EDITORIAL: Prof. Anyaehie -One Year of Healing and Stability at UNIZIK — The Bond Must Be Sustained

BY TONY OKAFOR

On November 16, 2025, Prof. Bond Anyaehie was appointed Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka. He assumed office two days later.

One year after, his administration deserves commendation for restoring peace, stability and institutional sanity to a university once engulfed in leadership crises.

Before his emergence, UNIZIK was toxic. The struggle for the Vice Chancellor’s seat had become an embarrassment, with rival factions more concerned about who occupied the highest office than about the academic mission.

The situation was so bad that lorry-loads of security operatives, including soldiers, were once deployed to remove a sitting Acting Vice Chancellor to pave the way for another. The university also witnessed litigations involving lecturers eyeing the seat.

Rather than being united by their duty to educate and mentor students, some members of the academic community became adversaries. Academic activities suffered.

There was also the unfortunate episode of a substantive Vice Chancellor who did not last one month in office before his removal.

It is against this background that Anyaehie’s first year must be assessed. His greatest achievement is the restoration of peace. A university cannot fulfil its mandate where its officers, lecturers and stakeholders are at war.

Anyaehie is a Professor of Medicine, and under his watch, UNIZIK appears to have received a healing touch. An institution once afflicted by crises and hostility seems to be recovering. While its challenges have not disappeared, the prevailing peace shows healing has begun.

We also commend his attention to staff and students’ welfare, recognising that success depends not only on infrastructure but also on the well-being of those who teach and study there.

However, restoring peace is only the beginning. Anyaehie must not rest on his oars. He must consolidate the gains, deepen reforms, improve teaching and research, strengthen infrastructure and ensure an environment conducive to learning.

Above all, he must resist every attempt to drag the university back into factionalism and instability. The peace enjoyed must not be taken for granted or sacrificed for personal interests.

UNIZIK’s reputation should be defined by academic excellence, research and the quality of its graduates, not endless battles.

Prof. Anyaehie has restored a much-needed bond of peace and stability to UNIZIK. That bond must be strengthened and sustained.

One year of peace is commendable. Sustaining it and translating it into measurable progress should be his next assignment. The healing must continue, and the Bond must be sustained.