Aptech Computer Education, Uyo: The Unheard Afflictions of Staff and Student

Aptech is a global computer training institution that is headquartered in Mumbai, India. It has branches in several countries around the world and in Nigeria, it has a very solid base with about 14 centers. The Lagos center is known for its high standards. It is a popular center in the country and competes favorably with the much attended NIIT. Little is known of the Uyo center which my searchlight beams upon today. This center is managed by one Mr. Inibehe Otoho who is an alumnus of the University of Calabar. Aptech Center Uyo has attracted some students over the years, mostly for the Advanced Diploma in Software Engineering (ADSE) programme which is reputably on par with Nigeria's Higher National Diploma. The average amount students pay to fund this programme at the Uyo Center is about a million naira. The average number of students on this programme is about 20. Apart from the ADSE programme, the center runs a wide range of other certificate programmes starting from basic Microsoft Word learning to Android development, among others.

However, a keen observer to this center will quickly observe certain issues which this article raises. Firstly, for an institution that runs a programme on par with HND, there is a lack of faculty, to use Aptech's popular parlance. It is expected that an institution where advanced computer processes are learnt should be able to employ a moderate amount of lecturers, who are specialists in varying areas, to help the students. Sadly, the reality is far from normal. The center has only ONE functioning lecturer who is assisted by an uncertified recent secondary school leaver who is, unsurprisingly, the manager's son! This boy is underage for such an appointment, unqualified and I daresay, inexperienced. Besides, he is just 17 years old. My interview with this boy's students reveals that he is quite an unserious lecturer who has no practical knowledge of what he teaches and only dictates in his "classes"! The other lecturer who is active and by all means, the ONLY functioning lecturer in the institution is unmotivated and highly uncared for. His work load is extreme and he teaches basically all the programmes the institution runs only on an irregular salary of N45,000 for which he is to work to 7pm daily. This center has the wherewithal to attract and keep more staff even with its "peanut package"! Alas, there are no staff! I wonder why Middlesex University would partner with an institution with ONLY ONE QUALIFIED STAFF to award its unique ADSE certificate. This is a sham on the integrity of Middlesex University and any other affiliated institution of higher learning.

One may wonder why there is a lack of staff in Aptech Uyo center. The answer is not farfetched. Mr Inibehe Otoho refuses to pay salaries!!! For some warped reasons, he owes staff salaries up to 6 months in the most extreme cases. In the best case scenario, he pays HALF of the agreed salaries after 3 weeks of begging and negotiation. Staff members are made to resume as early as 7.30am and close as late as 6pm (best case scenario) everyday and even on Saturdays and all public holidays even though he doesn't make the staff members aware of this until they have resumed active duties. He has had altercations with ex-staff members who were frustrated and left. He hasn't paid any of the ex-staff members a dime till this very day and it is not uncommon to see them badging in to wage war over their earned salaries. The question here is simple: why employ staff and run a center if you won't pay? For some reasons, which can be summed up to greed, Mr. Inibehe subscribes to the philosophy that all his staff members are ultimately marketers and he frequently 'pushes' them to do marketing jobs which they were not employed for. This forced marketing is due to his inability to employ professional marketers and pay them. For a center that earns nothing less than N1,000,000 naira every month from students' fees, imposed levies, ICT charges, 'resit'-fees, and more exploitative and obviously unofficial fees, the pay package is terrible. The basic pay which is found in the employment letter of staff members is N40,000 while that for faculty members is N45,000. This money can be managed by most unemployed youths if the pay was consistent but sadly, Mr Inibehe deliberately refuses to pay salaries under the guise of "national economic crisis"! It is in this same economic crisis that he employs new staff members every month and organises interviews almost every week. The pattern seems to be; employ a staff, owe them until they are frustrated, sack them or they quit and delay payments of their earnings until they leave it be. This pattern has been working very fine for him over the years. The only consistent staff members in Aptech Uyo are, unsurprisingly, his family members such as his wife, son and brother. His family members seem to be the only motivated staff members in the center for reasons other staff members cannot wrap their heads around.

Apart from owing staff salaries, the staff members are also highly unmotivated. The manager is known to demoralise staff members by overusing them, underpaying them, owing them, throwing tantrums at them and inflicting damage on their psyche. I was made to understand that he actually abuses his staff members by calling them unprintable names. This point is confirmed from my interview with current and ex-staff members who wish to remain anonymous for obvious reasons. However, their identities are documented by me. His bias for his family members is evident in his swift payment of their salaries and the sugar coated words he uses to adore their hardwork and integrity over other staff members who are the Fanonian wretched of the earth in his eyes. This is from an institution that is purportedly "the best" in the Nigerian, nay, global ICT training industry.

Students are not immune from the manager's eyes of Horus. The students, upon the payment of millions for fees, are left to their fate. Any past or current student will confirm that lectures are not always held and the manager does virtually nothing about it (since, of course, he will not pay the lecturers and employ more hands). Students are dictated to like secondary school students instead of being taught and there is virtually no practicum to their learning. All the computers in the center are destroyed and the manager has refused to repair them. This has forced students to get a laptop and bring it along with them. It should be noted that most of these personal laptops lack the needed software to code, compile and debug programming/coding languages yet the students are expected to learn the languages like that. At the end of the day, students leave with a shallow theoretical knowledge of ONLY HTML as against the C#, Java, Oracle, Python, Php, Mysql and so on, that they are supposed to learn. Students pay large amounts of recurring fees after they are literally "scammed" by the center for months.

The learning environment is also in a state of squalor. There are only two classrooms and an office annex in the entire "school" and there are no obvious plans to move to a better location. The roofs are leaking in all the rooms and offices and nothing is done about them. Students protect their laptops from the rage of the rain when it rains its angst at them. The staff area is not immune from the rain's rage as well. The school has no functional toilet which remains unkempt all day. This, of course, is apart from the private toilet designated for only the manager's family and which he ensures is cleaned daily. It is only recently that the manager agreed to reconnect the center to the power grid after being cut off for, perhaps, years. There are no working fans or air conditioning systems in the school. The windows are mostly bad and there are no curtains to protect against the raging heat of the vexing sun. It is apt at this juncture to state that the institution shares a building with other anti-academic establishments like a gambling joint and this often makes students leave the learning area to gamble.

The man behind the name, Inibehe Otoho, is a very peculiar character to examine. He frequently shouts and throws invectives at students and enquirers when he falls into his frequent mood swings. He sets unreasonable targets for staff in a bid to justify his non-payment of their salaries and he has a knack for being a workaholic only when office hours are over and he always drags staff into this bout of "sudden hard work"! He frequently speaks of the joblessness that has rocked Nigerian youths and he absolves himself from his crimes to his staff under the guise of "many are looking for jobs, you already have one!" He sometimes uses uncouth language at staff as a means of beating their psyche. Staff members are even unable to seek for new jobs because of the lack of free time to do so. There are no overwork benefits, bonuses, severance packages, leave allowances, and other staff welfare packages. Once a new month clocks, he disappears to avoid the question on everyone's lips "when are we receiving salaries, sir?"! After a week or two, he resurfaces and sets new target while blaming the "Buhari economy" for his inability to pay! It is simple for staff members to quit and move on but they often realise this when they have worked for, at least, a month! Mr. Inibehe will not pay them for that month that the enslaved staff members have worked. This is his ultimate undoing. Staff members change faces month in, month out and this has a drastic effect on the students especially as the offices of the secretary, counsellor, faculty and receptionist are concerned. Aptech Center, Uyo is always employing on Jobberman and unsuspecting applicants from far and near fall prey to Mr. Otoho's misogynist machinations.

On my first encounter with this center and the conditions which staff and students are made to suffer, I asked the question; what is the headquarters doing about this? It seems that this center lacks any form of supervision or overarching authority whatsoever. I was touched by the plight of staff and decided to undertake an underground investigation, the product of which forms the foregoing. Some of the members of staff are owed as much as 3-6 months and when they call to ask for their earnings, he is known to throw invectives at them and call them names that no sane human should ever utter. At the end, the staff members are frustrated and give up, even on their salaries. This is a great injustice which no one should bear. Mr. Inibehe should pay salaries and if there is no money to run the center, shut it down and start a new business. It is better than using people, dumping them and frustrating their lives. I took this cause and my findings cannot all be written within the confines of this article. Other articles on this issue should be expected from me. I contacted the said manager and he, unsurprisingly, ignored all means to resolve the issues amicably.

I plead with Aptech Worldwide and its centers everywhere to intervene in the plight of staff and students in the Uyo center before this issue gets out of hand. I have already began the process of filing a lawsuit against the company and I have asked for the payment of damages to the aggrieved staff members. I am in the process of locating frustrated ex-staff members and connect with them for this common cause. I have also met with some students who have paid fees and have not been taught or attended to for months. It is hoped that this sham of an institution will come to public glare and the evils of Mr. Inibehe Otoho, unveiled like the Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin of old.



- Ndoeyop Bennet, a journalist and human rights advocate, writes from Ukanafun, Akwa Ibom.



CC:
Lalasticlala

Please share your experiences with this scam coy if you've worked there so that others can learn from it.

sarrkii:
This Thread Was Written Since 2016

The man is still doing it till date. He hasn't stopped. Those he owes haven't been paid.

One of the glaring proof from a student of Aptech who has been frustrated out of school after paying huge sums of money. For his own privacy, I have blurred out names but if anyone is interested in taking the case further, I'd be glad to share names and other proof.

Another victim has spoken out. We are building a strong force against the evil and calumny of bad managers everywhere, especially Mr. Inibehe Otoho.

More proof.

More confirmations

princechurchill:
Aptech hmmm that name sounds like scam

Its the greatest scam in Akwa Ibom State.

For those who need summary, this is it:

Aptech Uyo and its owner employs people, uses them and doesn't pay them. The pattern keeps recurring and it has to stop!

Even the students aren't taught yet they pay large sums of money for tuition.

Mr Inibehe Otoho, please go and pay people their money. This case will be judged both on earth and in heaven.

You have to rewrite this Dear it is too long. Cut it in 1/2.

Bitterleafsoup:
You have to rewrite this Dear it is too long. Cut it in 1/2.

I will try that.

i have long awaited this.

Inibehe Otoho is a Scam
Pamela Otoho the wife is another Senior and Quiet Scam
and to realize they have brought their son into it, is the height of family scam!

i worked for that coy i think 2012 or thereabout

ndoeyopbennet , what is the status of the case, i swear i will travel down from wherever to testify against this evil being

let me list some of his mode of operation


1. Employ Mr. A for Position X
- demand he performs duties as poxition Y alongside X
- owe him first two months (this is intentional,cos if you decide to leave, he wins having owed u two months)
- increase work duration of Mr. A. beyond the agreed time
- delay issuance of appointment / employment letter
- sack staff when he becomes "too demanding" of his/ her own hard earned money

that guy is a beast, he ruined the careers of many young students while i was there, those guys pay up to a million bucks, you will be surprised there isn't a serviceable generator in the premise, at some point class could not hold cos he couldn't afford to buy fuel even @N65 per little.

Dont be fooled by the wife's supposed candour, she's in on it. that guy runs an organized scam, he even has as part of his team, some broke arse lawyers. His own brother the tall slim one left him, only nyekere stayed cos he couldnt do anything with his life without him, nyekere is the most owed staff at that place.

Inibehe's problem is that he likes to live beyond his means, he lives in a serviced estate, wants his children to go to the best schools, drives the best car at the expense of innocent student and faculty. he will forever live to remember me cos i stood up to him every time he plays his games, i had to resign before he could even sack me,

i wrote a letter to one of the Indians, informing him about inibehe's activities in the name of Aptech but i received no response. i think they are in on it it too.

if i continue to talk ehn!.

i even wanted to sue him after i settled in life but because of my job type, it would look like am using "power" but let anyone do so, i will travel down to testify. i need that guy to rot in hell! very bright minds he killed with his ways at ACE Uyo.

DonTim1:
i have long awaited this.

Inibehe Otoho is a Scam
Pamela Otoho the wife is another Senior and Quiet Scam
and to realize they have brought their son into it, is the height of family scam!

i worked for that coy i think 2012 or thereabout

ndoeyopbennet , what is the status of the case, i swear i will travel down from wherever to testify against this evil being

let me list some of his mode of operation


1. Employ Mr. A for Position X
- demand he performs duties as poxition Y alongside X
- owe him first two months (this is intentional,cos if you decide to leave, he wins having owed u two months)
- increase work duration of Mr. A. beyond the agreed time
- delay issuance of appointment / employment letter
- sack staff when he becomes "too demanding" of his/ her own hard earned money

that guy is a beast, he ruined the careers of many young students while i was there, those guys pay up to a million bucks, you will be surprised there isn't a serviceable generator in the premise, at some point class could not hold cos he couldn't afford to buy fuel even @N65 per little.

Dont be fooled by the wife's supposed candour, she's in on it. that guy runs an organized scam, he even has as part of his team, some broke arse lawyers. His own brother the tall slim one left him, only nyekere stayed cos he couldnt do anything with his life without him, nyekere is the most owed staff at that place.

Inibehe's problem is that he likes to live beyond his means, he lives in a serviced estate, wants his children to go to the best schools, drives the best car at the expense of innocent student and faculty. he will forever live to remember me cos i stood up to him every time he plays his games, i had to resign before he could even sack me,

i wrote a letter to one of the Indians, informing him about inibehe's activities in the name of Aptech but i received no response. i think they are in on it it too.

if i continue to talk ehn!.

i even wanted to sue him after i settled in life but because of my job type, it would look like am using "power" but let anyone do so, i will travel down to testify. i need that guy to rot in hell! very bright minds he killed with his ways at ACE Uyo.

Thank you for stating the truth. I wanted the moderators of this forum (lalasticlala and mynd44) to hear my cry and take this to frontpage. Thank God others are speaking.

The man is simply evil! There is nothing that hasn't been done to shake him. The Indians are very much aware of what he does and since they receive their share of the money, they turn a blind eye. All of them are in cahoots.

What annoys me most is that innocent people are falling pray for this everyday and nothing is being done whatsoever. The guy still posts job listings everyday on Jobberman and people fall into his trap. Recently, someone even left Lagos to Uyo just to pick up this job and same thing happened to her. Now she is stranded, with nothing and Mr Inibehe Otoho is not in a little bit concerned about it.

What of the students? They aren't even being taught anything! How can they be taught without teachers?


Thank you for your truthfulness. I will certainly keep you posted on the legal recourse to be taken, having exhausted all other measures.

This is a serious matter and should be moved to front page.

lalasticlala and mynd44

i have never called u guys out in my 11 years of being here, but for this man's evil ways, please move this to fp. there are people who need not fall victim anymore. imagine the lady that traveled from Lagos.

another common lies he tells when courses stop abruptly and faculty no longer comes is that, faculty left for greener pastures!

I served in Aptech Uyo in d year 2012. They used me like a dirty rag. If you are 5 minutes late the pay for that day is gone. And if u miss work 2 days pay is gone. The management never listened to advice. He uses money paid by students as his own children's school fees who attended Tower of Ivory then. I was on the Hospital bedfor a surgsurgery when he went to report me to NYSC that i was absconding from work. We parted in quarrel and fight. In all my stay in Aptech Uyo I know nobody that worked in Aptech that had a good parting experience with the man. The truth is that the wife is a good person that drives in little sanity into that insane man. 1 guy called David had to use DSS to settle their quarrel. Aptech Uyo is simply a scam franchise.

woleafrica:
I served in Aptech Uyo in d year 2012. They used me like a dirty rag. If you are 5 minutes late the pay for that day is gone. And if u miss work 2 days pay is gone. The management never listened to advice. He uses money paid by students as his own children's school fees who attended Tower of Ivory then. I was on the Hospital bedfor a surgsurgery when he went to report me to NYSC that i was absconding from work. We parted in quarrel and fight. In all my stay in Aptech Uyo I know nobody that worked in Aptech that had a good parting experience with the man. The truth is that the wife is a good person that drives in little sanity into that insane man. 1 guy called David had to use DSS to settle their quarrel. Aptech Uyo is simply a scam franchise.

Thank you for stating your experience with the evil man.


This is the picture of the gang behind this great evil. Mr Inibehe Otoho, the man who owes people salaries, scams them, and sacks them after using them. He also mistreats students and they are barely taught.

Op thank you for this post.

Aptech Uyo is a big scam. Mr Inibehe and family are all scammers. I worked there and can categorically say he doesn't pay his staff, he lets them come in, work for him for 2 to 3 months without pay then sacks them and continues the circle. He is very unprofessional, insults staff and student alike. The system is dead and he lacks lecturers, because most of them resigned due to his inability to pay them. As at 2016, the institution had just one qualified lecturer and his son who just finished secondary school. Students come in, register, and don't get taught. Programs that were supposed to last for 3 months ends up extending to 6 or 7 months without certificate after paying so much. He uses the money he gets to run his family instead of running the place. The school walls, doors, classrooms and even offices are falling apart.

He owes me 2 months pay and I know people he owes 4, some 6 months salary and yet he will threaten you with lawyers and police if you dare go back for your money.

Lalasticlala, Seun, mynd44, Dominique, please help the Op to warn other people.

So this man matter don reach nairaland abi.

I have a friend that he has duped with his employment format.

As far as I am concerned, he should be behind jail. I can vividly remember how he treated Brian, my former bf who left Abia State and got a job in this scam of a coy.
Brian left everything behind and arrived Uyo with only enough money to rent a one room apartment without furniture with the hope that he'd be paid at the end of the month so that he can kick-start his life. Brian was even posting pictures of himself in office on Facebook and everyone was congratulating him.
One month passed and Brian was asking me to borrow him 20k that he'll pay me back when his Oga pays him. Two months passed and Brian said he hasn't been paid. I even had to give him extra 10k so that he can manage.
Brian was even telling me of how the man sacked other people without pay and how those who came asking for their pay were treated. At the end, Brian stayed there for 3 months and he wasn't paid. He even begged the man to give him as little as 5k to eat but the man said there's no money even though students are paying fees and his children are in the most expensive schools in Akwa Ibom.
Till today, Brian has not been paid. The room he rented was wasted. The money he spent in Uyo was wasted. The man didn't even show any sign of concern and Brian had to leave the Uyo. Thinking about this alone has made me sad and angry.


May God punish these evildoers

Why is this not on fp yet@seun?

I got a job here sha but was smart enough to quit before it was too late. The moment I observed the trend, my head reboot to normal.
I actually heard him saying some unmentionable things to my co-worker then who he has owed for 2months. In fact ehn.... Leave marrars.

Thank God for my life sha. I'm far above that scammer in everything. His day of reckoning is coming. Thank you @Op!

jasysandra:
Op thank you for this post.

Aptech Uyo is a big scam. Mr Inibehe and family are all scammers. I worked there and can categorically say he doesn't pay his staff, he lets them come in, work for him for 2 to 3 months without pay then sacks them and continues the circle. He is very unprofessional, insults staff and student alike. The system is dead and he lacks lecturers, because most of them resigned due to his inability to pay them. As at 2016, the institution had just one qualified lecturer and his son who just finished secondary school. Students come in, register, and don't get taught. Programs that were supposed to last for 3 months ends up extending to 6 or 7 months without certificate after paying so much. He uses the money he gets to run his family instead of running the place. The school walls, doors, classrooms and even offices are falling apart.

He owes me 2 months pay and I know people he owes 4, some 6 months salary and yet he will threaten you with lawyers and police if you dare go back for your money.

Lalasticlala, Seun, mynd44, Dominique, please help the Op to warn other people.

Thank you for sharing your experience. You will get justice, now or sometimes in the future.

I just hope that this thread is able to warn people about this coy.

rebeccausoro:
So this man matter don reach nairaland abi.

I have a friend that he has duped with his employment format.

As far as I am concerned, he should be behind jail. I can vividly remember how he treated Brian, my former bf who left Abia State and got a job in this scam of a coy.
Brian left everything behind and arrived Uyo with only enough money to rent a one room apartment without furniture with the hope that he'd be paid at the end of the month so that he can kick-start his life. Brian was even posting pictures of himself in office on Facebook and everyone was congratulating him.
One month passed and Brian was asking me to borrow him 20k that he'll pay me back when his Oga pays him. Two months passed and Brian said he hasn't been paid. I even had to give him extra 10k so that he can manage.
Brian was even telling me of how the man sacked other people without pay and how those who came asking for their pay were treated. At the end, Brian stayed there for 3 months and he wasn't paid. He even begged the man to give him as little as 5k to eat but the man said there's no money even though students are paying fees and his children are in the most expensive schools in Akwa Ibom.
Till today, Brian has not been paid. The room he rented was wasted. The money he spent in Uyo was wasted. The man didn't even show any sign of concern and Brian had to leave the Uyo. Thinking about this alone has made me sad and angry.


May God punish these evildoers

So sad. Sonsongo for sharing.

Your friend will get justice.

mathy001:
Why is this not on fp yet@seun?

I got a job here sha but was smart enough to quit before it was too late. The moment I observed the trend, my head reboot to normal.
I actually heard him saying some unmentionable things to my co-worker then who he has owed for 2months. In fact ehn.... Leave marrars.

Thank God for my life sha. I'm far above that scammer in everything. His day of reckoning is coming. Thank you @Op!

Yea, you are better than him. He's a scammer after all. Your prudence saved you from the clutches of this man.

Summary please.

Aptech hmmm that name sounds like scam

Hm

things re happening

Thanks all that have come out to say the truth, and thanks for taking this to front page.

Let everyone see this man for who he is and avoid being a victim