By Chima Odilinye
Another edition of the Zik Lecture series has just wrapped up at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, This is the lecture series instituted by the indefatigable High Chief Ben Ndi Obi, CON in honour of that great son of Africa and pan-Africanist and anti-colonialist, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria’s first indigenous (ceremonial) President. Shockingly and embarrassingly the Anambra elite who gathered there for this important lecture were shamefully silent on current happenings at the university that can destroy the university named after the great Zik of Africa.
The lecture which held under the distinguished Chairmanship of His Excellency, Dr Peter Mbah, Executive Governor of Enugu State was delivered by His Excellency Mohamed Ibn Chambas, African Union High Representative; Former Special Representative of UN Secretary-General and President of ECOWAS. The occasion was as usual attended by the creme de la creme of Nigerian society and some other prominent Africans.
These dignitaries attend this annual intellectual and cultural event mainly to honour the great Zik of Africa, who the fledgling university is named after and in whose honour the lecture series was instituted. This year’s lecture, which focused on “ZIK’S LEGACIES AND THE RISING SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN AFRICA: RETHINKING REGIONAL INTEGRATION IN AFRICA was well received.
Among the Anambra elite who graced the occasion are the following: the aforementioned High Chief Ben Obi, Prof (Mrs) Uche Azikiwe, the widow of the great Zik, Igwe Alfred Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha, among others. Anyone who watched the lecture would be forgiven for thinking that all was well at the University. One would have thought that this unique gathering of stakeholders and others interested in the maintenance and sustenance of the legacy of the great Zik was a great opportunity for them to lend their mighty voices to the efforts to quench the fires that have been lit by some out-of-state political contractors and buccaneers at the university in order to restore peace, order and lawfulness. But they all kept silent, shamefully silent.
It is said that silence in the face of grave injustice means acquiesce. Were these Anambra, nay Nigerian, dignitaries signalling by their silence that they accept that lawlessness and impunity being perpetrated by a faction of the Governing Council of the university in the selection of the Vice Chancellor and Registrar of the University? Doesn’t it matter to these distinguished individuals, who are mostly meritocrats, that the law and extant regulations be followed in those appointments? They could not possibly be comfortable with the appointment of someone who is unqualified and does not meet the advertised criteria of the critical leadership positions of Vice Chancellor of a university, especially one named after Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe?
It is instructive to note that the Federal Ministry of Education, through both the Permanent Secretary and the Minister have condemned the so-called appointments and declared them nullified. Yet the imposters are holding court at Awka as both Vice Chancellor and Registrar, threatening and intimidating those who do not fall in line with the lawlessness that produced them and the abuse of the powers of those offices, which they have already embarked upon. Yet Anambra leaders kept quiet at the Zik Lecture. Don’t they know that Dr Benard Odoh’s continued posturing amounts to insubordination. Were they comfortable sitting at the high table with and recognising in the established protocol a Dr Benard Odoh, who has refused to subordinate himself to constituted authority or were they feigning ignorance?
If these Anambra elite do not accept the madness going on at the University, why are they keeping quiet? What are they afraid off? They can’t possibly have been bought. Or can they? And when things turn uglier at the University, as is bound to happen if this madness is not reversed, would they turn around and blame the Federal Government or the Visitor, President Tinubu? In what ways have they helped the Visitor to intervene and restore the rule of law and adherence to extant regulations?
Let me remind these distinguished Anambra elite and other Igbo elite that this university, while a federal institution, is located in their domain, Anambra and Igboland. We believe in and espouse merit. Therefore, they have a responsibility to see to it that the University thrives and remains worthy of the name it proudly bears, the great meritocrat, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. The least they can do is speak out rather than maintain this shameful silence.
