BY TONY OKAFOR
Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, has entered a new chapter—one marked by renewed hope and the weight of great expectation.
With the appointment of Professor Ugochukwu Bond Stanley Anyaehie as the substantive Vice Chancellor, effective November 19, 2025, the university stands on the threshold of long-desired healing.
And indeed, healing is what UNIZIK needs most at this moment.
For years, the institution has been entangled in a protracted leadership tussle, internal fractures, and administrative tensions that slowed progress, divided loyalties, and cast unsettling shadows over a citadel meant to symbolize enlightenment and scholarship.
At a point, three truckloads of soldiers were deployed to the university to oust a former leadership and install an Acting Vice Chancellor—an appointment letter reportedly issued in a motor garage due to the tense atmosphere.
Certificate scandals also trailed a certain contender in the race for the vice-chancellorship.
The crisis did not only wound the system; it drained morale, destabilized structures, and left scars that must not be ignored.
One of the underlying causes of this turmoil has been the undue influence of certain Southeast politicians, whose interference turned the university into a battleground for rivalries.
This must stop. A university is not a theatre for political supremacy. It is a sanctuary of ideas, research, and academic excellence.
This is why Professor Anyaehie’s emergence is not just another appointment—it is symbolic, providential, and timely.
Here is a medical doctor stepping in to lead an institution in dire need of clinical, deliberate, and professional healing.
A distinguished Professor of Physiology and Clinical Measurements, Anyaehie brings not only academic depth but also a healer’s discipline—precisely what UNIZIK requires to recover from years of administrative illness.
According to the press release by the Acting Director of Information and Public Relations, Mr. Njelita Louis, the Vice Chancellor was appointed by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Barr. Monsur Kukoyi Olugbenga, on November 16, 2025, with approval for a single five-year tenure. He succeeds Professor (Dame) Carol Chinyelugo Arinze-Umobi, who has steered the university in an acting capacity.
But beyond the formalities lies the urgent reality: UNIZIK needs stability. It needs reconciliation. It needs healing.
Professor Anyaehie must now unite fractured interests, restore confidence in the institution’s processes, rebuild its academic dignity, and reaffirm UNIZIK as a place where scholarship—not politics—defines excellence. This healing will demand courage, fairness, and a steadfast commitment to truth.
The challenges ahead are substantial, but so is the opportunity.
As the new Vice Chancellor assumes duty, stakeholders across Awka, Anambra State, and the nation look on with renewed expectations—that the wounds of the past will finally be treated, unity restored, and UNIZIK repositioned for greatness.
The diagnosis is clear. The treatment must begin.
Here’s a polished version that preserves the intended meaning while making it elegant and clear:
It is reassuring that the new Vice Chancellor comes from the legendary Anyaehie TOYOTA CROWN dynasty of Nkwerre, a family renowned for nearly a century of affluence and integrity. He is a treasure not to be trifled with, with a respected family name and personal honour to uphold. b
Anyaehie, heal UNIZIK—the university needs its doctor now more than ever.
