Photo: President Bola Tinubu
By: Mandy Park
Senior lecturer at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), Dr. Philips Nto, has said his decision to petition President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over his delayed promotion to the rank of professor was taken as a last resort after years of frustration.
Nto, who said he has been due for promotion since 2021, explained that as the Visitor to the university, President Tinubu remains the final authority capable of resolving the matter, accusing the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Comrade Fidelis Edeh, of deliberately frustrating his promotion.
He was reacting to a statement credited to Edeh on Tuesday, in which the council chairman alleged that Nto failed to follow due process and had not exhausted internal mechanisms available for resolving the issue.
The lecturer dismissed the claim, arguing that there was nothing wrong in appealing to the President, unless the council chairman was placing himself above the President.
According to him, both Edeh and members of the Governing Council are answerable to the President as their employer.
“President Tinubu is the employer of both Comrade Fidelis Edeh and the council. Since they have ignored my appeals over the years and sat on my promotion, I had no option but to approach the highest authority, except they now consider themselves higher than the President,” Nto said.
He described as contradictory the reasons advanced by Edeh for the delay in his promotion.
Nto noted that while the chairman claimed his name was not among the 68 candidates presented by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Maduebibisi Iwe, for promotion to professorial rank, Edeh also alleged that a council member who is a professor raised an objection to his promotion, prompting an investigation.
“From these contradictory statements, it is clear that I am being victimised. If my name was not on the list, how could there have been an objection to my promotion?” he queried, adding that only presidential intervention could save him from what he termed deliberate victimisation.
Nto also faulted Edeh’s claim that the professor who allegedly objected to his promotion represented the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on the council.
A former Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning in Abia State, Nto argued that there is no ASUU representation on university governing councils, noting that internal council members are drawn from the Senate, Congregation and alumni.
He further alleged that the said professor participated in all stages of the promotion process until his file reached the council, questioning why no objection was raised earlier.
Nto also queried why the council chairman allegedly rejected the positive recommendation of the council committee that reviewed his case.
“The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Maduebibisi Iwe, has publicly stated that the committee of council duly recommended my promotion to the rank of professor and that it is Comrade Fidelis Edeh who is withholding it,” he said.
Responding to allegations that he taught while on leave of absence, Nto said the assignment was approved by the university management and not self-imposed.
He explained that the university officially invited him to teach because he is the only agribusiness investment and risk management expert in his college and also played a role in securing accreditation for the programme.
He also accused the council chairman of double standards, alleging that Edeh recently approved the promotion of other lecturers on leave of absence to the rank of Associate Professor.
“Why is mine being withheld?” he asked, describing the situation as unfair and discriminatory.
Nto concluded by renewing his appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to direct the MOUAU Governing Council chairman to release his promotion to the rank of professor with effect from 2021.
