By Ofem John, JKNewsMedia Intern, UNICROSS
PERSISTENT DELAYS in the release of students’ results at the University of Cross River State (UNICROSS) have been attributed to technical difficulties linked to a transition to a new digital results portal and resistance from individuals alleged to have benefited from flaws in the former system, the university management has said.
JKNewsMedia.com UNICROSS Intern reports that the explanation was given during an interactive session with journalists, where the management stated that the delay was not deliberate but stemmed from complex data migration challenges inherited by the current administration.
Speaking at the briefing, the Director of Exams and Results, Dr Anderson Etika, said the Vice Chancellor, Prof Francisca Bassey, who assumed office on January 26, 2025, met the institution amid a difficult shift from a legacy results portal to a modern digital platform.
Etika said the main setback arose from incompatibility between the old portal and the new system, adding that the university struggled to move large volumes of historical data.
He said the process was compounded by funding constraints and the shutdown of the old portal before full migration was completed.
“We had so much data in the old portal and we needed to move that data to the new portal and that became a serious problem,” he said.
He disclosed that the university initially considered manually retrieving hard copy results dating back to 2002 but later recovered substantial data from the old cloud storage.
“We have successfully migrated data from the 2017 academic session to the 2023 session to the new portal,” Etika said, adding that more than five million data points were processed within two months.
He acknowledged that system migrations can sometimes lead to discrepancies but said the new portal marked a significant step towards transparency.
Etika also said students can now view their results instantly and that unauthorised alterations possible under the old system have been eliminated.
He further alleged that opposition to the new system was coming from individuals who exploited loopholes in the former portal.
“Some dirty lecturers can no longer do what they used to do, so they are fighting the system,” he said, adding that investigations showed some students involved in recent protests had multiple carry over courses.
Etika appealed for patience, especially from graduating students, saying accuracy must not be sacrificed for speed.
“This is the result we are talking about, and it is sensitive. We risk confirming wrong degrees if we rush. We are a work in progress, and within a short time, this challenge will be behind us,” he said.
Other management officials present at the briefing included the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Administration, Prof Thomas Ojikpong; Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academics, Prof Stella Maris Okey; Acting Registrar, Barr Uno I Ogban; Connell Ela; and the Nigeria Union of Journalists Chairman, Cross River State Council, Comrade Archibong Bassey.
