When the Vice Chancellor of Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) started saying to the hearing of the institution's staff that he was getting upset for not being able to employ people from his hometown after few months as VC, people thought it was a mere verbosity. Who could have imagined it was the beginning of the plan to destabilize the university community by a VC who was only one year and four months in that position?
Should I say that since the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the country has been a jungle of the prey and the predator? This is being played out in MOUAU. At his assumption of office as the Vice Chancellor in March 1, 2016, Prof. Ogbonnaya Otunta declared the regularization interview conducted by the school management inconclussive, and by extension, null and void. He further directed them to re-apply as new job seekers. Not satisfied, he set up a committee to fast track his anti people's agenda. The fault finding committee of Prof. Otunta had a mandate to "look into the credentials" of the over 400 affected staff.
The professor was in a haste to cause injury. As the committee was still working on it's mandate, President Buhari’s government disolved some Federal Universities' Governing Councils and appointed new council members. It seems a deal was struck, and the newly constituted council hurriedly fixed an emergency meeting which obviously was their first meeting. In the meeting, the VC presented his victimization plan to them and, as can obviously be observed, the council fail to achieve any other thing apart from the endorsement of Prof. Otunta's agenda.
Some may argue that his action of sacking the staff could be that the institution was over staffed. But no. That could not be the reason for his action when in just one year and four months as the VC, he has employed many believed to be "his own people". It is a display of chronic nepotism for the VC to also employ his wife while he was busy perfecting the sack of such number of people whose means of livelihood is the work. His body language still speaks loud; he would triple whatever number he has engaged to replace the victims from his cronies, probably after he would have succeeded in disengaging his preys who eventually are not 'his own people'. Where was the job advertised before his wife got employed? He gave his in-law the contract to construct some security posts and fence. Where was the contract advertised and who bidded for it?
It is disheartening that the new governing council upheld this Prof. Ogbonnaya's vendetta against the masses without asking questions, and they went ahead to issue an unpopular report. What should baffle every right thinking person is how a new governing council will have its first meeting to be an emergency meeting held on June 21 , 2017 and in it, the only thing they could achieve was to pass a verdict that over 400 staff should be sacked. The sack letter was alleged to have been typed on a Saturday and the termination took effect from June 30, 2017. Just within one week, every damage was hurriedly done. Neither the report nor the sack letter made mention of the affected staff's outstanding 25% arrears.
Again, it is very grotesque that the MOUAU's VC, Prof. Ogbonnaya has this antecedent of sacking staff enmass. He was alleged to have done the same in Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Uwana, Afikpo, Ebonyi State where over 300 staff were affected. Believably, the VC derives joy from others' agony. Taking this kind of destructive action without considering the multiplier effect is worrisome. The most worrying aspect of this remains that this victimization is not only going to affect the over 400 staff directly involved, but also their dependents. No doubt, this singular action of the VC is going to affect over 10,000 Nigerians. Such a gruesome act!!!
This victimizer, Prof. Francis Ogbonnaya Otunta is on a parrade again. Somebody should stop him now before it is late.
Duke Imandu
Is a concerned citizen.
