More than 13 months have passed since the University of Calabar's pioneer engineering graduates signed out in September 2024, yet they remain without certificates or statements of results, blocking their National Youth Service Corps mobilisation.
One Department of Petroleum Engineering graduate traced the problems back to 2016 when she began predegree studies, gaining Year One admission in 2017 before the faculty's accreditation troubles disrupted everything.
The graduate explained that in 2021, when they should have entered Year Three, officials informed them that the faculty lacked accreditation, forcing them back to Year Two with fresh school fees to pay.
"In 2021, when we were to begin Year Three, we were told the faculty had not been accredited, and we had to return to Year Two and pay school fees again. Many students withdrew or transferred to other departments," she stated.
Professor Florence Obi, who served as Vice Chancellor during that period, assured students that accreditation would be secured and required half payment of Year Two fees upon resumption.
"By 2023, we were informed that the faculty had been accredited. In 2024, we were asked to undergo JAMB regularisation for NYSC purposes. We wrote our final papers in October 2024, had our convocation in March 2025, and were inducted as graduate members of the Nigerian Society of Engineers in April 2025. In May 2025, we were asked to pay N5,000 each for NYSC mobilisation, which we did. Since then, we have neither been mobilised nor issued our certificates, not even a statement of results," she explained.
The affected graduates sent distress messages to The PUNCH, claiming university management repeatedly told them that necessary documents had been forwarded to the Student Affairs Division to enable mobilisation and certificate collection.
She revealed that all five departments within the Faculty of Engineering face identical problems with certificate issuance and NYSC mobilisation delays.
University authorities responded that graduates who need their certificates urgently could follow the published application procedure, noting that many students have already collected their certificates through this route.
At their March 2025 convocation, the Vice Chancellor announced that the Faculty of Engineering secured National Universities Commission accreditation in 2024 and Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria accreditation in 2025.
A university publication from early 2025 listed Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Petroleum Engineering among programmes approved for NYSC mobilisation, raising questions about why graduates from these departments remain unmobilised months later.
