Students call out University of Ibadan as 18-month Master’s program turn 5 years

Cursory: Students in the Department of Communication and Language Arts (CLA) at the University of Ibadan express frustration over the extended duration of their Master’s program, which was supposed to last 18 months but has stretched to five years. See full details…

Students enrolled in the Department of Communication and Language Arts (CLA) at the esteemed University of Ibadan have taken to social media to express their frustration over the extended duration of their Master’s program. What was supposed to be an 18-month program has stretched to an alarming five years, leaving students grappling with uncertainty and dismay.

Reports circulating online indicate that the challenges began in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted academic activities. However, what started as an unforeseen obstacle escalated into a pattern of neglect and indifference from departmental staff members. Students have cited various issues, including delayed results, project supervision negligence, and administrative inefficiencies, as contributing factors to the prolonged duration of their studies.

In a heartfelt post shared on social media by a user identified as @jaxxyz_ and some others on Facebook, students detailed their harrowing ordeal. They recounted how the once-promising program took a downward turn following the appointment of a new head of department during the pandemic. Delays in decision-making, ambiguous exam formats, and lack of project supervision characterized their academic journey.

The post titled, ‘ACADEMIC NIGHTMARE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN’, read;

“This story started in 2019 when my classmates and I resumed as Master’s students at the Department of Communication and Language Arts (CLA) for an 18-month programme.

“Unfortunately, the 18-month programme will be purposely stretched out to turn into 5 years. 5 whole year!

“At first, the pacing of the programme was decent, then a new head of department was appointed in 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown.Little did we know that this event would change the entire trajectory of our master’s programme. Before the lockdown, we had finished our coursework, and all that was left were exams.

” It should also be noted that we had all been assigned project supervisors before the lockdown and some of us had progressed with our projects to chapters 2 and 3 before the keys of the department were given to Professor Olusola Oyeyinka Oyewo.

“Fast forward to our resumption in 2021, it took the HOD several weeks that would turn into months to decide on the mode of our exams, whether they’d be take-home or sit-in. Naive us! Little did we know that this was a gambit.We finally finished our second-semester exams in June 2021, even though we resumed in January. Anyway, we were happy that about 70% of the whole programme had been completed. Now, unto the next 30% which was the project.

“At this point, you would think project supervisors would start attending to their project students, right? Well, you guessed right (or not). Most project supervisors, at this point, deliberately and totally ignored their supervised students. It was time to start chasing your supervisor without disturbing him or her. Dark times!

“Alas, in February 2023, the Department of CLA was able to rushingly produce about 20 students (out of 50+) for project defence.Ooh, I missed out on the part where class representatives used a good amount of the year 2022 to beg the department, under the leadership of Oberste Führer (Supreme Leader) Prof Olusola Oyeyinka Oyewo, to let us defend the project to release us from UI.

“Eventually, we defended in early 2023 and again, you’d think that’s it, right? Wrong this time! It would take exactly a year from when we defended till the department would release our results. OUR RESULTS?Unfortunately, “our results” aren’t still ours till this moment. 5 years and we still haven’t seen the result of just one of the many courses we offered during the programme.

“Right now, the PG school, in heavy collaboration with the HOD and some lecturers at the Department of Communication and Language Arts (CLA) have decided to punish me and my colleagues……by making us pay a sum of a hundred and fifty-four thousand Naira before we can have access to our results.

“That fee, according to the HOD, Professor Olusola Oyeyinka Oyewo, is a punishment for not finishing our projects on time. Confusing eh?It should be laboriously noted that this is not the first time such a delay would occur to a set in CLA. The 2017/2018 set faced this same problem and they were eventually freed in 2023, after they had started since 2018.

“They were compelled, just as the department is doing to us right now, to pay a huge amount before they’d access their results. They shouted out and the amount was considerably reduced. CLA is currently and deliberately holding up the set after mine, ensuring they also spend 5 years and pay a humongous sum after.

“THIS HAS TO BE STOPPED.We implore ANYBODY who can save us and the next set from these evil practices of the Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan. God bless you.”

Credits: ALLSCHOOL, gistreel

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