ASUU speaks on controversial appointment of vice-chancellor by Nigerian university

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said on Monday that the appointment of Bernard Odoh as the vice-chancellor and Rosemary Nwokike as registrar of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka, Anambra State, is illegal and a mockery of the university system.

The union in a statement by its National President, Emmanuel Osoedeke, a professor, described both appointments by the Greg Mbadiwe-led governing council as a joke.

Mr Osodeke said the appointments violated all known procedures from advertisement, search process, and shortlisting, to selection processes.

The union, at its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on 8th – 9th November at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), Abia State, therefore, resolved to call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the matter.

“The continued stay in office by these imposed individuals constitutes a deliberate act of provocation and invitation to anarchy at the Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka,” the statement reads in part.

“Consequently, ASUU calls on the Visitor and President of the Federal Republic to urgently take concrete and decisive steps to restore law and order in NAU. For the avoidance of doubt, ASUU like many other stakeholders at NAU, does not have confidence in the Amb. Greg Mbadiwe-led Governing Council and the Visitor should urgently intervene to redirect the university on the path of order, law and due process.”

Allegations

ASUU accused Mr Mbadiwe and the governing council of towing the path of “recklessness, lawlessness and impunity” by allegedly ignoring appeals and interventions by the university’s chapter of ASUU, the university senate, MDCAN and the Federal Ministry of Education to remedy the alleged irregularities in the appointments.

The union further noted: “NEC maintains that the current crisis facing NAU stemmed from abuse of the procedures for the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor – including the advertisement, the search process, and the shortlisting and selection processes – by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University.

“ASUU views the dictatorial and repressive actions of the Amb. Greg Mbadiwe-led Governing Council of NAU in the purported appointment of Dr Benard Odoh as Vice-Chancellor and Mrs Rosemary Ifeoma Nwokike as Registrar, a huge joke and a mockery of academia! We insist that the action of the Amb. Greg Mbadiwe-led Governing Council has no place in the University Law and tradition; it MUST, therefore, be addressed without delay.”

Mr Odoh’s qualification

Commenting on the controversy surrounding Mr Odoh’s professorship, the union noted that Mr Odoh is not a full professor.

“NEC expressed shock that Dr Benard Odoh, who from all available evidence is not a full professor, was purportedly appointed the Vice-Chancellor of NAU by the Amb. Greg Mbadiwe-led Governing Council in total disregard for the advertised eligibility criteria for the position of a Vice-Chancellor of the University,” it said.

PREMIUM TIMES had earlier reported how the appointment of Mr Odoh was riddled with controversy from the selection process to Mr Odoh’s profile.

Mr Odoh was said to have claimed he received his professorship at the Federal University, Gusau (FUGUS), Zamfara State, where he also claimed to be a visiting professor between July 2015 and October 2017. However, the university denied that he ever served within the period. According to a letter from the university’s registry, Mr Odoh was invited to serve in the position at FUGUS but he never resumed.

“Our records show that Dr Ifeanyi Bearnard Odoh was never a staff nor a pioneer head of the Department of Geology. Never showed up in the department or taught any course(s),” a letter signed by a member of the FUGUS registry, Shehu Suleiman, reads.

Another letter from the ASUU-FUGUS added that Mr Odoh was indeed offered a visiting appointment at the university in 2014 but there was no record of him ever assuming duty. The letter, signed by ASUU-FUGUS secretary Alameen Umar, added that the pioneer head of the department was Umar Dambatta, a professor from Ahmadu Bello University and not Mr Odoh.

Mr Odoh recently doubled down on his claim, noting that he was made a professor in 2015 at FUGUS

Meanwhile, the claim appears strange given that he served as the Secretary to the Ebonyi State Government between May 2015 and April 2018, raising doubts as to his ability to also serve as an academic within the same period.

Background

Ahead of the selection process, the university chapter of ASUU, the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), and the university senate had raised concerns over the criteria spelt out in the advertisement, which excluded some academics from contesting for the position.

Some members of the university also raised concern that the advertisements were specifically tailored to the curriculum vitae of Mr Odoh, even before his appointment was announced.

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The MDCAN-NAUTH said the requirements enumerated in the vacancy also deliberately discriminated against academic staff from the faculties of medicine and basic clinical sciences, most of whom do not have the same academic pathway as other academics. The union said the pathway for clinical lecturers goes thus; a first degree, primary fellowship examination, part I fellowship examination and part II (final) fellowship examination leading to the award of a medical fellowship.

Days after the university council interviewed and announced Mr Odoh, the Ministry of Education nullified the appointment, noting that the council conducted the recruitment process “without the representative of the ministry, the internal council members and other stakeholders.”

But the university has responded to the education ministry that it had not violated any extant rules but “adhered strictly to a valid judgement from a competent court, which directed the council to exercise its statutory authority in appointing the vice-chancellor.”

Members of the MDCAN on Monday, therefore, embarked on a seven-day warning strike to protest the alleged exclusion of its members from contesting the position.