correspondent that they had mobilized to peacefully march to the School premises and resist any attempt to send their children away from the school on the said date.

VC’s Arrogant Response

Our correspondent put a call through to the Vice Chancellor to hear his side of the story. The VC however became hostile when he heard that the man on the phone was a journalist.

Rather than answering the questions posted to him by the journalist, the VC shouted on the phone and said he won’t talk on the phone, ordering the reporter to come to his office. He claimed he had no idea who was on the phone even after a clear and unambiguous introduction.

Before the reporter could explain to him that in this age of technology, phone numbers are registered and identification is easily done, the VC quickly ended the call.

Director of Students’ Affairs: Equally Arrogant and Hostile

Following the footsteps of the VC, the Director of Students’ Affairs was equally unfriendly on the phone. He said he had no business talking to the Press, that the journalist should reach out to the VC.

Our correspondent informed him that the VC declined to speak, he urged him to go to the VC’s office and ended the call abruptly.

While the University does not have any recognized Public Relations Officer (PRO) or Spokesman, our correspondent called the Registrar I whose number was not reachable, and also the Registrar II who didn’t answer repeated calls and was yet to call back at the time of filing this story.