Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
History was made on Monday, June 3, 2019, when the outgoing vice chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Prof. Joseph Eberendu Ahaneku, handed over the university administration to his successor, Prof. Charles Okechukwu Esimone.
The elaborate ceremony, which took place in the auditorium of the university evoked feelings of joy in the university community for several reasons, especially the fact that the formal handover was the first in the university since its takeover by the federal government in 1992. All the former vice chancellors of the university, like Ilochi Okafor, who took over from the late Festus Nwakor, Boniface Egboka, who took over from Ilochi, and Ahaneku, who took over from Egboka, just assumed office after the expiration of their successors’ tenure without any detailed handover note or ceremony.
Esimone’s emergence as the VC was a seamless and rancour-free exercise that excited all and sundry, a clear departure from the usually tension-soaked, high-wire politicking and clash of interests that characterised tenure changes in the past.
The auditorium was filled to capacity. Guests spilled over into the adjourning Garba Square. There were many friends and associates of the Ahanekus, who came to felicitate with him for a job well done. Many dignitaries also came to rejoice with Esimone.
They included the ‘old boys’ of his secondary school in Cameroun and his fellow pastors at the Deeper Life Bible Church, who came from all over the country. His professional colleagues in the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria were the traditional ruler of his community, Akwaeze, Anambra State, and other traditional rulers, including the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe.
Commencing with an interdenominational church service, the handover ceremony featured many symbolic presentations. Ahaneku came prepared, as he first of all decorated Esimone with the university emblem before handing him a copy of the university laws. He also gave Esimone a symbolic key of the university and the seal of authority of the institution.
To the delight and applause of the guests, the handover was completed with the robing and capping of the new helmsman with the VC’s academic gown and cap with a warm embrace from the outgoing VC and his wife.
Thereafter, the new VC presented his installation address, where he reeled out his programmes and the policy direction of his administration.
Esimone expressed gratitude to God, recalling that his meteoric rise in the academic world and administrative position barely 12 years after joining the university from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), was made manifest by the hand of God .
He thanked the chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Alhaji Azeez Bello, and other members of council whose cooperation and cohesion, he said, led to the outstanding success of the selection process for the post of VC.
The new VC also poured encomiums on his predecessor, Ahaneku, saying the latter appointed him deputy vice chancellor (academic) for two terms of four years. He said the position was pivotal in preparing him for higher responsibilities as VC.
He also congratulated Ahaneku for the calm ambience that pervaded the university during his five-year-tenure and the tremendous progress the university made during Ahaneku’s tenure in infrastructural development, teaching and research.
On his mission statement, Esimone said he was coming to the job with a vision primed on promoting the highest standards of academic excellence, productive community service, administrative reforms, discipline and advances in a matrix of human capacity building, infrastructural development, staff/students’ welfare and improved internally generated revenue.
Summarising the thematic areas of focus of his administration to include research, teaching, discipline, infrastructure and welfare, Esimone said the administration under him would create a non-discriminatory, non-selective and meritorious, research-conducive environment where every researcher is enabled to excel in research, supported with grants and given every assistance required to attract external grants.
On teaching, he said the Quality Assurance Unit would be strengthened to monitor the quality of what the students are taught and the attitude of lecturers towards the students. He said the students would be required to give feedbacks on every lecturer at the end of every semester while the outcome of such feedback survey would count towards promotion assessment.
Talking about discipline, the VC said his administration would introduce attendance register that requires biometric fingerprints for clocking in and out of work for staff and clock into the lecture hall by students. He said productivity would be required of every staff while non-performing ones would be declared redundant and could be shown the way out if they do not improve.
Noting that an atmosphere of discipline breeds progress, he said there would be zero tolerance for plagiarism, sexual harassment and inducement
On infrastructure, he said that on-going projects would be completed, while there would be provision for a new auditorium, senate building, ICT centre, new classrooms, laboratories and offices.
The VC said that staff and students’ welfare were very important to him, hence his commitment to ensure that the staff receive all their entitlements and on time too. He also gave hope on the building of staff quarters using public-private partnership while the junior staff would be the first beneficiaries.