Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Demotes 24 professors

* MOUAU Governing Council cites wrong placement of
lecturers
* Panel demands FSLC, WASC, NYSC, birth certificates

No fewer than 24 Professors of the Michael Okpara University of
Agriculture, Umudike have been served with demotion letters,
NewTelegraph reports.

Management conveyed the University Governing Council’s decision
to the affected Professors through a letter that described the
action as ‘proper placement’.

The university’s spokesperson, Adamma Nwachukwu, confirmed the
development, stating that following petitions to the Minister of
Education by some aggrieved persons, the university embarked on
staff audit.

“Following the outcome of the process, Council directed that
affected persons should revert to their proper placement,” he
said.

She, however, declined to offer other details of the action,
saying “the university is not exactly interested in blowing this
matter out of proportion. It is an internal procedure and was not
targeted at demoting or promoting anybody, but rather at ensuring
proper placement of all affected staff and not just
Professors.”

She advised our correspondent to wait till month-end when the
university will publish its bulletin to get the said details.

Investigations by our correspondent, however, suggest that the
shock demotion may be the consequence of some flawed decisions and
chain of events that started around 2015 under the former Vice
Chancellor, Prof. Hilary Edeoga.

Multiple university sources who craved anonymity told New
Telegraph that the university, under Prof. Edeoga, may have
promoted a select number of lecturers to professorial level against
the recommendations of their assessors.

Not a few persons at the time kicked against the alleged
violation of due process and lowering of standards in the
university, which consequently provoked several petitions by staff
and stakeholders, to the immediate past Minister of Education,
Adamu Adamu.

And following the staff audit occasioned by the recommendation
of the Committee on Petitions received by the Honourable Minister
of Education in respect of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture
and in response to appeals made by some staff on proper placement,
the Governing Council of the University, at its 21st Emergency
Meeting held on Monday, the 13th to Thursday, 16th of May, 2019,
considered the cases of the affected Professors and approved their
demotion.

While 18 of the Professors were demoted to Associate Professors,
six others were demoted to Senior Lecturers.

According to documents available to New Telegraph, Alphonsus Odo
Ovute of the Department of Science Education; Melody Ndidi Modebelu
of the Department of Educational Management; Gideon Ahamefula
Emerole of the Department of Business Administration; Ogwo Patrick
Agwu of the Department of Environmental Management and Technology;
Aso Vincent Ele of the Department of Mathematics and Joy Chinwe
Obunadike of the Department of Adult and Continuing Education are
among the Professors demoted to Senior Lecturers.

The demotion of the Professors were to take effect at varying
dates ranging from 2015 through 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 as the
case may be.

Based on the findings of the investigating panel, further
demands were also made by the university authorities on some of the
affected lecturers so as to clear out all grey areas.

For Prof. Odo Ovute, he was further required to provide his
First School Leaving and NYSC certificates, as well as explain
fully, his career activities between the year 2010 and 2012 with
evidence.

Georgina Obinna Ugwuanyi of the Department of Business
Administration, who was demoted to Associate Professor, was
mandated to provide her 1982 and 1983 West African School
Certificate; 1996 PGD certificate and 2001 BSc Certificate for
sighting.

And Kayode Feyisetan Adekunle of the Department of Chemical
Engineering, also demoted to Associate Professor, was directed to
show evidence of his research position in Sweden and provide his
birth certificate, West African School certificate and
regularization letter for sighting.

The National Vice Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU), Prof. Victor Osodeke, also a lecturer at the university,
said he didn’t have all the details of the audit, but noted that
ASUU had earlier in 2015, condemned incidents of wrong placement of
staff in the university.

He said: “In 2015, ASUU raised the issue of people who were not
qualified being promoted and given appointments as professors. That
is the origin of all these. We protested it because it will be
wrong for somebody who is not qualified for a position to be
appointed to it.

“In the academic space, there are criteria for being appointed
or promoted. When you put a neophyte; somebody who retired from a
company and within a space of about two years is appointed a
professor; that is wrong. We commend the action as long as the
process is fair and transparent. Apparently, it is a cleansing
process that is intended to sanitize the system. And the union will
address the press at the appropriate time, when we get full details
of the action.”

Another official of the university who is also the Provost of
Abia State College of Education (Technical), Dr. Philip Nto,
commended the Governing Council and the Vice Chancellor of the
University, Prof. Francis Otunta for their resolve to set the
records right.

Nto said: “It all started in 2014/2015 when the standards were
lowered. Before the then Vice Chancellor took over, MOUAU was among
the first 20 universities in Nigeria. But within the period, the
university was ranked 104 out of 107. Some of us were not happy
about that and we protested it. There is no way somebody will be
employed in a university and within the space of two or three years
will be promoted and appointed a professor. It is an
aberration.

“Several interested parties wrote petitions to the Minister of
Education and based on that, a fact-finding committee was set up
and on their recommendations, the minister issued a whitepaper
directing that all the appointments and promotions should be
reviewed, so the Chairman of Council and the Vice Chancellor only
implemented the recommendation of the whitepaper.

“The exercise affected everyone appointed or promoted within the
period under review. Some lecturers, who were due for professorship
that did not get it, were also properly placed. So I believe it is
not a case of witch-hunt; the system had to be sanitized.”

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!