The University of Education, Winneba has sacked a Nigerian professor, Augustine Uzoma Nwagbara, who was arrested recently by the Ghana Police Service for incitement following the contents of a leaked tape.
In the tape, he was said to have made uncomplimentary remarks about Ghana’s education sector as he decried alleged harsh treatment Nigerians in Ghana are going through.
The university in a statement on Wednesday said the lecturer’s comments were “unsavoury about the country, its history as well as its educational system.”
The statement reads: “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 same have conducted themselves with (a) 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.”
