Non-Teaching Staff of the University of Calabar have been charged to be dedicated, committed and selfless in the discharge of their duties to enable the current administration to achieve its lofty goals.

The Registrar of the Institution, Mr Gabriel Egbe gave the charge at the Institution's International Conference Centre during the 1^st Registry Day celebration and Lecture on the topic: '' Ethnicity, Education and Politics: A Triple Swot Analysis and the National Question’’.

While describing the Non-Teaching Staff as an integral part of the University, the Registrar said the need to embrace the virtues of hard work, honesty, sincerity and dedication to duty has become imperative, stressing that, this informed his decision to organize the Registry Day.

Mr Egbe said the Registry Day was specially set aside for all Registry Staff, among other things; to reflect on their relevance, competence, abilities, opportunities as well as challenges, which he said, are hallmarks of good administration.

He said it is also to brainstorm on some critical national issues confronting the nation largely and the educational sector, to proffer plausible solutions.

The Registrar who described the Registry as the ‘life wire’ of the University Administration said, ‘’ In my acceptance speech, as the Registrar of this University, I did promise to create a platform where all Non-Teaching Staff will come together in unity to celebrate and appraise their services towards the actualization of the mission and vision of the University as well as their commitments to nation-building.

‘’ I also promised that such a day would be used to celebrate ourselves, especially those that have made sacrifices towards the growth of our University and by extension, the nation at large. Today I feel highly elated standing formally to welcome you to the very first Registry Day event in the history of our University’’

Highlighting some of the challenges confronting the Registry, he said the Registry needs a befitting edifice to be designated as a Registry building to house all divisions and units in the Registry for accessibility and centralization of information.

The Registrar also underscored the need for the institution to adapt to the global digital revolution, lamenting that, information storage and retrieval is still done in the analogue method in the University.

To meet up with globally and acceptable world standards, he said the University needs to digitalize its transcript unit, verification unit and other Directorates in the institution, which according to him, will have a positive impact on the institution's ranking.

This came as he commended the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof.Florence Obi for taking pragmatic steps towards addressing these challenges by providing the old Registry with a brand new Generator to ease its operations.

He also described the Guest lecturer, Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe as a fine gentleman, a grassroots politician and a generational record breaker, who has impacted positively on the lives of people.

The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof.Florence Obi, congratulated the Registry and all Non-Teaching Staff for successfully hosting the maiden edition of the Registry Day.

While describing the Non-Teaching Staff as ‘equal stakeholders’ in the University, she charged them to be passionate and dedicated to work, saying a poor attitude to work can make or mar the good intentions of the current administration.

Hear her, ‘’ we are all critical partners for the development of the system. The University cannot move smoothly without the services of the Non-Teaching Staff.

‘’ The System belongs to all of us and we must consciously join hands to move it forward’’

The Chairman of the Occasion and Chancellor, Arthur Javis University, Akpabuyo, Sir. Arthur Javis Archibong while speaking on the topic of the lecture, said ethnicity has been a clog in the wheel of the development of the country.

He said ethnicity has been given an unprecedented prominence, stressing that, it affects the very core of our coexistence as a nation.

The Guest lecturer, Senator Jarigbe Agom said ethnicity, education and politics can and have served useful purposes for various societies around the world, adding that, through them, the fortunes of many individuals and societies have been reshaped irreversibly.

He described ethnicity, education and politics as a triple-edged sword, which has both positive and negative effects depending on how they are used in the process of nation-building and development.

Senator Jarigbe said while they are potent drivers of development and advancement, their wrong use promotes conflict and makes nation-building an insurmountable task.

He said it has become imperative for people to stop using politicized ethnicity to cause ethnic hatred, acrimony and suspicion to boost their political standing.