The Road to Vice Chancellorship at COOU: The University Council Chairman Should Come Clean

By Azuka Okoli, PhD

In my last two articles on this subject matter, I expressed fear that the standard procedure set by the Council Chairman, Professor Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, “leaves more to be desired”. I argued that it is “both strange and odd” for Odinkalu to simply demand applications from prospective Vice Chancellor of the university with absolutely no benchmarks. An application for Vice Chancellor of a university is often tied to the applicant’s years of experience as a professor, which demonstrates his or her proficiency in research and academia. Experience in a leadership position, value added to the institution, social capital in terms of what the applicant is capable of attracting to the university, and global competitiveness, among other requirements. These form part of the critical considerations and ultimately the benchmark for one to be deemed qualified to apply for the position. But Professor Odinkalu carefully played down those. Immediately leaving a trail of suspense and suspicion.

At the prestigious UNN, where I schooled, which is also where the Governor, Professor Soludo, was schooled, while Odinkalu attended Imo State University, Professor Uchenna Ortuanya of the Faculty of Law of the University of Nigeria, was just confirmed as the Vice Chancellor of the University. Professor Ortuanya was a former Commissioner for Education in Enugu State.

There are reasons why a Vice Chancellor is expected to have a huge social capital or have the potential to cultivate massive social capital, in addition to his or her academic credentials. The first is that university management requires extensive partnerships with individuals, corporate bodies, and groups, among others. A Vice Chancellor who lacks the skills, experience, and reputation to attract support from the wider community and also influence the wider society can hardly make an impressive mark. These dynamics do not seem to be lost on Mr. Governor, Professor Soludo, when he appointed Professor Kate Omenugha as the Acting Vice Chancellor of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University. It therefore smacks of deliberate insolence when reporters contracted by Odinkalu claimed that Odinkalu had “tutored” Soludo on the process of appointing a Vice Chancellor on merit.

Now, the claim of merit by Odinkalu in a process he presided over with no benchmarks and no stopgaps appears wanting in logic, due process, and common sense. Why are you talking about merit when you did not establish what constitutes your merit for applicants? I do not intend to raise unnecessary questions about the motive behind such sharp practice, but there are certainly questions begging for answers.

To confirm my fears, is there any reason or justification why the scores of the applicants to the substantive Vice Chancellorship of COOU, from the interview chaired by Professor Odinkalu, is now a public document, deliberately released and being circulated on social media? It is therefore clear that not only is Odinkalu scheming to foist himself on Mr. Governor, as the person in charge of the process of selecting VC, as he brags, he is also trying to blackmail the governor. It is, however, regrettable that Professor Odinkalu would be so careless as to think so little of Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the Governor of Anambra State, who appointed him, to begin to act as if he knows better than the governor and can determine whom the governor wishes to select as the next substantive Vice Chancellor of COOU. How did the document, which is in the exclusive custody of Odinkalu, find its way to the public? How did Odinkalu score the applicants when he did not publish any criteria for applicants in the first instance?

Mr. Governor may wish to discreetly investigate these issues and take a position that serves the best interests of Anambra State under his watch.