Furore over move to relocate Imo University

•Forces that stopped Gov Okorocha from relocating the school to his village

By Alvan EWUZIE

Was Governor Rochas Anayo Ethelbert Okorocha of Imo state armtwisted to rescind his move to relocate the state university from Owerri to Ogboko, his village in Orlu Zone of the state? Indeed, has he rested the matter as Commissioner for Special Duties, Charles Onuoha, told this reporter last week, given that two sites in Ogboko and another between Urualla, Osina and Akokwa still have bold signposts marked as ‘future site of Imo State University’.

A socio political group, called Dozie-Mezie Owerri, clearly depicting its leaning to have the university stay put on its present site in Owerri, has already put a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ndikwwu Nnawulu, on the matter. Perhaps, they are not convinced that the matter has been rested.

They say the governor or visitor, as the correct legal expression, in this instance, has no legal right to relocate the institution. Justice D.E Njeribeako (retired) told this newspaper that as a former member of the university’s governing board, he held the same view that it was in the purview of the governing board to make such a move, not the visitor. But the story ought to start from the beginning. Imo State University has a proud history that dates back to 1981 when the late Chief Sam Mbakwe, governor of old Imo State (before Abia State was carved out in 1991), conceptualised the university as a ‘multi campus university’.

By that arrangement, the school was simply named Imo State University, with the implication that it could be located in any part of the state. In the past, it operated from Aba, now in Abia, and Madonna High School in Etiti and from Uturu before the state was split . The university was established in 1981 through Law No. 4, passed by the Imo State House of Assembly, Owerri, in compliance with a bill sent to it by Chief Sam Mbakwe. This was amended by Edict 27 of 1985, another in 1986 and finally for the relocation by the Law No. 2 of 1992.

The relocation came under the stewardship of the late Chief Evan Enwerem, erstwhile Senate president and governor of Imo State during the short-lived civilian transition of President Ibrahim Babangida when civilian governors were on the saddle for 23 months, having been forcibly sent away by the late General Sani Abacha in November 1993. The institution had moved a lot. It had succumbed to several political moves. Academic activities commenced at the temporary sites located at the former Madonna High School, Ihitte, in Etiti and Ngwa High school in Aba, with Professor M. J. C. Echeruo as its first vice chancellor.

Law and business schools were in Aba. The other faculties were in Eititi.The decision to establish a state university arose when the absence of a federal university was greatly felt by the people of Imo State whose major industry is education. The state had so many qualified candidates, who could not be admitted by the existing universities. The Mbakwe regime made the school take off from the premises of secondary schools and had begun plans to spread campuses to the senatorial zones before his administration was sent away by the military on the eve of 1983. Again came the era of military governors and Major-General Ike Nwachukwu took the reins of government in the state. He moved the school to Uturu, now in Abia State.

He literally abandoned the multi-campus concept, given that all the students were moved to the new location. The secondary schools reverted to their old status. The movement saw some students, beginning in Aba and Etiti and competing at Uturu. The Uturu move came in 1986.

‘‘If your course of study was beyond four years, chances were that you moved to Uturu to complete it but those of us whose courses ran for four years completed it in Etiti before the movement to Uturu,’’ said Elvis Iwuajoku, an alumnus of the university. Some people hold that the relocation was a parochial move since Ike Nwachuckwu hailed from that part of the state. Reasons adduced at the time were that the school was like a glorified secondary school and detracted heavily from the ambience of a higher institution. It had to be moved to a place with the architectural and environmental requirement of a university.

As military governor, Ike Nwachukwu was shielded from politics and could act with the fiat of a sole administrator. No one dared raise eyebrows over such matters. The university thus was domiciled in Uturu until old Imo State was split in 1991 in a move that saw Uturu, falling into Abia State. It was ceded to the new state Another University?

Again Imo was on the search for another university and Evan Enwerem was governor. Chief Nath Onyeukwu, a member of Imo Council of Elders, told this reporter last week in Owerri that the current Imo State University is distinct from the one that used to be at Uturu, ‘‘I played a role in the groundwork of the university during Enwerem’s time and I can tell you that it is not the same university because we insisted that the institution must be named Imo State University, Owerri, unlike the previous one that was simply called Imo State University, which implies that it could be sited in any part of the state.

That was what I remembered I advised, when Enwerem was in the process, that a town should be attached to the school. I have a feeling that Ike Nwachukwu knew that Abia would be carved out when he moved the university to Uturu,’’ Onyeukwu said. The late governor Evan Enwerem relocated the university from Uturu after it was inherited by Abia State on account of location. However, Chief Onyeukwu said the late governor actually founded a new university.

Nevertheless, the official history of the school, as posted on its website, says the following of the development: ‘‘With the creation of Abia State in 1991 out of the former Imo State, the entire physical facilities and human resources of Imo State University were ceded to Abia State, as the land housing the university and belonging to Uturu community in Isuikwuato Local Government, became the property of Abia State.

"At Owerri, the university was temporarily accommodated within the campus of Alvan Ikoku College of Education, from May to December 1992. The university later moved to its own premises of four buildings within the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, at the Lake Nwaebere Campus. At the translocation of the federal university to the permanent site, Ihiagwa, near Owerri, the Lake Nwaebere Campus of that university was then acquired for Imo State University.

The first batch of students was allocated to the Imo State University by JAMB in February 1993. The National Universities Commission also formally approved the re-establishment of the university in 1992 at the Lake Nwaebere Campus.’’ ‘‘Consequently, the government of Chief Evan Enwerem, in April, 1991, did not waste time in filling the vacuum by re-establishing the university in Owerri.

Two options were considered by the government in the re-establishment of Imo State University at Owerri. The first option was to move at once, all staff and students at the various stages of their programmes in Uturu, who want to remain in Imo State University, now in Owerri. The second option was to rebuild the university at Owerri over specified period of time.

The second option was adopted after various constitutions by government then and a target period of five years within which to complete re-establishment of the university at Owerri was considered. Professor T. O. C. Ndubizu, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, was then appointed the Vice-Chancellor with the enormous responsibility of relocating and re-establishing Imo State University.’’

The institution has passed that teething stage and has now come of age. At inception of the Fourth Republic, fresh moves were made by the regime of governor Achike Udenwa to revert to multi-campus system. In adherence to that, the College of Medicine was moved to Orlu. ‘‘It was the governing council that took the decision to move that college to Orlu . It had the legal right to do so. It was not Achike Udenwa, the visitor at that time,’’ Justice D.E Njeribeako, erstwhile member of the governing board, told this newspaper in Owerri.

‘‘You can query our choice of Orlu but we took that decision because it was within our right to do so.’’ Chief Nath Onyeukwu described the Achike Udenwa era as the beginning of what he described as the ‘Orlunisation’ of the university, a term he deployed to describe movement of the medical school and some major appointments.

The administration pencilled location of the engineering school to Okigwe but that never came to fruition when Udennwa’s tenure ended. Our university, my University Every helmsman in the state had tended to pull the institution to his side. One of the two initial campuses was at Madonna High School, a school in the late Governor Sam Mbakwe’s part of the state. The pioneer vice chancellor, Professor Michael Echeruo, also hailed from Okigwe Zone, as the former governor.

When Ike Nwachukwu took the reins of power, he abolished the multi-campus concept and moved the school to Uturu, his part of Imo at the time. When Chief Evan Enwerem came on board, his 23-month reign only afforded him time to move the school out of Abia.

A highly placed source told this reporter that the former civilian governor had perfected plans to move the university to a site in Ikeduru, his local government area, shortly before the regime came to a forced end. When civilians returned to power in 1999, with Chief Achike Udenwa in the saddle, he got the governing council to move the medical school to orlu, his zone, and appointed Professor Innocent Okonkwo, said to be his kinsman, as vice chancellor. Perhaps, Governor Ikedi Ohakim did the least in this respect.

When told that Okiwge Zone seemed to be holding the short end of the stick in the entire saga, Justice Njeribako said people from the zone ought to hold their son responsible. ‘‘We recommended that the school of Engineering be sited at Okigwe and it ought to have been developed by Ohakim but he did not do it. Okigwe people should not complain because we did what we should as governing board. He ought to have ensured that the place took off.

I understand that the contractor was either slow or he was not paid as at when due. Whatever the problem, that government ought to have handled it,’’ he said But the governor did some things to show affinity. He set up a visitation panel on April 18, 2008, and in June, 2009, implemented one of the recommendations of the white paper, which was that Professor Innocent Okonwko be relieved of his appointment.

But the professor went to court to fight for reinstatement, insisting that he was innocent of allegations on which his removal was based. Justice Nonye Okonwko upturned his removal and ordered that he be reinstated as the substantive vice chancellor.

The government appealed the ruling. The matter is still in court. Professor Okonwko insists that he ought to complete the 14 or so months left of his tenure. A lot of water has passed under the bridge. While Okonkwo is battling in court, Ohakim appointed professor Osita Nwebo, acting vice chancellor. As has been the trend, Nwebo hails from Ohakim’s part of the state; he has also been sent out.

The Rochas Angle Governor Okorocha has appointed two acting vice chancellors in his 17-month stay in office. Professor B.E.B Nwoke was his first appointee before he appointed immediate past president of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Ukachuwku Awuzie.

The new acting vice chancellor for the institution was approved after the visitor inaugurated the 7th Governing Council of Imo State University on 17th of January 2013 at the Sam Mbakwe Executive Council Chambers of Government House. Awuzie hails from Umuzike in Orlu, Imo State; the Governor hails from that zone of the state. When told that the frequency of changes at the leadership cadre was prone to breeding instability, commissioner for special duties said the changes were in the overall interest of the university.

‘‘You were just taking me up on the loss of accreditation for law by the university and you think His Excellency should sit back and watch such a thing happen to a university where he has increased monthly subvention from 100 million to 250 million? You know he is a well-known lover of education. He needed to do something.

It is for the university to utilise the funds well to regain its position as the foremost state-owned university in the country, as it was in the past. In any case, I can assure you that adequate steps are being taken to get back any accreditation that may have been lost,’’ Onuoha said in defence of the frequent changes. He said Awuzie, having led ASUU, should know where the shoe pinches in university administration and is bound to make a positive impact. All eyes are on the Professor of Architecture. It would seem that Governor Okorocha wants to out-do his predecessors by moving the university to his hometown.

He had moved to relocate it to Ideato South Local Government Area. The governor had sent a bill to the state House of Assembly to effect the change before a groundswell of opposition spearheaded by people from Owerri zone, who felt short-changed by the move.

The Rochas regime did not make the first move on the matter. Former Governor Ikedi Ohakim seems to have thought along that line but he gauged the general feeling through a task he gave Imo Council of Elders in March, 2008. Chairman of the council, Chief I.D Nwoga, set up a nine-member committee if eminent academics and others to make recommendations to the governor.

The task force had Professor Fabian Osuji, former Minister of Education as chairman. Other members of the team included Professor Rose Achunine, Professor Aloy Ejiogu, Professor G.M Umezulike, Professor T.O.C Ndubizu, Dr. Walter Ofonagoro, Lady V.N Nwigwe, Kelvin Agbaebgu and A.N Nkemdirim, who served as secretary.

Adjunct functions were given to the committee but they fall outside the issue in review. The major term was the advisability of relocating the headquarters of Imo State University to a new site.

The task force met seven times, according to a document obtained by this reporter, and received memoranda from 20 groups, including clerics, teachers, academics and others. When their report was ready, it trashed all the issues that tended to sway people towards relocation. The seemingly debilitating factors were apparent lack of space in the current location, nearness and intrusion of city influence on students and staff and political consideration of spreading the school in the three senatorial zones of the state.

The report said the current location satisfies the minimum space requirement as prescribed by the National Universities Commission (NUC). Add this to the space at the old secretariat ceded to the university and some portions said to have been encroached upon by intruders.

The committee held that lack of space could not fly as plausible reason for moving the institution. On nearness to the town the committee said universities usually marry town and gown, not to examine the time-proven fact that universities have the tendency to attract urbanisation as exemplified by universities in Lagos, Enugu, Sokoto and elsewhere in Nigeria.

In England, America and sundry places around the world, such institutions find themselves in the middle of cities, even when they took off in secluded places. On the political consideration of giving a sense of belonging to each zone, it affirmed the three locations, which took medicine to Orlu, engineering to Okigwe and main campus in Owerri. The committee submitted that the current location should remain.

It also recommended that all future buildings should be vertical to overcome the problem of space. But Charles Onuoha said urban influence and space constraints ranked high amongst Governor Okorocha’s initial reasons to move the university. He said the governor changed his mind after personally inspecting the space in the university. ‘‘He saw that the place had enough space to take even future developments. Those who say the governor succumbed to pressure in stopping the move are wrong.

He is a strong willed leader, who has focus. No one arm twisted him but he is a listening leader, which is why he has rested the matter,’’ said Onuoha But Justice D.E Njeribeako told this reporter that had the governor been stiff- necked in the matter, he would have incurred the wrath of people in Owerri Zone. For him, it would have amounted to a fatal political shot on the foot.

This newspaper learnt that people from Owerri Zone had united irrespective of political leanings to protest the removal and political opponents had begun to make a capital out of the situation. ‘‘It had provided a common ground for his opponents and they were waxing strong and capitalising on the sentimental issue to propagate negative views about the governor, more so when the university was being moved to his village.

It was, therefore, easy for his opponents to get sympathy,’’ said chief Tony Njoku, a politician in imo. Lots of stories made the rounds against the governor. It was said that Chief Rochas Okorocha had always nursed hopes of extending the frontiers of Rochas Foudation Schools to Foundation University.

As work commenced directly opposite the college at Okpoko, his village, critics said the relocation was a speedy groundwork for his own university since there was a site a few kilometres away where Imo University had been marked for permanent site. It was touted that the Foudation University would have commenced as the state university moved to its permanent site. When this reporter visited the site located directly opposite one of the governor’s Rochas Foundation Schools, contractors had stopped work.

‘‘Work stopped here in November,’’ said a security personnel at the site, who eagerly besieged the reporter to know when work would commence. His evident anticipation of a positive answer is a pointer that no one told him that the matter might have been rested. But has the matter really been rested? Why then was the ‘permanent site’ still lying fallow.

The commissioner said although the matter had been rested, another private university would spring up there. ‘‘As you know, even if we have ten universities in this state, there will be enough candidates to fill them. Our people love education and they make sacrifice to get it.

Now that we have a governor, who loves education, the people will certainly benefit from him,’’ said Onuoha, who was not specific about the new institutions or their promoters. He said owners of the land were glad to cede it to the government unlike people in Owerri Zone, whom he said held unto their land and had thus missed out on several developmental projects slated for the zone. On the matter at hand, people in the zone have not relented.

Although Governor Okorocha set up a committee to recommend a suitable site headed by Jude Agbaso, deputy governor, who hails from Owerri Zone, the people have not rested on what seems a temporary victory. Their lawyers still stand by in case the governor changes his mind. Will he? The waiting game continues.