Rumours have been rife in Bamenda that the Chancellery of the University of Bamenda, UBa, will be built in the locality of Bamendakwe, Bamenda I Sub-division. Recently, some youths from Bambili even went on rampage, protesting the transfer of the Chancellery of the university. Some opinion held that the youths were instigated by some misguided elites from Tubah.
To clear the air and put things straight, the Vice Chancellor of UBa, Professor Tafah Edokat organised a press briefing on Wednesday February 20, 2013 in which he said the Chancellery of the university is and will remain in Bambili for the time being. He said UBa now has a population of about 8,000 students and there are 11 faculties operational. As a result, he pursued, the infrastructure on the Bambili campus was grossly inadequate to accommodate all the classes. "We decided to move the students of the faculty of Health Science and the College of Technology to a building in Mile 3 Nkwen which was offered to the university by Mr Yong Francis even before my appointment as VC, to use for a period of three years with possible extension," he explained.
More so, he went on, "we wrote to the Senior Divisional Officer for Mezam requesting for the attribution to the university of any public land in Bamenda". He said with this letter, the SDO set up commissions in Bamenda I, II and III. Unfortunately, the VC went on, a few individuals misconstrued and misinterpreted the actions taken in good faith for the development of UBa. However, he assured all that since the beginning of this academic year, there has been calm and serenity on campus as studies are going on hitch-free.
In connection to these, the SDO for Mezam, Felix Nguelle Nguelle, recently organised a crises meeting. The meeting that held behind closed doors saw the participation of some stakeholders, amongst who were some of the elites propagating the rumours. At the end of the meeting, the SDO told the press that the instructions of the Head of State must be respected. He equally called on the population to stay calm and remain supportive. He said they are currently working for the acquisition of more land to accommodate the university.
