By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof Charles Okechukwu Esimone, has called on fresh students of the University must pay their school fees as and when due to enable the university maintain existing facilities and provide new ones.

He warned that any student who does not pay his/her fees by the appropriate time will run the risk of being excluded from examinations.

He stated this on Friday at the 2023/2024 matriculation ceremonies for fresh undergraduate students of the university.

Stating the obligations of the students, the VC said: “It needs no gainsaying that you must pay your school fees as and when due to enable the University maintain existing facilities and provide new ones.

“Any student who does not pay his/her fees by the appropriate time runs the risk of being excluded from examinations.

“For your stay in this university to successfully end with the acquisition of a university degree, you owe certain obligations to the University, your parents and yourselves.

“These obligations are summarized below:

“Payment of Fees.

“You must attend at least 75% attendance of all lectures and practicals for you to be allowed to write examinations.”

Esimone further warned that examination misconduct could fetch a culprit suspension for up to three years and even expulsion, while studentsfound to have registered with fake certificates would be expelled from the university.

While describing cultism as an anathema in the university, the VC said all proven cultists were expelled.

Continuing, he said: “Other deviant behaviors such as robbery,rape, etc, are not tolerated for these are both misconduct and crime punishable by expulsion from the university and terms of imprisonment by the state.

“We have linkages with many world-renowned Universities spread across the United State of America, China, Europe and Africa. This is in addition to linkages with local institutions. The essence of these linkages is to facilitate academic programmes development, teaching/research, public service and staff/student exchange.”

The VC congratulated the new students on their admission and urged them to at all times during their stay in the university to remember why they were there, saying: “I pray that your stay in the university ends with a degree of the university.”