Professor Mohammad Aminu Mohammad, President of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria, expressed strong disapproval over the selection process of the seventh substantive Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) in Awka, Anambra State, calling it a “total disregard to the due process and the rule of law.
” During an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, Mohammad highlighted several issues arising from the advertisement for the Vice Chancellor position, noting that many qualified individuals were excluded due to the requirement of a PhD. “Our members in that university were completely out of the show because one of the conditions they put is that somebody must have a PhD,” Mohammad stated.
“We were completely sidelined because our call for training is fellowship, and fellowship is not part of that advert,” he explained. Mohammad accused the university of breaking its own rules by appointing Professor Odoh, who he claims does not meet the advertised requirements.
“The university that he claimed to be a professor there has denied it, and we have all seen the latest.
“Mohammad spoke to the broader implications for the university’s medical faculty, arguing that medical schools significantly contribute to the university’s research output and grant funding. “In any tertiary institution or university in Nigeria where they have a medical school, 50% or more of the visibility of that university in terms of research and quality of the product come from the college of medicine,” he said.
Professor Kingsley Ubaoji, Chairperson of the Academic Staff Union of Universities at UNIZIK, in the same interview, also questioned the legitimacy of Odoh’s appointment. “The purported Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University is not a professor,” Ubaoji asserted, criticising the Governing Council for bypassing due process. “Due process demands that the full complement of council will discuss and put up an advert, but that never happened.
“The recent appointment of Professor Benard Ifeanyi Odoh as the seventh substantive Vice Chancellor of UNIZIK in Awka, Anambra State, has sparked significant controversy, with accusations of due process violations and concerns over the appointee’s qualifications.
Adding to the controversy, some staff members, including Professor Ikechukwu Ekwealor and Reverend Father Professor Josephat Obi Oguejiofor, legally challenged the appointments of both the Vice Chancellor and the Registrar, Barrister Rosemary I. Nwokike.
The university’s Governing Council has responded by issuing a seven-day ultimatum to those who filed the lawsuits.
