Rot in Imo State University (IMSU): Why the VC was sacked

Rot in Imo State University (IMSU): Why the VC was sacked

Imo State University Owerri, may witness a massive shakeup especially in some principal offices if information reaching The Biafran is anything to go by. 

Heads may roll in the Imo State University, Owerri as  staff accuse the immediate past administration of the institution of  mismanagement of funds, faulty appointments and dictatorial administration and calling on  both the state government and the new leadership of the institution to most urgently intervene.

Credence was given to the above by the unexpected sack of the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Ukachukwu Awuzie, a former National Chairman of the  Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) by the state governor, Rochas Okorocha recently.

The state government  in a radio announcement on the Orient Fm on the 1st day of June, 2015 named Dr Adaobi Obasi, a former commissioner of education and also local government and rural development in the state during Governor Okorocha’s first tenure as the new acting Vice Chancellor of the institution adding that the appointment takes effect immediately.

Analysts and observers told Verbatim that the sack of the Vice Chancellor may be connected to a lot of irregularities and impunity that were witnessed during his almost two years administration of the institution.

Some of these irregularities they told Verbatim include poor management of funds, dictatorial style of leadership and illegal appointments of unqualified and undeserving individuals into the institution’s principal offices, especially in the registry and bursary departments. 

Information reaching Verbatim reveal that the sacked Vice Chancellor was also involved in a lot of unresolved and highly inflated spending/contracts which did not go down well with most people within the institution.

For instance, it was revealed to this magazine that the Vice Chancellor spent a whooping N25,000,000,00(twenty five million Naira) on furnishing the school’s guest house at Egbeada which he was accused of  privatising. Verbatim also gather that he spent N16,000,000,00(sixteen million Naira) to purchase a Prado jeep and another N2,000,000,0(two million Naira) to purchase  bullet proof tires for the vehicle while he was also accused of renovating the school’s Law library with a whooping N15,000,000,00(fifteen million Naira) when the actual contract value is N5,000,000,00(five million Naira) among others all of which have continued to generate ripples and controversies in the institution till date. 

Some staff of the institution  who spoke to this magazine under anonymity expressed anger that the school authority could  without any consideration for the consequences promote mediocrity and impunity through these  appointments in an institution that claims to emphasize on excellence.  

An advertisement  for the offices of the Registrar and Bursar,  signed by Prof Ukachukwu Awuzie, then Vice Chancellor of the institution on the Daily Sun newspaper of Friday, September 5th, 2014 invited suitably qualified candidates and also clearly spelt out some core requirements for appointments into the above advertised offices.

From the advert,  the candidate for the office of the Registrar must hold at least a good honours degree with at least fifteen  (15) years post qualification, administrative and professional experience in a university or comparable institution. The candidate must also not be at a level  than the equivalent of a Deputy Registrar with a minimum of five (5) years experience and must be ICT compliant.

On the other hand, the candidate for the office of the Bursar should have a good honours degree in accounting, finance, economics or other related courses from a recognized university and must in addition be a member of a recognized professional accounting body such as ICAN, ANAN,ICMA,ACA,ACCA,ICPA. The candidate must not be lower than the rank of a Deputy Bursar or its equivalent and must have a minimum of fifteen (15) years cognate experience in financial matters with at least five (5) years spent in a university or comparable institution. The candidate must also be of high integrity as well as be exceptionally ICT compliant. 

Against this back drop, Verbatim gathered that tongues started to wag as regards appointments in the institution when Prof Awuzie, was appointed the Vice Chancellor from among very eminently qualified candidates even without the National university commission stipulated PHD as a core requirement for the office. 

In the same light, this magazine gathered that many eminently qualified candidates, most of who have PhDs were again disqualified to appoint Mr Emeka Ejinkonye, who was an assistant lecturer at the Federal University of Technology Wukari, in Taraba state for about two years  the registrar  of the institution. Many staff have continued to show their surprise and disappointment  that the school authorities can so easily  bend rules and criteria it had set up for appointments into its principal offices  to accommodate or please some individuals or protect certain interests.

 Mr Ejinkonye this magazine also gathered was appointed from outside the university system as he was alleged to be doing a consultancy job in Warri, Delta state from where he was appointed the Registrar of the institution which has even generated more controversy as people have continued to blame the Awuzie administration for jettisoning laid down rules and exposing the institution to mediocrity by this appointment.

T.I Igwe, former Head of personnel in the institution and currently the Head of students’ affairs in the institution was tipped to be appointed the Registrar of the school but was schemed out even when he was amply qualified with an almost concluded LLD and the required fifteen years cognate university experience as stipulated in the advert which Mr Ejinkonye according to our sources does not have. 

Verbatim was also told that the school community was also shocked again when the Awuzie administration again appointed Mr Kingsley Mbamara the Bursar of the institution  on the 1st of march, 2015.

 This magazine was told that Mr Mbamara , an accountant in  the Abia state University’s bursary department served in ABSU for about four years before he was linked to a financial scandal which landed him in police custody for some days after which his services and career at ABSU ended.

Verbatim was also told that a letter from the Imo state university to Abia state university, demanding information on Mr Mbamara and his career at the Abia state university did not yield much result as the personal file of the man was declared missing.

The only information which the Abia state University could offer as regards the above  was that Mr Mbamara left the services of the institution unceremoniously which  most people  believe should have been enough to disqualify the man in the first instance considering the sensitive nature of the office in question.

Our sources further say it is doubtful if Mr Mbamara’s application was accompanied by other  relevant documents like resignation, withdrawal of service or retirement letter all of which are required in processing retirement benefits and others as it was revealed to Verbatim that the only visible document which Mr Mbamara submitted to Imo state university during his application was a document on which the police gave him a clean slate which to analysts further confirms that he was indeed a guest of the police.

However, Verbatim was told that Mr Mbamara after the scandal at Absu, took up employment at the Imo state university satellite campus in Lagos where he was employed as an Instructor from where he was appointed the Bursar of the university despite all the odds against him to the chagrin of staff and other observers.

Some aggrieved non academic staff of the institution who spoke to verbatim under anonymity said that Mr Mbamara is the least qualified candidate for the office as he lacks the integrity required for the office having been involved in a financial scandal and being a guest of the police while in ABSU. They also argued that he is not even qualified for the office as he does not possess the required fifteen years cognate university experience since he has about four years only to his credit at ABSU. 

On the other hand, Verbatim was also told that he was about five steps behind the rank of Deputy Bursar at the time he was appointed which was the minimum rank required of every candidate for the office of Bursar as was advertised.

However, this magazine gathered that his boss at ABSU bursary, Mrs Mercy Ihekwoaba who later transferred to Imsu  is still a Chief Accountant, an office lower than the advertised Deputy Bursar which  further revealed the irregularities in his appointment.

Even at that, most people are of the opinion that Mr Mbamara should not have applied for the position in the first place talk less of being appointed since there are two Deputy Bursars in the institution in the persons of Mr O.J Anyanwu and Mr E.E Okafor who are eminently qualified and superior to him academically and professionally and also possess the minimum fifteen years cognate university experience.  

As it stands now, most staff of the institution accuse the immediate past leadership of the institution for preferring to promote criminality by sitting on credibility and integrity which they argue the office of the bursar requires and which the school authorities emphasized on when it advertised the office last year. 

In a chat with Verbatim recently, Mr Mbamara said he is not surprised such allegations are leveled against him in the first place considering the office he currently occupies. He categorically told Verbatim that  he  had no problem at ABSU and that he was not sacked from the institution.

 Mr Mbamara said when ABSU, then Imo State University was ceded to Abia, Abians who felt Imo indigenes occupied major positions in the institution initiated silent agitations and infighting to displace the non indigenes. He told verbatim that it was on the strength of the above that he was  framed up using an individual on mere deduction matters. 

Mr Mbamara further told Verbatim that the institution was making deductions from some individual salaries and that he had already commenced the deductions through his clerk since he was in charge of  pay roll then adding that he was shocked when he was accused of asking for financial inducement to stop deductions from a particular individual’s salary.

 He said the police on investigating the matter said he had no case especially after realizing that he could not have asked for any inducement after making the required deductions and moved the matter to the Directorate for Public Prosecution, DPP for its opinion and advise adding that the DPP also upheld the position of the police. 

Mr Mbamara said he would have carefully avoided mentioning his services at ABSU if indeed he had a bad record there since he could have as well used his services at Aero control and Aero Maritime all in Lagos where he rose to the rank of Chief Accountant and also his part time lecturing at both the IMSU satellite campus in Lagos and also in Lagos State University, LASU to apply for the job.

 He told Verbatim that it was callous for anyone to say he is not qualified for the job since the advert for the job clearly demanded a minimum of five years experience in the university and fifteen years experience after graduation and  that the person must be at a level equivalent to a Deputy Bursar which he said he attained by virtue of being a Chief Accountant at Aero Maritime Lagos. He added that he is amply qualified for the job as he has the West African School Certificate, WASC, a Bsc in accountancy, an MBA in banking and Finance, an Msc in accounting, in addition to being a chartered accountant and a PhD scholar at Umudike. 

Mr Mbamara who said he is from a noble and God fearing family added that he did not lobby any one for the job as he never knew anyone in the institution including the then Vice Chancellor as being rumored adding that he got the job on merit as he scored higher than the  two other internal candidates who also applied for the job during the interview. 

 He also told Verbatim that he had applied for the job before but came behind his predecessor, Mr Chukwuma Okwu who he said he congratulated adding that he had never  heard that his personal  file at ABSU is missing.       

On the other hand, Verbatim  gathered  that the appointment of Prince Alex Mbata as the Pro –Chancellor of the institution did not also go down well with a lot of individual in the institution and also observers all of who are of the opinion that Prince Mbata, a businessman is not qualified to hold such an exalted office which people like His Royal Majesty, Eze Godwin Okwuaka, who was a former Nigeria’s Ambassador to France and the United states, Prof Acholonu, Prof Njoku Obi and others have held in the past. 

They argued that the appointment of the Pro-Chancellor of the institution is also as faulty as that of the Registrar and the Bursar and hinted that the first two were made to protect the interests of the then school’s leadership while the third(pro-chancellor) was made to settle a friend of the state government.  

Many others who spoke to this magazine wondered how the institution will function since appointments into its key principal offices like that of the Vice chancellor, Pro-chancellor, registrar and bursar are all lopsided and given to highly unsuitable and undeserving individuals. 

  Another area where the Awuzie’s leadership is blamed Verbatim gather is its dictatorial approach to leadership and administration in the institution. Verbatim was told that staff of the institution were indiscriminately sanctioned and suspended at will to further intimidate others who may want to agitate over certain issues in the institution.

Dede Konkwo, a Professor in the school’s department of mass communication was suspended because he complained and petitioned against what he felt was a deliberate delay to ratify his professorship. Verbatim was told that most individuals within the institution condemned the previous school’s authority for taking exception to Prof Konkwo’s agitation when the Vice Chancellor himself was a beneficiary of Prof Konkwo’s prayers as he was made a professor in 2003  without a PHD. 

T.I Igwe, a lawyer and  former head of personnel and current head of  students’ affairs  in the institution was also suspended for a promotion he made while in the personnel department. In a telephone chat with Verbatim, Mr Igwe said he was suspended because he merely wanted to comply with the public service policy which stipulates that no one will be paid less than what he earned at his previous place of work. 

He said that the controversial  promotion involved a former Assistant Controller of the federal road safety commission, FRSC,  who changed to the institution. Mr Igwe said that adjustments had to be made to ensure the person in question received a commensurate salary considering the fact that  he already had a masters degree which he said infuriated the then school’s leadership who without following due process and without giving him a fair hearing even as a member of the school’s council suspended him.

Some individuals who spoke to Verbatim said the suspension of  Mr Igwe was meant to silence him as he has  been a very eloquent crusader of justice in the institution and has also insisted that rules must be applied in the school’s system.

As a matter of fact, it is widely believed that the suspensions  were aimed at removing every obstacles to a total control of the institution and its resources by the then school’s leadership while the appointments were to further install stooges and surrogates in revered and strategic offices to further consolidate its grip on the institution. 

When verbatim visited the university shortly before the sack of the then Vice Chancellor, it noticed the presence of heavily armed mobile policemen who strategically stationed their Hilux van  very close to the school’s main gate which many say is aimed at cowing and intimidating both the staff and students of the university. 

Popular opinion has it that both the registrar and the Bursar of the school should have been be produced from within the school in compliance to the reigning  policy in most institutions which insists that the Vice Chancellor and other principal officers of institutions must be produced from within adding  that  Prof Awuzie, the sacked Vice Chancellor of the institution was appointed in the first place  from a pool of other very eminently qualified external candidates on the strength of the above. 

Others  who spoke to  Verbatim however are of the view that  the school’s authority has no case to answer if indeed they observed due process, excellence and merit in the above appointments especially as regards that of the bursar. 

 Some individuals who spoke to Verbatim on the IMSU situation commended the state governor, Rochas Okorocha who is also the school’s visitor for his intervention with the sack of Prof Awuzie and also urged him and the new Acting  Vice Chancellor, Dr Adaobi Obasi to further look into some of the appointments insisting that there is a very urgent need to reposition the institution and also bring sanity back to it.

-Verbatim