Dr. Bernard Ifeanyi Odoh, the sacked Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, has been in the news for the past month following controversies surrounding his academic credentials.
Central to the issue is his claim that he attained full professorship in November 2015 at the Federal University Gusau (FUGUS), Zamfara State.
Odoh, who assumed duty as UNIZIK VC on October 29, was dismissed by President Bola Tinubu on November 20, 2024, alongside the governing council and registrar of the institution.
Tinubu described the process that led to the selection of Odoh as questionable and lacks merit.
Odoh’s Former Boss At UNIZIK Was FUGUS VC When Odoh Claimed Professorship
Findings by Edubase Nigeria reveal that Prof. Benjamin Chucks Okeke was the Vice-Chancellor of FUGUS at the time Odoh claimed to have been promoted to full professor at Gusau varsity.
Available information shows that both Prof. Ben Okeke and Dr. Bernard Odoh were employees of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, before the latter was appointed the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of FUGUS.
FUGUS was established in 2013 under the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Odoh is also under scrutiny for claiming that he served as a Visiting Professor of Geophysics at FUGUS between July 2015 and October 2017, as stated in his profile on the UNIZIK portal.
Who is Prof. Ben Okeke?
Prof. Ben Chucks Okeke, a Professor of Technical and Vocational Entrepreneurial Skill Education, was among three university professors appointed on February 19, 2013, as Vice-Chancellors of newly created federal universities in Gashua, Yobe State; Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State; and Gusau, Zamfara State.
At the time, Prof. Shehu AbdulRahman was posted to the Federal University, Gashua; Prof. Lawal Bilbis became the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Birnin Kebbi; and Prof. Ben Okeke was selected by Jonathan to lead FUGUS as its pioneer VC.
Before his appointment, Prof. Okeke was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at UNIZIK, according to his profile on the university’s website.
Ibrahim Bawa Kaura was also appointed the pioneer Registrar of FUGUS on the same day Prof. Okeke’s appointment as VC was announced.
Kaura and Ben Okeke Linked to Odoh’s Alleged Academic Fraud
Speaking on Odoh’s professorship claims, the third substantive Vice-Chancellor of FUGUS, Prof. Muazu Abubakar, alleged that the sacked UNIZIK VC managed to sustain his claims for nearly nine years due to collusion with the institution’s pioneer Registrar (Ibrahim Bawa Kaura) and pioneer Vice-Chancellor (Prof. Ben Okeke).
While Prof. Abubakar did not explicitly name Prof. Okeke in his press statement on Thursday, November 21, 2024, he strongly implied that Okeke was complicit in what he termed Odoh’s “misleading and unfounded claims.”
Abubakar pointed out that letters offering Odoh the position of Professor (dated April 30, 2015) and confirming his promotion to a Professor (dated November 12, 2015) were “products of administrative fraud orchestrated by Dr. Odoh in collaboration with the former Vice-Chancellor and Registrar.”
Prof. Ben Okeke was among several Vice-Chancellors controversially sacked by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in February 2016.
Documents Questioned as Fraudulent
Prof. Abubakar further refuted Odoh’s claim of a tenure appointment as a professor at FUGUS, stating it lacked foundation.
He questioned how the pioneer Registrar, disengaged from the university six years ago, could procure a stamp to authenticate Odoh’s purported documents on November 8, 2024.
Abubakar asserted that the documents, along with Bawa Kaura’s stamp, were fake. He maintained that such academic fraud could not have occurred without the knowledge of the pioneer Vice-Chancellor (Prof. Ben Oke).
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