{"id":2406,"date":"2026-07-28T08:30:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T07:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=2406"},"modified":"2026-07-28T08:30:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T07:30:56","slug":"institutional-accountability-delsu-town-hall-addresses-project-bottlenecks-grading-disputes-and-police-extortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=2406","title":{"rendered":"Institutional Accountability: DELSU Town Hall Addresses Project Bottlenecks, Grading Disputes, And Police Extortion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Doye Ekpebimoh<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

University officials, student leaders, and security authorities addressed pressing concerns over academic accountability, student welfare, and police conduct during a virtual town hall meeting held on Thursday, July 9, 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The forum, titled “Students Palava,”<\/strong> was organized by the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Delta State University (DELSU) Students’ Union Government (SUG). Held via Google Meet, the interactive session was designed to bridge the communication gap between students and university management by allowing undergraduates to raise concerns directly before school officials and invited guests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event featured the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Abraka Police Station, CSP Kolo Musa Dauda<\/strong>; officials of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), including Dr. Comrade Onovughegor Augustine<\/strong>; and other student leaders. The discussion was moderated by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the SUG, Barr. Comr. Ojei Emmanuel<\/strong>, who presented questions submitted both anonymously and during the live session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A major issue discussed was the delay experienced by final-year students carrying out research projects due to unavailable supervisors. Responding to an anonymous complaint from a Biotechnology student, Dr. Comrade Onovughegor Augustine<\/strong>, Director of Health of NANS, described the situation as unacceptable and urged students not to remain silent whenever they encounter such challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Dr. Augustine, students whose supervisors fail to respond within a reasonable period should report the matter through the university’s official channels by contacting their Level Staff Adviser or Head of Department (HOD). He explained that these offices exist to resolve academic issues promptly and ensure that unnecessary delays do not affect students’ graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NANS official also emphasized the importance of following proper administrative procedures when seeking justice. To illustrate this, he cited a case in which a student’s academic result was successfully reviewed after the intervention of the Vice-Chancellor and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to him, the student’s faculty had initially insisted that the disputed grade could not be changed. However, after the matter was officially presented to the university management, a fresh computation of the result was ordered. The review later corrected the student’s score from a failing grade to a ‘B’<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Augustine urged students to become familiar with official letter-writing procedures, noting that well-written and properly addressed complaints remain one of the most effective ways of resolving academic disputes within the institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another significant issue raised during the forum was the fear of victimization by lecturers. A student identified as Kayode<\/strong> questioned whether students who report lecturers could still be subjected to unfair treatment even after receiving justice from the university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to the concern, the Special Adviser to the Vice-Chancellor on Student Engagement assured students that the university has measures in place to protect anyone who files a genuine complaint against a lecturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He disclosed that once the Vice-Chancellor becomes aware of such a complaint, the student’s academic progress is closely monitored to prevent any form of retaliatory grading or victimization. He further encouraged students to remain committed to their studies while making use of the institution’s established grievance procedures whenever conflicts arise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding directly, Dr. Comrade Onovughegor Augustine<\/strong> delivered an impassioned defence of student rights, using his own academic history at DELSU as an example. He revealed that despite receiving 17 official queries<\/strong> from the Vice-Chancellor’s office during his time as an outspoken student, he was never penalized because he prioritized his studies, maintaining a 5.0 CGPA<\/strong> in his first year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If you know that you have written well, no lecturer can fail you. If you read your book and you know your stuff, leave the rest,” he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Special Adviser also reminded students that university authorities are prepared to defend students’ rights but would not support acts of indiscipline or disrespect toward lecturers and other members of staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlighting the administration’s accessibility, Dr. Augustine noted that he had contacted the Vice-Chancellor more than seven times that day alone to resolve individual student grievances covering lecturer-student conflicts, management issues, and peer disputes. He concluded by reminding students that while his office and student leaders would defend students’ academic rights, they would not shield students who engage in misconduct or insult lecturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discussion later shifted to security issues affecting students outside the university campus. Barr. Comr. Ojei Emmanuel<\/strong> presented an anonymous complaint alleging that a police officer demanded money from a student near the university’s main gate despite the student committing no offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to the allegation, the Divisional Police Officer of Abraka Police Station, CSP Kolo Musa Dauda<\/strong>, strongly condemned every form of police harassment, intimidation, and extortion directed at students or other members of the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned that any officer found abusing the authority of the police uniform would face disciplinary measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Any policeman that is found doing that to any civilian, most especially students, or trying to oppress him because of that uniform… I will deal with that person,” Dauda said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DPO also used the opportunity to educate students on their legal rights during encounters with law enforcement officers. He explained that police officers carrying out routine roadside checks do not have the legal authority to conduct arbitrary searches of students’ mobile phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to him, phone examinations are only permitted during formal investigations conducted at the police station and must follow established legal procedures. He explained that under such circumstances, the owner of the phone remains present throughout the process while the investigation is properly documented to ensure transparency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dauda advised students to remain calm and respectful whenever they interact with police officers while also reporting any misconduct through the appropriate channels rather than taking the law into their own hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the town hall, speakers repeatedly stressed the importance of dialogue between students, university management, and security agencies in promoting transparency, accountability, and mutual understanding within the university community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closing the programme, Barr. Comr. Ojei Emmanuel<\/strong> thanked participants for their contributions and described the forum as the first in a series of engagements aimed at educating students on their academic rights, responsibilities, and available channels for resolving grievances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He encouraged undergraduates to continue participating in future editions of the programme by asking questions and reporting issues affecting their welfare and academic progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The virtual town hall ended with renewed commitments from university officials, student leaders, and the Nigeria Police Force to strengthen communication, improve institutional accountability, and promote a safer and more responsive learning environment for students of Delta State University, Abraka.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Doye Ekpebimoh University officials, student leaders, and security authorities addressed pressing concerns over academic accountability, student welfare, and police conduct during a virtual town hall meeting held on Thursday, July 9, 2026. The forum, titled “Students Palava,” was organized by the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Delta State […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"iawp_total_views":12,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,35,14],"tags":[31,25,26,114],"class_list":["post-2406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abrakametro","category-education","category-trendingnews","tag-abraka","tag-delsu","tag-education","tag-sug"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2406"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2408,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406\/revisions\/2408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}