….A Question of Who and Why?

By Bright C. OKEREKE

It has been utterly dispassionate and indecorous to behold the cloud of trending public misrepresentations on mere directives from a supervisory and regulatory Ministry to the Vice Chancellor, of Federal University of Technology Owerri.

Funnily, the news kept trending as if there were massive issues, when there is none indeed; making a huge fuss out of nothing and blowing triviality out of proportion and far beyond its actual level of importance; making much ado about nothing.

The trending scenario bears the coloration captured in the old African myth of “hearing the shriek cry of a witch in the middle of the night, and the suckling baby, found dead at dawn, otherwise how did the contents of a supposed confidential document (internal memorandum) make its way into the public domain and went viral, almost at the speed of light with a twisted narrative. These heavily suggests, the documents were ambushed by mischiefs, and begrudged it for clandestine reasons. Even when the directives contained in the said letter were immediately complied with, as official public service rules demand.

That; the nation’s Federal Ministry of Education, had in the exercise of its responsibilities as the central supervisory and regulatory body for federal universities directed the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), Prof. Ikechukwu N. S. Dozie, to reverse the appointment of his 24 aides.

According to the letter, the conditions of the appointments were at variance with the extant regulations, established procedures, and the principles of due process governing appointments within the Federal University System. This directive is mere official and routinely; and therefore does not call for inordinate and warped public hype; as if anything is amiss.

In an official spectrum, there is absolutely no ambiguity with issuing directives to an officer by a supervisory authority over an action taken in the course of official or formal duties, querying is simply demanding for clarifications over issues of concern and call for meetings with a lead-officer is usually for evaluations, assessments, clarifications and directives.

The directives contained in the said letter to the FUTO Vice Chancellor, were complied with immediately, even though 98 percent of the said appointees were the institution’s (FUTO) regular staff, and as such would not attract extra cost to the University;

Judging from the intent and spirit of the ministry’s letter, reportedly authorised by the Honourable Minister for Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, the letter appears not to bellow any ill intention, and therefore does not require the deployment of various tools and channels of publicity for amplifying the wrong narratives, probably to heighten public anxiety and escalate tensions eccentrically.

By records, Prof. I. N.S. Dozie, spent the past 5 years as a University Vice Chancellor and member of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), the umbrella organization for Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Federal, State and Private Universities, and can not by any standard, be under-measured or under-rated.

Therefore, Prof. I. N. S. Dozie, is well informed and robustly experienced with the official duties, and responsibilities of a Vice Chancellor in the Nigerian University System and not a novice to that office.

In every sense of measure and assessment, irrespective of the indices deployed, Professor Ikechukwu N. S. Dozie, is a seasoned academic, University administrator and balanced leader with heroic honours. He was the resourceful, former and pioneer Vice Chancellor of Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe University, Ideato, where his modest legacies of excellent performances still stand tall.

Professor I. N. S. Dozie, has a record of lifting Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe University (KOMU) Ideato, from precipice to the very pinnacles of fame and glory, that the institution rose in-keeping with a world class status. He authored a dignified and sustainable academic and administrative leadership style that was both innovative and inspiring. He deployed structural reforms, strategic investments in human capital, and cultural shift towards results-driven initiatives that delivered high impact and breathtaking achievements at Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe University (KOMU), Ideato Imo State, Nigeria

Without TETFund support, Prof Dozie’s administration made significant and remarkable impacts at KOMU, in General Administration and Governance, Academic Development and Innovations, ICT Development, Staff Welfare, Students’ Welfare, Partnership and Collaborations, Infrastructural Development, Peaceful Host Community Relations and Donations to the University.
His Vice Chancellorship at KOMU secured and maintained an undisrupted Academic Calendar (Still holding till date) which made for timely graduation of students and immediate mobilization of graduates for NYSC alongside collection of transcripts and statement of result upon graduation. His administration at KOMU, successfully secured full Accreditation Status for about twenty-five (25) mature programmes of the University from the National Universities Commission (NUC), introduced 10 new programmes including Law, Medicine & Surgery, Nursing Science, Medical Laboratory Science, Public Health, Architecture, Cyber Security among others, that opened the gateway for the unprecedented rise in students enrollment and by extension, the overall population of the University.

Professor Dozie, left KOMU as the fastest growing State owned University in Nigeria with a speedy pursuit to a global ranking of world-class status.

Prof Ikechukwu N. S. Dozie, is a seasoned scholar of high repute, who has consistently raised the bar in teaching, research and collaboration. He is a highly polished and brilliant academic, a savvy administrator, a strategic and constructive thinker.

He is an objective leader with a deep touch of official kindness yet parades an aura of respect with a pervasive capacity of transforming even a declining University to new narratives of hope, excellence and accomplishment. He has a knack of making things unique.

_Bright OKEREKE is a Media and Public Affairs Analyst, writes from Owerri