According to UNIZIK sources who spoke with Newsmen on Friday, applicants for vice chancellor should preferably have at least ten years of full-time teaching experience in order to comply with university policies.
Despite not fitting the requirements for the position, Dr. Benard Ifeanyi Odoh, an associate professor at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), has allegedly been positioned for it by powerful politicians in the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Dr. Odoh, who was elevated to Associate Professor (Reader) in 2022, has apparently never held important administrative positions like Head of Department, Dean, or Director, according to a document that Newsmen was able to get.
Moreover, it has been claimed that he has not mentored any doctoral applicants, which has caused many to doubt his eligibility for the vice-chancellorship.
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According to the paper, as of September 3, 2024, Dr. Odoh—who is currently an Associate Professor and Reader—was paid at salary grade level 6.
Dr. Odoh was the All Progressives Grand Alliance’s (APGA) candidate for governor of Ebonyi State in 2023. From 2015 to 2018, he was the secretary of the state government (SSG).
According to UNIZIK sources who spoke with Newsmen on Friday, applicants for vice chancellor should preferably have at least ten years of full-time teaching experience in order to comply with university policies.
One of the sources said, “Sadly and typical with corrupt practices, there are said to be unholy plans to foist Dr Ben Ifeanyi Odoh, currently a Reader in the Department of Applied Geophysics in UNIZIK who is presently not qualified to become a full professor as at the time.”
The source noted that Dr Odoh cannot be qualified to even apply for the position of Vice-Chancellor with his salary grade let alone his rank.
The source said, “The former Secretary to the Ebonyi State Government was sacked two and a half years into his tenure for his alleged involvement in a murder case as well as insubordination/disloyalty to his boss, then Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. David Umahi, is reported to be boasting that he is the next Vice Chancellor despite not being a substantive professor, least of being ten years on the professorial chair.
“The bizarre advert that greeted the University community a few weeks ago was specifically designed to exclude medical professionals and most of the otherwise qualified professors and it’s one step towards subterranean attempts to announce Dr. Odoh as Vice Chancellor in December, and dare those who feel aggrieved to go to court.
The insider went on to say that instructors and other important university stakeholders had already begun organising to oppose the plan, arguing that it goes against the best standards of contemporary university administration.
The Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), according to the source, has expressed concerns about the Council’s and other outside interests’ blatant and crass attempts to undermine and breach Nnamdi Azikiwe University.
The source informed Newsmen that based on all signs, the Council is determined to move forward with its plans despite the clear disregard for MDCAN’s objections.
“Such advertorials have always provided a possession of a Doctorate degree, or its equivalent as well as possession of administrative experiences within the university system.
“However, the advertorial is silent on issues of administrative experiences. Hence one wonders how an unqualified candidate will sit over the affairs of a university like Unizik.
“One would wonder why a few people were planning to undermine the university’s image by doing what was inappropriate and definitely not acceptable to a university of repute such as the Nnamdi Azikiwe University,” he said.
The source questioned why anyone would want to force Dr. Odoh onto the institution at a time when there was no shortage of brilliant thinkers and professors there.
According to the source, some professors were attempting to petition the university’s visitor through the minister of education to prevent this kind of incident from happening, since it would cause needless disturbance in the classroom if it were ever permitted to happen.
“From indications, Odoh’s stint in politics has given him access to funds and some level of contacts with some political big wigs. However, that should not be enough reason to violate an Ivory Tower like Nnamdi Azikiwe University which has built a reputation for itself,” the source said, adding “that the Advert through which the immediate past Vice Chancellor assumed office clearly stated ten years post-professorship amongst other criteria”.
Speaking under anonymity, a prominent member of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), UNIZIK chapter, called the purported plot a “evil plan against the University” and swore fiercely that the Union would oppose it.
The union gave the Governing Council a warning “not to let itself belittled on the matter.
The senior lecturer said, “We, however, wait to see with what scoring criteria Dr Odoh will be produced since he has not been Head, Dean or Director and has also not supervised any candidate for Ph.D.”
Regarding Dr. Odoh’s PhD, which was purportedly obtained between 2006 and 2008, a senior instructor also raised doubts. He mentioned that he could not have completed his PhD in less than four years because he was a staff member and could not have pursued it full-time.
Efforts to call the Dean of Natural Sciences or the Head of Applied Geophysics to discuss the matter were unsuccessful due to unavailable numbers.
It was discovered that some individuals contend that Dr. Odoh’s appointment as a visiting professor at Federal University in Northern Nigeria in 2014 counts towards his tenure as a professor.
“Visiting Professorships do not count anywhere since he was obviously not assessed and could not have been assessed by a University he did not transfer his services to. It is akin to asking Dr Obiora Okonkwo of United Nigeria Airlines that was made a Visiting Professor by Unizik Business School to vie for the position of Vice Chancellor,” the source said.
According to a Unizik professor who spoke to Newsmen on Friday under the condition of anonymity, Dr. Odoh left the school in 2014 or 2015 to pursue a career in politics. He was not an Associate Professor when he left; rather, he was a Senior Lecturer.
The professor said, “Dr Odoh served as a former Secretary to the Ebonyi State Government for some time. Some of us were surprised to hear that, upon his return, he was already using the title of ‘Professor’ attached to his name.
“And before we knew what had happened, we got wind that he was being positioned as the anointed candidate for the vice-chancellorship. Some APC bigwigs had concluded plans to make him the vice-chancellor of the university.
“However, all the information available to us, even as recent as last month, shows that he is still an associate professor. He was promoted to associate professor (which is equivalent to a reader) in 2022.
“If you go to the university website, you will see that something mischievous is going on. They listed his name as Professor Bernard Odoh, but also noted that he is a reader in the Department of Geophysics.
“Even the salary he collects is that of a reader, as at now. Yet, we have heard that plans have been finalized to make him the vice-chancellor, regardless of the circumstances.”
Newsmen was informed by the source that the individuals pursuing the plans are influential members of society who think that everything is possible.
The source said, “But you know how this system works. We have our fears that the university management may be planning to doctor his credentials. I’m not making that accusation directly, but that’s what is possible because of the confidence with which he is pushing on with his ambition and aspiration to become vice chancellor.”
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The source said earlier, Dr Odoh used to tell people that he became a professor in Nasarawa as a visiting professor.
The source said, “And because if visiting professor does not go through appraisals, you can be invited, even your experiences, one university can just issue you a letter and tell you to come and lecture them as a visiting professor. But your primary place of assignment where you are supposed to go through the ranks and get appraised as you grow is where your professorship really matters.”
According to the source, Dr. Odoh started reading in 2022. Dr. Benard Ifeanyi Odoh declined to comment when Newsmen approached him on the claims that he was only a reader and had not yet been promoted to full professor.
He said, “The university has a governing council, and the governing council is the highest organ of the university. They have the power to appoint so allow the council to do their job.
“It’s not your job to decide who is qualified or not, and that’s what I can answer you for now. It is not the business of the man in the market to decide. It is the governing council and no other person, so allow them to do their job.
“If they find me qualified, fine, and if they don’t find me qualified, it should be that way. So people shouldn’t bother themselves about what doesn’t concern them.”
He continued, “The council will decide what they want to do, not you or me. The university law is clear; the governing council is the only one invested with the power to appoint and no other person. So they have put up an advert that they have their criteria. So they will take the steps to interview and decide who is qualified.
“This is the procedure, so anything out of this is a rumor and it has no basis. So if you read the University Act, the law of the university, you will see clearly it is the governing council that will decide.”
“It’s not the man in the market or the man in his bedroom to decide. So if I’m qualified, they would decide. If I’m not qualified, they would decide, it’s not any other person’s business,” he added.
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