Man laments as Wigwe University announces change in its vice chancellor, names new professor

• A hundred and sixty-five days after the tragic death of Access Bank CEO Herbert Wigwe, the governing council of Wigwe university has removed its vice chancellor
• In a statement released on its official website, Wigwe University named a new acting vice chancellor
• Reacting to the development, a Nigerian man tackled the varsity's leadership and lamented,"We are about to loose Herbert Wigwe twice"

A Nigerian man, Alex Onyia, has raised an alarm on X (formerly Twitter) after Wigwe University announced a change of its vice chancellor.

Wigwe University is the brainchild of late Access Bank CEO Herbert Wigwe, who died with his wife, son and three others in a helicopter crash in the United States on February 9.

Alex Onyia frowned at the change of Wigwe University vice chancellor. Photo Credit: @winexviv, wigweuniversity,edu.ng
Source: Twitter

Wigwe University appoints new acting vice chancellor

In a statement released on its official website, the university leadership disengaged the services of Prof Miles Davis as the Vice Chancellor and appointed Professor Marwan Al-Akaidi as the acting vice chancellor with immediate effect. A part of the release read:

"Wigwe University has approved the disengagement of the services of Prof Miles Davis as the Vice Chancellor of Wigwe University. We extend our sincere gratitude to Prof. Davis for his service to our institution. We wish him the very best in his future endeavours."In light of this change, the University has approved the appointment of Professor Marwan Al-Akaidi as the Acting Vice Chancellor of our institution, effective immediately. Professor Marwan Al-Akaidi, who has previously served as both the Dean of the College of Science & Computing and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) of our University, brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of academic excellence and leadership..."

Man fumes over Wigwe University's leadership action

In a viral tweet on X, Alex decried the new development and claimed the varsity's governing council had also removed all the expatriates, including the deputy vice chancellors.

Alex accused the varsity's leadership of seeking to turn Wigwe University into "an ordinary Nigerian university."

He lamented that the new move is synonymous to losing Herbert Wigwe twice. He wrote:

"We are about to loose Herbert Wigwe twice. The current governing council of Wigwe University has removed all the expatriates. This includes the VC and all the Deputy Vice Chancellors. They now want to turn it to an ordinary Nigerian university."This is not Herbert Wigwe's dream for this university and this must never happen. The goal is to be the Ivy League Standard University. All the team members that worked closely with Herbert Wigwe to build this fearless vision has been removed by the governing council."We can't loose Herbert Wigwe twice. This is his biggest dream he has and we should never let it die."

See his tweet below:

Alex Onyia's outburst stirs reactions

@iamoicaro said:

"Well, some facets or the entirety of your dream essentially dies with you. This is one of the sad realities about life. Doesn’t matter who you were or how much influence you commanded."It’s just the way it is."

@eugeneohu said:

"While it doesn’t look nice to remove all of those who were there in Wigwe’s lifetime, even before the school sees the light of day, I don’t believe that having expatriates as your staff is a guarantee of anything."

@SpiceChief001 said:

"Really not our place or concern, how many Nigerians have breakfast today? That's my concern."

@tosinolaseinde said:

"Oh wow."If this is true, it doesn’t sound right."

@mislaw178 said:

"Nonsense. Which one is "ordinary Nigerian university"? Do the expatriates necessarily have more heads and better qualifications than Nigerians? Are global competitive scholars in short supply in Nigeria? Do expatriates automatically make any school excellent?"

@MappingReveals said:

"Wigwe! Elite group who contributed to Nigeria's mess. What do you want "we" to do now? What happened to growing local talent? Or do "we" not have that capacity again?"

Wigwe University's accommodation

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that details about Wigwe University's costly accommodation for students had emerged.

A breakdown of the accommodation fees and plan of the varsity was published on its official website. Two apartment plans were provided for students. The luxury single-bedroom plan costs N1 million per month, while the premium one-en-suite bedroom plan is N3.8 million per session.

Wigwe University was founded by Dr Herbert Wigwe, who died in a helicopter accident with his wife and son in February 2024. Once it is launched, the university's accommodation may become the costliest in the country.

Source: Legit.ng