UNIZIK’s new VC speaks on his controversial academic profile

Bernard Odoh has spoken on his controversial academic profile and appointment as the vice-chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (NAU) in Anambra State.

Mr Odoh, a professor, emerged as the seventh substantive vice-chancellor of the university on 29 October.

He hails from Ebonyi State, where he unsuccessfully sought to become governor in 2023 under the All Progressives Grand Alliance platform.

NAU, a federal university in Anambra State, is popularly known as UNIZIK.

The controversies

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Mr Odoh’s academic profile and appointment as vice-chancellor were riddled with controversies.

For instance, Mr Odoh’s profile published on the university’s website indicated that he served as a visiting professor at the Federal University, Gusau (FUGUS), Zamfara State, between July 2015 and October 2017.

However, both FUGUS and the university’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) refuted Mr Odoh’s claims in separate letters in response to enquiries about his academic profile.

Meanwhile, before Mr Odoh’s emergence as the vice-chancellor, the UNIZIK’s chapter of ASUU and the institution’s chapter of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) had alleged irregularities in both the announcement of the vacancy and the recruitment process.

Three days after Mr Odoh’s emergence, the Federal Ministry of Education, through a memo dated 1 November 2024, nullified the appointment, accusing the university’s Governing Council of making the appointment “without representatives of the ministry, the internal council members and other stakeholders.”

But the university, in a letter issued the same day by its Registrar and Secretary to Council, R.I. Nwokike, insisted that they “adhered strictly to a valid judgment from a competent court, which directed the council to exercise its statutory authority in appointing the vice-chancellor.”

Bernard Odoh speaks

But Mr Odoh, in his first public response on Friday, said the education ministry lacks the power to nullify his appointment as the university’s vice-chancellor.

At a press conference on Friday at GeoGold Hotel in Awka, Mr Odoh, through his spokesperson, Charles Otu, claimed he was appointed as a visiting professor at FUGUS in 2014 but was later promoted to the rank of full professor of applied geophysics at the institution in 2015.

The press conference was streamed live on Facebook.

Mr Odoh also claimed that the then FUGUS registrar who was in office when he (Odoh) was assessed and promoted had approached a court and sworn an affidavit “attesting to all the due and lawful processes” upon which the lecturer was “found worthy of such elevation.”

But while fielding questions from reporters, the vice-chancellor declined to name the then FUGUS registrar, who approached and swore an affidavit in court attesting to the full professorship elevation.

“Why I won’t mention the registrar’s name is that if the people who are in court go ahead with the litigation, that’s what we will meet them in court with, to prove (Odoh got his full professorship elevation),” he said.

‘The process was backed by court judgment’

Mr Odoh, during the press conference, argued that a court judgment backed his recruitment process.

The vice-chancellor claimed that a National Industrial Court in Awka, had given “a consent judgment” validating the position of the Governing Council on its scoring templates developed for the exercise.

He said a contender for the vice-chancellorship position, Anthony Okoye, a professor, instituted the suit.

“Already, the said consent judgment paved the way for the council to proceed with its template as well as other well-laid-out plans to ensure a smooth conduct of the exercise,” he stated.

Mr Odoh also argued that the university’s Governing Council, led by Greg Mbadiwe, had ensured fair hearing by replying to MDCAN, which had argued their allegation of being sidelined through the advertised qualifications for the position.

The MDCAN contended that the advertisement for the position required a 15-year PhD without including a 15-year postgraduate medical fellowship, thereby excluding its members from participating in the contest.

But the vice-chancellor said the Governing Council had urged members of the MDCAN “to take their case” to the National Universities Commission (NUC) for redress.

“The academic, regulatory body (NUC) has on several occasions maintained that the West African Post Graduate College of Medicine certificate obtained by doctors in various medical associations cannot be considered as an equivalent of a Doctor of Philosophy Degree, urging them to rather introduce PhD programmes in clinical studies,” he stated.

Contrary to claims, Mr Odoh further argued that the Governing Council and the university’s Senate were “properly constituted” during the interview session in compliance with the “statutory requirements” outlined in the university’s Act, CAP 139 (as amended), LFN 2024.

The vice-chancellor, quoting a 1 November letter issued by Ms Nwokike, suggested that representatives from the education ministry were not required to be present at the interview session.

“In accordance with Section 6(a) of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Standing Orders of the Governing Council, the quorum requirement mandates the presence of five members, including at least one of the following: the vice-chancellor or his deputy, one appointee of the visitor, and one appointee of the Senate,” he quoted the registrar.

Ms Nwokike, a lawyer, had issued the letter in response to the allegation by the education ministry that the ministry and the internal members of the university’s Governing Council were not represented during the exercise.

‘Why the opposition against my emergence’

Mr Odoh claimed that some unnamed indigenes of Anambra State were opposing his emergence as the university’s vice-chancellor because he comes from Ebonyi, another state in the South-east.

The vice-chancellor emphasised that “virtually every remarkable public institution” in his home State of Ebonyi is named after an Anambra man.

He urged Anambra indigenes opposed to his emergence to “reciprocate the kind hospitality and love” they enjoy from the people of Ebonyi State by supporting his administration in the university.

“By so doing, the average Ebonyi man will appreciate that they are equally loved, valued and appreciated by their elder Igbo brothers of Anambra extraction,” he explained.