Good day to all Parents and Guardians of Students of Salem University, Lokoja.

This is to call and draw our attention to recent developments and happenings at Salem University, Lokoja in regard to the suspension letters and a N50,000 penalty currently being meted and issued to our returning students/wards from the Easter break.

We appreciate Salem University for the Easter break/holidays (like any other school) for our children to mark and observe the Easter celebration. It was indeed a general holiday all over the world, hence it was not a special holiday of Salem University or peculiar to Salem University alone.

Our attention has been drawn to an ongoing suspension letter (for two weeks) and thereafter a penalty fee of N50,000 being issued to our children/Wards who were to resume on Wednesday 3rd April, 2024 but resumed on the 4th April, 2024.

We were informed that those who resumed a day after the Wednesday date were by the school authority denied resumption and sent back irrespective of which ever state the child is coming from.

It is disheartening and as parents we found this as insensitive, inhumane, deliberate, calculated, organised and exploitative. It is condemnation and unacceptable as Parents/Guardians of these children.

There is an obvious and scaring leadership or management failure in the University. There is also an observed and deliberate setting to gag parents and exploit them using this unethical approach to raising money.

It is high handedness on both the students and their parents. This was not expected of a Christian University like Salem University.

In as much as we appreciate the University for the moral discipline and upliftment they intend to instill in the students, they must not take advantage of parents given our tolerance of their excessiveness over the years. The cooperation and level of understanding gotten from parents and students must not be taken for granted. But it seems that is exactly what is right now on the table.

The act of suspending students for non resumption on the same date of a given resumption date speaks volume of an intended and calculated fraud and exploitative motives. It was a set trap deliberately set to illegally raise fund.

The truth remains that as parents, we see and would want to seeing our children/wards as university students, not as continually remain as pupils in a secondary school. Even at that, it is not done anywhere in this manner even if its a secondary school. Is Salem university saying their standard is that of a glorified secondary school? We can't imagine a Christian University doing this.

Taking us back and to say the least, we as parents are not unmindful of the various shortcomings and abject lack of basic and common facilities facing our children in that school yet we understand and play along with the School in the expectation that things would get better for the school and all our children in that school. Why would the same school be so insensitive to our children/students in this manner. Where is the offence.

We must recognise the fact that our children are mostly adult and understand this action as loosely unreasonable on the part of the school. How fair or what moral lesson is the school passing across to them in this instance? A Christian school that blazingly exploit their parents? It tells of the rotteness in our society I'd a Christian University can be this heinous.

As parents, no one is and would be opposed to a reasonable increment of fees or charges from the school whenever the school deems it necessary to do so but to hide under the guise of late resumption to exploit us would be most unreasonable and unbelievable. This must be challenged if not withdrawn or cancelled.

I believe the School authority knows we are part of the School growth. We have been soliciting, campaigning and speaking for increased students enrolment for Salem University over the years. But one could now see and explain from this action why students have over the years abandoned the school. Its most unfortunate.

I hope the University knows too that without all our children and wards in school, there won't be that University as well. I hope they know very well too the implication of our going to press to expose and or challenging this action in court. May it not happen.

I also observed that the school has closed out every avenue to parents venting out their observations and complaints. We are closed out but we can open up our own platform for ourselves for our common good.

This platform is therefore created for ourselves and unbehalf of our wards as parents to help us talk to ourselves, present a common front for our children, stop this kind of exploitation and further embarrassment.

Following the above, we make the following suggestions as demands on the School authority.

1. That all letters of suspension including the N50,000 penalty already issued and imposed on the students be withdrawn and cancelled.

2. That Parents recognises that there is a glaring and serious leadership failure and high handedeness on the part of the School Management.

That the University Chancellor 's attention be drawn to it for immidiate redress.

That the slaming on students/parents of a suspension letter and thereafter the N50,000 penalty for one day non resumption to school is baseless, shameful, unreasonable and unacceptable.

That the action of the school is seen by parents as pre determined, calculated and deliberate in all sphere and to gag and fraudulently exploit the parents/students for monetary advantage.

That no parent or student should pay the penalty sum as spelt in the suspension letter.

That no student should resume or go to collect thexsuspension letter untill the matter is resolved with the school Authority.

That all parents of students in Salem University must subscribe to this platform as to form our own platform and select our leadership to discuss on matters affecting our children and wards and as to stop further exploitation and any likelihood of victimisation from the school.

4. That on a common front, we send a common delegation to the School authority with a demand notice on the school to cancel the suspension letter as issued as well as the penalty.

That failure to cancel the said suspension letters by the school would cause the parents to challenge their action in court and expose the University.

5. That given Parents inability to reach the school authority or any of their representative, as they don't pick calls, a press briefing might be considered as a preliminary step to the court action.

That each parent already on this platform should contact another parent via their children in Salem to enable yet another parent too also contact another known parent or forward verified phone contacts of any known parent as quickly as possible to enable us form our group chat and address this anomaly.

Finally, we enjoined all parents to see this call as not aimed at fighting the school authority (we have no reason to do so) but a way of helping the school to draw the atrention of the school to its own leadership ineptitude. To sanitise the system from high handedness, insensitivity, crude approach to governance and irrational decisions as well as to curtail their crave for sourcing money not reasonably earned.

Please check their insensitivity to our plight on the followings.
- With the hard and high cost of things, you can imagine if you have 3 children in Salem University, it means you must pay 150k now for coming to school on Thursday instead of a Wednesday.
- Just imagine the school sending a small boy child who had travelled all the way from Mina to Lokoja back to Mina with a suspension letter for resuming on a Thursday instead of a Wednesday.
- Consider their action of not considering the cost, risk and safety on our roads. Does these not amount to being unreasonable and insensitive?

I believe the Salem University has lost focus and moral relevance that requires urgent attention and redemption.

We as parents must not remain docile to our common plight. It would mean on the long run that this crave for money by all means of a Christian University may not be abated or curtailed if allowed to continue.

My pain and worries lies more in the fact that we had all thought and believed in the University as to have taken our children there and in the believe that it would be a good ground for our children.

We are already dissapointed in the University for this action but we are not going to be detered or give up in our resolve to redress or challenge the wrong decision.

Thank you all as we begin to collate names of parents through the above mentioned approach.