Unizik Saga: Examining Naysayers' Preference Of Unlawful Tactics To Rule Of Law

It is no longer news the Governing Council of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka's lawful appointment of Prof. Benard Ifeanyi Odoh as Unizik's 7th substantive vice chancellor and Barr Roseline Ifeoma Nwokike as Registrar are vehemently resented by some people. The opposition against the appointments consist mainly members of Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MD-CAN) - a professional association to which both the new Minister for Education in Nigeria and the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education belong - some members of the Unizik local chapter of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.

What is news is that the opposition to the Governing Council of Unizik and the two appointments have adopted unlawful and unconstitutional tactics to express whatever greviances they have. This is dangerous in a democratic setting like we have in Nigeria; hence patriotic Nigerians have continued to express concerns about the grevious implications of the unlawful approach those opposed to the appointments and especially the involvement of the minister for education and, by extension, the executive arm of the Federal Government of Nigeria in that aberration.

For avoidance of doubts, Unizik is an autonomous institution created by an Act of the National Assembly. The law gives the Governing Council of the University the power to appoint both the Vice-chancellor and the Registrar for the university. It suffices that the Governing Council of Unizik follwed the law in the appointment of Prof. Odoh as Vice-chancellor and Barr Nwokike Ifeoma Roseline as Registrar.

After the appointments, the duo of Prof. Ikechukwu Ekwealor and Rev. Fr. Prof.Josephat Obi Oguejiofor on behalf of themselves and a few others filed suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1591/2024 at the Federal High Court Abuja asking for the nullification of the appointments of both the new Vice-chancellor and the new Registrar. Issues were joined by the lis pendens to the suit. In a somersault that calls the applicants' commitment to rule of law and morality to question, Professors Ekwealor and Nwokeke and cohorts resorted to self-help by leveraging on their collaboration with members of MD-CAN and the latter's influence on the Minister for Education who is their professional colleague to generate a ministerial order for the nullification of the appointments which were the subject matter or 'res' of the suit pending before the Federal High Court Abuja. As if that was not bad enough, the Minister who is a member of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, apparently influenced President Tinubu who is the Chairman of FEC to order the purported sack of the Governing Council of Unizik, the 7th substantive Vice-chancellor and the new Registrar. Recall that in the above-mentioned suit, both the Governing Council, the Ministry of Education and the Federal Government of Nigeria were parties. It is the principle of natural justice expressed in the Latin maxim, Nemo judat in causa sua", that a party to a dispute or suit cannot be a judge in his own matter! Without any prejudice to President Tinubu who might have not been fully apprised of all the facts of the matter, the actions of the applicants, the Minister for Education and the Federal Government were contemptuous to the Nigerian courts or judiciary and rule of law and have grevious implications for the Nigerian democracy and are capable of setting undemocratic and Hobbessian precedents for the Nigerian nation.

As terrible the actions catalyzed by MD-CAN, their collaborators and their member who is Nigeria's Minister for Education so far in this matter and in spite of the barrage of condemning concerns on their trail, the minister moved from the usurpation of the powers of Nigerian courts to usurp the exclusive statutory powers of the Governing Council of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka by purportedly "appointing" Prof. Ikechebelu, a member of his beloved MD-CAN, as Vice-chancellor of Unizik. Desperate for justification, the minister christened the unlawful purported appointment of Ikechebelu as "reinstatement as acting Vice-chancellor"! For the records, Prof. Ikechebelu was never appointed as "acting" Vice-chancellor. A person can only be reinstated into the title he was previously appointed in the first place. The fact was that at the expiration of the tenure of the immediate past Vice Chancellor, Prof. Esimone, Prof. Ikechebelu was merely asked to oversee the office of the Vice Chancellor pending the constitution of a new governing council. This temporary arrangement was never meant to be an "acting" appointment deserving reinstatement under any lawful guise.

On 5th December, 2024, some of the defendants in suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1591/2024 filed an application in the same court informing the court of the usurpation of the powers of the court and the attempt to destroy the 'res' of the suit by the applicants; seeking reversal of the affront on the Nigerian judiciary and reinstatement of the trio of Unizik Governing Council, the 7th substantive Vice-chancellor and the Registrar until the determination of the suit pending before the court. Upon service of processes of this wholesome application, Professors Ekwealor and Nwokeke and their collaborators could not reply or oppose the application but rather abashlessly filed a motion asking the same court for its leave for discontinuance of the same suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1591/2024! This singular act of infantile abuse of court processes has exposed the penchance of those opposing the Governing Council of Unizik and resenting the appointments of both the Vice-chancellor and the Registrar for unlawful tactics as well as their intention to catalyze Nigeria's return to the Hobbessianism even when some of them like the minister and his permanent secretary qualify as radical beneficiaries of the present democratic administration in Nigeria.

As majority of well-meaning Nigerians have continued to express their reservations over the extralegal tactics, especially the monumental disrespect to Nigerian courts and the rule of law, by Professors Ekwealor and Nwokeke and their MD-CAN collaborators including highly-placed public officers like the minister and permanent secretary in this historic Unizik saga, discerning patriotic Nigerians believe that the Unizik matter has transcended the trio of the Unizik Governing Council, Prof. Benard Odoh and Barr Roseline Ifeoma Nwokike. The entire constitutional order of the Nigerian nation is in apparent danger! Hence, discerning Nigerians still trust that the Nigerian judiciary will not bow to this obvious intimidation of the executive arm of the Federal Government or their agents. They trust that given the traditional resilience of the Nigerian judiciary and the recent charge of Chief Justice Kekere-Ekun to Nigerian courts to resist intimidation, Nigerian judiciary will rise in full force to resist and nip in the bud the phenomenal affront which this Unizik saga presents to the Nigerian judiciary in particular and the appurtenant danger it poses to the future of democracy and the Nigerian nation.