"Corruption must be exposed in all its guises or forms. Academic corruption is no exception. It damages a nation more than the embezzlement of funds..

I am startled and overbearingly incensed by the disjointed angles colleague law students are looking at the exposure of high level exams malpractice! This is detrimental to the health of the profession we all seek to protect.

Need I remind you that the particular Act which answers to your image worry is the Public Order Act of 1965. Did Umaru Fofana contravene the Public Order Act? Did he maliciously put out FALSE information? Did he succeed in defaming the Law Department by publishing FALSE information in the eyes of right thinking members of society? The answer is no! Umaru comes clean of all those.

I have scanned the piece written by a learning colleague, I must confess it is a piece that will pass for mere reproduction of sections of the constitution which unequivocally have little or nothing to do with the professionalism displayed by Umaru Fofana.

In journalism, there is nothing that precludes one from publishing a piece that is of human interest. The guiding principles of true journalism are ACCURACY, BALANCE and CREDIBLE dissemination of information. It is as glaring as pure water that Umaru's story was accurate as of the details shared. He took great caution in ensuring that he balanced his story when he got the information from reliable members of the class and thereupon sped to the campus to verify the news. That is a classic show of professionalism!

Of course the news is credible. Evidence of the unholy enterprise of three members of an UNGODLY ELDERS COUNCIL came out bare as the paper was summarily cancelled and deferred. What more proof can we put to the intelligible mind? Don't bash people because you have a lash of a tongue.

Umaru has been a distinguished alumnus of Fourah Bay College. He has flown the flag of our nation and institution high in distant lands. He understands what it means to be a graduate of substance. He is a son in whom the college is well pleased. A journalist par excellence! No student can love Fourah Bay College more than he does. Let us not pretend to be more Catholic than the Pope or Islamic than the Mutfi.

The issue here does not demand an impulsive reaction but a critical view reconciling subjective opinions with objective facts. It is an objective fact that exams malpractice is a bane to our society. It can only be expunged by publicly naming and shaming perpetrators as we do for public officials who steal from our coffers. Academic corruption is even more cancerous than embezzlement of public funds.

This is the bitter pill we have to swallow for development. Progress is costly! It comes with a price.

Moses Moore Conteh Jr.