Pandora’s Box: Inside Ojukwu University’s Certificate Racketeering Scheme, Professor Allegedly Sits Exams for Future Wife

By Tony Okafor, Awka

A disciplinary dispute at the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University has opened what one senior academic described as a “Pandora’s box” of alleged examination malpractice, certificate racketeering and breaches of academic regulations within the institution.

The allegations were made by Professor Chike Osegbue of the Department of Political Science in a detailed response to a query issued to him by the university administration over his failure to teach a postgraduate course, PSC 811: Environmental Politics and Sustainable Development.
Osegbue, a professor of Political Economy and Environmental Studies and one of the contestants in the university’s controversial vice-chancellorship selection process, was suspended by the university for three months earlier this year over the matter, which was later extended for another three month.

The six months suspension later culminated in a sack announced on Friday by the management of the institution.

In his response to the query, the professor denied wrongdoing, insisting that no students were available to be taught the course during the relevant period because they had been admitted only days before examinations commenced.

But beyond his defence, Osegbue made a series of explosive allegations against university officials and the institution’s postgraduate system.

Among the most striking claims was his allegation that the Acting Head of the Department of Political Science, Dr. Agary Nwokoye, had been involved in examination malpractice years earlier.

According to Osegbue, “Nwokoye was involved in a malpractice incident in which he wrote an examination for a female student, who later became his wife in a course I taught titled International Economic Relations (PSC 314).”

The professor made the allegation while questioning Nwokoye’s role in publishing an examination timetable that, according to him, enabled recently admitted postgraduate students to sit for examinations despite failing to meet statutory attendance requirements.

The allegation was not accompanied by details of any disciplinary action allegedly taken at the time, and Nwokoye could not be reached for comment.

Osegbue further alleged that the university’s postgraduate admission and examination processes had become compromised, claiming that 12 of 13 students in an M.Sc. class were admitted between eight and 28 days before examinations began.

He argued that under the university’s postgraduate regulations, students must attain at least 75 per cent lecture attendance over a minimum of nine weeks before qualifying to sit examinations.

“None of these students met the eligibility requirement,” he stated, alleging that they were nevertheless allowed to write examinations in other courses.

The professor described the situation as evidence of what he termed “certificate racketeering” within the institution.

He also referenced reports of three separate investigative committees which, according to him, examined alleged irregularities in the Faculty of Law and recommended sanctions against certain officials.

Among other claims, Osegbue alleged that some individuals possessed postgraduate certificates from the university despite never attending classes on campus, and that reports of investigative panels had not been acted upon.

He further cited alleged cases involving altered examination scores, dual employment by staff members, and disputes involving students in the Faculty of Law.

The professor said he refused to participate in what he described as the erosion of academic standards and called on the university’s Postgraduate School Board to cancel examinations written by students who allegedly failed to satisfy attendance requirements.

Copies of his response were sent to several bodies, including the National Universities Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, the Council for Legal Education and the university’s governing council.

The controversy comes amid ongoing litigation over the appointment of Professor Kate Omenugha as Vice-Chancellor, a process in which Osegbue participated and which he is challenging in court.

Efforts to obtain responses from the university management and officials mentioned in the allegations were unsuccessful as of press time.

The allegations have not been independently verified, and no court has made findings on the claims. However, the disclosures are likely to intensify scrutiny of academic standards and governance at the university, particularly as the institution continues to grapple with leadership disputes and questions over its postgraduate programmes.