VC’s choice: Crisis rocks Unimaid Council

By Ahmed I. Shekarau

Crisis is currently rocking the Governing Council of the University of Maiduguri (Unimaid) over the choice of Professor Ibrahim Njodi as new Vice-Chancellor to replace Professor Mala M. Daura, whose tenure expires next week Monday.

The Council had on Tuesday, May 20, in Abuja announced the choice of Prof. Njodi, who came tops with 90.1% during a selection interview held earlier for 11 applicants, as the new VC to replace Prof. Daura.

But in a press statement he personally signed and issued yesterday in Abuja, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Council, Alhaji Lawan Bukar Marguba, dissociated himself from the choice of Njodi, describing the selection by some members of his Council as “totally wrong and unacceptable”.

According to Marguba, he and some members of the Council had objected to consideration of the report of the selection board, which had recommended the appointment of Prof. Njodi as VC, “due to the Police order and absence of the University Registrar’s input to the report”.

According to him, the Borno state police command had written to him demanding that the process of selecting a new VC be halted as it (the command) was investigating allegations of illegal promotion of Prof. Njodi.

“As a law abiding citizen, I had no option but to comply with the police order and instructed an earlier panel set up by the Council to investigate the allegation to stay action in the interest of peace and tranquility.

“However, the panel refused to comply with my directive and went ahead with their activities and went ahead with their activities and submitted their report to the Special meeting of Council held on the 20th May, 2014”, he stressed.

Marguba said despite his objection and walkout on the meeting of that day, the other members of the Council proceeded to announce that Prof, Njodi had been selected as new VC for Unimaid.

“This development is most unfortunate and condemned n strong terms as t negates the principles of the rule of law. The action taken was totally wrong and unacceptable, as I did not delegate anybody to stand

in for me neither was indisposed to carry out my statutory responsibilities”, he said, adding that, “The action taken (appointment of Prof. Njodi) is therefore cancelled and the status quo be maintained”.

According to the chairman, “if the police investigations are not completed before the end of the current vice-chancellor’s tenure, an acting vice-chancellor would be appointed for the University”.

The Unimaid VC selection board had on Thursday, May 25, recommended the appointment of Prof. Njodi who beat 10 other candidates to top the selection exercise, but Marguba allegedly halted the process the following day when the Council was supposed to ratify the recommendation of the selection panel.

Source close to the Council said the chairman was acting out an ethnic script, which was against the choice of a non-native of Borno state as VC of Unimaid. Njodi, who though teaches in Unimaid, hails from Gombe state, a catchment area of the University.

But other members of the Council were said to have stoutly rejected Marguba’s position, insisting that merit must not be sacrificed on the altar of ethnicity or politics, especially in the choice of a VC for a university.