Esther Oluku
The University of Education Winneba, Ghana, has sacked a Nigerian professor who was recently arrested by the Ghana Police Service for alleged incitement following the contents of a leaked tape in which he was allegedly making damming remarks about Ghana’s educational sector as he decried alleged harsh treatment of Nigerians by Ghanaians.
The university in a statement issued on Wednesday, said the comments by the lecturer were ” unsavoury about the country, its history as well as its educational system”.
“The University of Education Winneba wishes to inform the general public that it has taken a very serious view of the video circulating on social media, involving Prof. Augustine Uzoma Nwagbara,”
“Augustine Uzoma Nwagbara, a professor of English Language, has been on sabbatical at the Department of Applied Linguistics since October 2018.
“In the said video, Prof. Nwagbara made several unsavoury, unethical and damning comments about our country, its history as well as its educational system. The university totally dissociates itself from the grossly irresponsible comments and condemns it in no uncertain terms.
“The university is highly disturbed by the huge embarrassment his unguarded statement has brought to the institution, the Ministry of Education, and, indeed, Ghana as a whole.
“The university, upon receipt of the video, immediately invoked its internal disciplinary process to fully examine his conduct relative to the content of the video.
“The university wishes to indicate that it has in the past hosted several scholars on sabbatical leave from various countries, including Nigeria, and some have conducted themselves with high degree of decorum and professionalism during their stay.
“Prof. Augustine Uzoma Nwagbara’s behaviour is totally deviant and an aberration that runs contrary to those of his predecessors or the others currently at post.
“The university after subjecting Prof. Augustine Uzoma Nwagbara to internal disciplinary process finds him culpable of gross misconduct and has, accordingly, dismissed him.
“The university apologises to Ghanaians for Prof. Nwagbara’s disparaging remarks about this country’s educational system and further indicates that the comments were full of factual inaccuracies,” the university explained.
