Enyi Paul Onyebuchi?s quest has always been to be the holder of the highest academic qualification in his Ikelegu village and the larger Ndiebor community in Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

That dream has now come to reality, as he has acquired a PhD in Mathematics.

But his hope of getting a bigger position in the civil service after obtaining the certificates has remained a mirage. He Is still in the position he was 18 years ago when he was employed in Ebonyi State University (EBSU) as a cleaner.

Enyi was employed by the university with an O?level in 2007. He went back to school and has subsequently earned a first degree, a Masters and a PhD in Mathematics.

He got a BSc in 2013, an MSc in 2017 and PhD in 2022. But despite the degrees, the 45-year-old man has remained on the same level and position. This has generated concerns from his friends, well-wishers and admirers who want the university to elevate him.

During an interaction with Saturday Sun, Enyi noted that he was earning a paltry N32,000 monthly after he was employed. He said he had been pushing for a conversion from his present position to a better one, but all to no avail.

He narrated the hurdles he crossed with his N32,000 before he earned his degrees, even as he expressed dismay that he is still on the level he was 18 years ago.

His words: ?The current administration in the university just assumed office few months ago and the past administration couldn?t do anything after many write-ups and submissions that I made. I have not written to the current administration since they assumed office.

?There were so many obstacles I passed through before getting to this my present academic position. One of them is financial challenges. Looking at the meagre salary I was receiving and the huge amount of money I was paying as school fees.

?Many of my friends and my brothers helped me to cushion the effect of the financial problem I was passing through. Even the university assisted me equally because the school gave me a waiver to do the programmes. I was not paying the full school fees; they gave a 25 per cent waiver. Other ones, I managed and paid through my friends and brothers, because I couldn?t pay the fees from my salary.

?My salary at the time was N32,000. But I was moved to embark on the programme for many reasons. One of the reasons was that my family had not had anyone that had attained any high academic level, so, it was a challenge for me.

?Today, I am the first PhD holder in my village. So, these are the things that made me to go into the programmes so that I could change the narratives. I was not doing the programmes to be a lecturer or anything. I wanted to get better job and set the pace in my community and my village.

?I was employed here as a cleaner / messenger.?

He stated that his dream was to become an engineer or a medical doctor, but ended up in Mathematics. But he said he was still determined to actualise the dream.

Enyi, a father of two, said he is also into agriculture, which he claimed has been sustaining him and his family. He urged the youth to also do the same to survive the current economic crisis in the country.

?I got married when I was doing the PhD. I didn?t marry as early as that. I was almost done with my course work on the PhD when I got married. I didn?t depend on my N32,000 salary when I was doing my programmes. I am a farmer; I was doing so many things. I farm with my hands and I employ people to farm for me.

?If I should sell the cassava I cultivated last year, I will not sell it for less than N1.5million. Then I am into piggery. I have many goats. So, these are the things that I do that helped me to do what I did,? he stated.

One of Enyi?s admirers, Godffery Chikwere expressed unhappiness over his status at the university despite his present qualifications.

?In my quest to get assistance for students of Ebonyi State University (EBSU) at the Presco campus of the university, because of the increasing spate of rape and robbery on that campus, I ran into this guy?s case. He has a PhD in Mathematics

?This guy?s case should be an embarrassment to any Izzi man he has ever approached for assistance but they turned him down. His case should be a shame to EBSU as a whole.

?This is Dr Enyi Onyebuchi Paul. He?s from Ikelegu ishieke in Ndiabor community of Ebonyi Local Government Area.

?Having got as job as a cleaner and messenger at the Ebonyi State University in 2007, he struggled to see himself through university education in the same school to the level of PhD in 2022. Since then, they have refused to convert him to an academic staff.

?EBSU should have converted this man and used him as a reference point for hard work, but he has no one who knows someone who knows another person. He is still a cleaner with a PhD.

?Under the immediate past VC, six persons from outside the university were allegedly employed in the department in which he is qualified to work, but they can?t simply convert him. Reason is, he knows no one at the top. He has met two principal officers to the current governor, which is from Izzi, and a commissioner. But none of them could help. What a shame,? he said.

One of Enyi?s friends, Ezebuilo Harrison, who described Enyi as a brilliant man, lamented what has been his fate in the university.

He said: ?The worst aspect of this is that Dr Enyi has assisted so many lecturers inside the university to achieve either a PhD or a Masters, as he is very intelligent.

?Ninety per cent of staff in EBSU knows him very well because of his free assistance and his wealth of knowledge. Seventy per cent of professors and other principal officers in the same university have him as their ?boy? but they deliberately refused to help him in his conversion. All his academic pursuit has been done via self-sponsorship, including his PhD.

?He is a very good man that deserves the best but it?s unfortunate that we find ourselves in an environment that acknowledges ?whose candidate you are? more than hard work.?

Jacinta Obasi decried the ?man-knows-man? system of offering employment to people in today?s Nigeria, a situation she said she also suffered from.

?I remember when I was employed in to the civil service in 2017. I was called for an interview and I went but after the whole exercise, my name wasn?t mentioned and the chairman asked us in the hall to know whose name was missing. I stood up and told them my name wasn?t called . The first question he asked me was, ?who brought you?? I told him. Then he asked again, ?under whose list??

?I became confused and just stood there looking at him. He asked for my credentials, which I presented. He was satisfied but still asked me whose candidate are you? I became more confused and told him none. Then he asked me to leave the hall.

?As I was leaving, the person that notified me about the interview came in immediately and went to the table where the chairman and other excos were seating. After he spoke with them, I was called back and asked to sit. That was the day I knew that without you knowing anyone in government or politics in this country, there?s nothing for you even with your certificate,? she said.

Another of Enyi?s friends, Anthony Nnanna, said Enyi?s condition was very bad when he started his studies. He regretted that after obtaining the higher degrees, his level has not changed in the civil service because he has no one in position of authority to assist him.

?Paul went through thick and thin to make ends meet. His files are being swept under the carpet because he has no relation to run to. He is a father of two but has trained two biological siblings through the university,? he said.

A lecturer in the university, Emmanuel Onwe described Enyi?s story as bizarre and ridiculous.

?Employed as a cleaner in 2007 and has remained a cleaner till 2025! Apart from the additional qualifications he acquired in the course of the 18 years, what happened to the normal progression in service?

?Though I learnt his case is currently receiving attention, I?ll still call him to get more information on this matter. I need to make sense out of this puzzle. Something is not adding up,? he stated.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the university, Patrick Itumo, expressed surprise over the issue. He explained that the university only recently concluded matters about the conversion of qualified staff. He said many people applied for it.

?I don?t know whether he applied for it. If he applied for it, I don?t know why he didn?t pass the exam.

?Let him write a letter to the Vice Chancellor or Registrar indicating all these things and also come to our office so that we?ll know what happened,? Itumo told Saturday Sun. (Saturday Sun: Text, Excluding Headline)

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