By Usman Yakubu Usman
Amid efforts to complete his final year project, Abduljala Dahiru, a recent graduate of Education Chemistry at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS), endured excruciating pain during the process of his verification and signing of his final year clearance form.
Every morning, he had to take his credentials to different offices to be signed. His attention was diverted from writing his final year research project to completing the strenuous process involved in signing the clearance form. He started from his faculty to the students’ affairs division. After spending a month without completion, he got exhausted and suspended the process.
“I didn’t go for the clinic signing. And in the office where we are collecting notifications, they will check your last payment and the clearance form. If they see that you have signed in all the places, they will give you the notification of the result,” he said.
Abduljalal was deeply saddened by treatment he received from the officials who were signing students’ documents, as they told him several times to go and come back or claim they had something to do.
One sunny afternoon at the Bursary section, many UDUS graduates queued in front of the Accountant’s office where they submitted their documents for clearance and verification. However, despite submitting early, some of the students had to troop to the office several times before collecting their signed documents. This has been a frustrating norm in UDUS over the years for university graduates.
When this reporter visited the area, he saw students’ credentials that were verified and signed, spread out on the ground like trash in a dump site, with particles of dust in the corridor of the office. Some that were clipped together upon early submission were still on the ground in the vicinity.
For the students to see their signed documents, they must stand for hours checking all the piles of papers or squat, opening through each of them to identify their own. Eventually, due to tiredness, some of the students were seen leaning on the walls while others sat on the hedges of the veranda, after long hours of futile checks.
In UDUS, every graduate must submit all relevant documents as part of the requirement to be verified and cleared as a graduate. In the routine of signing out, the faculty must sign, clinic, library, students’ affairs, Bursary, and the student union will have to sign the documents before a student scales through to collect notification of the result.
The students must go around the offices for days, weeks, and months. This is done with a signature and stamp. Bypassing the process means no notification result.
Coming from the Bursary section, Aliyu Imam Kabir, a Computer Science graduate, was sweating profusely, his legs looking dusty due to the overwhelming stress he endured going around the school to sign out.
“I’ve been going there many times now, but my own is not signed yet. And I submitted it two days ago. I am tired already,” he said.
Due to frustration, Aliyu vowed not to go there again, after making a long trip from Katsina to Sokoto, down to UDUS, to complete his verification sign-out. He spent two days on the process, yet he didn’t collect it, as he kept waiting for his documents to be stamped before collecting his notification of result.
Reporter’s experience with frustrated UDUS graduates
Before Aliyu left campus for Katsina, he gave this reporter his ID card to help him collect his documents if they were signed. However, arriving on the first day at the location, this reporter endured a torrid time. He stood and squatted for hours, trying to search through some of the signed documents to find Aliyu’s, but to no avail. It was not signed, so the reporter had to come back again.
The next morning, more students gathered, others forming short groups, waiting for the early ones to finish searching before joining the fray to look for their documents. They hoped to be among the lucky ones to collect theirs. While others wore long faces, as it seemed they would have to come another day or wait again. When this reporter couldn’t find Aliyu’s documents, he was disappointed.
The third day was more appalling, as some students were seen raging for not seeing their signed documents. After searching the whole papers, some of Aliyu’s documents were seen but torn to pieces, while others were nowhere to be found. Out of disappointment, the reporter informed Aliyu of the situation over the phone. While speaking, Aliyu lamented furiously:
“Seriously, these people are supposed to sign this immediately after submission, but they won’t until after three weeks or months. Look at how they dumped my papers. Why don’t they keep students’ documents safe in the office? How can I collect my notification of result now?”
‘I did not see my document’
Okon Solomon, a graduate of Pure and Applied Chemistry, complained of not seeing his documents after submission. He went there to check the scattered papers but couldn’t find his own. His documents were clipped together in fear of the current scenario he was facing.
Abduljala emphasised that the university should make it online to reduce stress and make students happy.
School management reacts
One of the officials verifying and signing students’ clearance, who identified herself as Mrs Ma’aruf K. O., a Business and Auxiliary officer, said students are responsible for scattering the documents whenever she arranged them.
“The reason why we are keeping it outside is because of those who will be coming to check their own. These things are many, more than two hundred. We can’t keep them in the office. If I leave the office now for just an hour, many students will come and be looking for their own. I think that is the simplest way to get their things.”
When she was questioned about the students’ plea for online verification, she said: “We are doing the verification online. They will come with their receipts, and show their Remita number. If the money enters the university account, we will now sign on top of their receipts and verify it to collect their notification of the result. And if the process can be done completely online, there is no problem. The students can write to the management to do it that way.”
Also, the Dean of Students’ Affairs of the university, Prof. Umar Aliyu, said: “I am hearing it from you now for the first time. I will try and find out with the verification committee how they operate. So if there are issues, we will know how to solve them. Concerning digitalisation, the students’ union should be contacted so that we can forward it to the management.”
