Following the appointment of
Professor Odoh Benard Ifeanyi as the substantive Vice Chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka and the allegations of his non qualification as mooted in some quarters, documents made available to our medium however suggest the contrary which is that Odoh is actually qualified following his employment at the Federal University Gusau. Our medium gathered this from a number of documents made available to us, including letters of his appointment and assesment* .
In one of these letters, dated November 12, 2015, Odoh was promoted to the post of Professor in the Geological Sciences faculty via a letter from the Registrar and Secretary to Council at the Federal University Gusau. In that letter, the then Registrar in the person of Ibrahim B. Kaura, informed Professor Odoh of his promotion to the post of Professor.
The letter also stated that the promotion was then approved by the University Management and Appointment and Promotion Committee (AAPC), and was to take effect from October 1, 2015 with an approved salary scale as CONUASS 7 step 1, which equates to 4,591,149.00 Naira per annum.
In addition, other documents available to us did include a letter dated September 4, 2015 from the Ambrose Alli University and another from the University of Calabar dated on the 8th of the same month. These letters, addressed to the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Gusau, was an assessment of Professor Odoh’s publications and qualifications.
The letter from the Ambrose Alli University which was authored by Professor Aigbedion Isaac stated that Professor Odoh’s “publications contain thirty (30) scientific publications, eighteen (18) conference papers, three (3) Technical reports” and that he “has been external examiners to various institution, attended several short courses in overseas/Nigeria” and “has been examiners to candidates at both the undergraduate and post graduate levels.” The other from the University of Calabar which was authored by Professor Emeka Okwueze also cited to the same extent.
Based on the information provided in these documents, it is obvious that Professor Odoh Benard Ifeanyi held a professorship position at the Federal University Gusau as of November 2015. The documents suggest he had a substantial scholarly record that was assessed and deemed worthy of promotion to the rank of Professor.
A source, who pleaded anonymity noted that what the University system was actually witnessing was a dying kick of the cabal that had long held the university hostage, citing that the emergence of Professor Odoh was somewhat a breath of fresh air and the enthronement of a new order that would definitely unleash the development of the university as a first class institution not only in Nigeria but the rest of Africa. He however beleived that such attacks at the credibility of the system and process that threw up Professor Odoh would come to nought.
