VC: UNIZIK officials dismiss claims from Federal Ministry of Education as misleading
The Office of the Vice-Chancellor, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, has called on the public to disregard the letter purportedly emanating from the Federal Ministry of Education, claiming it had annulled the appointment of Prof Bernard Odoh as the institution’s VC.
The university’s Governing Council had last Tuesday, announced Odoh, a Professor of Geophysics as the seventh substantive VC of the institution, following a successful interview the same day.
However, the Federal Ministry of Education in a letter making the rounds in the media, addressed to the council and purportedly signed by one Mrs. R.G. Ilyasu, on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, claimed it has declared Odoh ‘s appointment as “null and void,” insisting all processes in the appointment did not follow the due process.
But Charles Otu, the Personal Assistant on Media and Publicity to the embattled VC, in a statement signed and issued to journalists on Monday, insisted that due process was meticulously observed throughout Odoh ‘s appointment.
Otu said that based on Nigeria’s extant laws, the ministry only oversees general educational standards across the nation, but does not have the legal power to direct or control the daily decisions of a university’s council, including who should be appointed as a VC.
The statement read in part, “The institution has rightly stated that all its actions were informed and conforms with the statutory requirements set forth in the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Act, Cap 139 (as amended), LFN 2004.
“The Registrar who doubles as the Secretary to the council had replied that the actions of the council were in total conformity with the provisions of Section 6 (a) of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Standing Orders of the Governing Council which stipulates that the quorum requirements which 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.
“The registrar had also, in response to allegations of violations of due process, clarified that due process was meticulously observed throughout the appointment for both the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar.
“For further clarification, the attention of the general public must be drawn first and foremost to the fact that our extant laws specified the roles of the governing council of a tertiary institution vis-a-vis those of the Visitor and the parent’s Ministry of Education. In Nigeria, the university governing council plays a unique and critical role in the administration and governance of universities.”
Otu noted that the university’s council is an “autonomous governing body” that can make independent decisions “based on what’s best for its students, staff and academic goals.”
“Already, the appointment, which for now has not been expressly faulted by any law of our land, appears to be breeding some bad blood and unsettling the nerves of some possible big spenders among our Igbo brothers, including some fifth columnists suspected in the nation’s ruling party.
“All parties in the matter, are, therefore, admonished to give peace a chance while members of the general public are urged to disregard, in its entirety, all the news and false documents purporting the declaration of the actions of the UNIZIK governing council as null and void,” among others.
The statement also added that a “mass service shall be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, as part of activities for the resumption of office of the Seventh Substantive Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Professor Benard Ifeanyi Odoh, members of the public are cordially invited to witness the events marking the first day in office of the new Vice-Chancellor.”
