THE management of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU) in Awka, Anambra State, has appointed Ugochukwu Anyaehie, a professor, as the new substantive vice-chancellor, following a year marked by three controversial appointments amid administrative and legal disputes.
The appointment came shortly after the University of Abuja got its fourth vice chancellor within a year earlier this month.
Louis Njelita, the spokesperson for NAU, also known as UNIZIK, announced Anyaehie’s nomination in a statement on Sunday, noting that the appointment would take effect from November 18, 2025.
“The Governing Council of the University has approved Professor Anyaehie’s appointment for a single tenure of five years. He was appointed by the Governing Council of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, on November 16th, 2025.
“I am pleased to announce Professor Bond Anyaehie as the substantive Vice Chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University after a thorough and transparent process,” Njelita wrote.
He emphasised that the appointment process adhered to UNIZIK’s Miscellaneous Act and the university’s Statutes, adding that the pro-chancellor urged candidates who were disqualified during the selection process to accept the outcome in good faith.
Anyaehie will succeed Carol Arinze-Umobi, who has been serving as the acting vice-chancellor following a series of controversial appointments at the university between 2024 and 2025.
Arinze-Umobi assumed the role of acting vice-chancellor after President Bola Tinubu dismissed Bernard Odoh from the position.
Odoh, whose professorship is now disputed, emerged as the seventh substantive vice-chancellor of the university on 29 October, and was removed just three weeks after his appointment in November 2024, amid controversies surrounding his recruitment process and academic credentials.
The tenure of Charles Okechukwu Esimone, a professor, ended in mid-2024.
Following the end of his tenure, Joseph Ifeanyichukwu Ikechebelu, another professor, took over as the Acting Vice-Chancellor in June 2024 and was later reinstated as the Acting VC in November 2024 after his appointment was reversed.
In his acceptance speech, Anyaehie pledged to uphold and build on the legacies established by the university’s founding fathers.
“I guarantee you that in the next six months, UNIZIK will be well placed, its ranking will go to one of the best in Nigeria,” he assured.
According to the statement, Anyaehie is a distinguished professor of physiology and clinical measurements.
He has more than two decades of teaching experience at the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, where he began lecturing in 2007.
He rose to the rank of professor of physiology and clinical measurements in 2013.
The new vice-chancellor earned his first degree in Medicine and Surgery from Abia State University, Uturu, in 1998.
He obtained a Master’s degree in 2004 and completed his PhD in 2009.
Anyaehie started his teaching career at the College of Medicine, Imo State University, in 2002, joining as a part-time lecturer before transitioning to full-time.
He served as deputy provost of the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, from 2018 to 2022.
He was also acting provost of the College of Medicine at Imo State University and a visiting professor from 2020 to 2022, a role he undertook on a pro bono basis.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.
This should also be changed because he will easily be confused with KEYAMO the aviation minister . lol
The appointments of vice chancellors in the Nigerian universities call for a review. This is not to blame the government who is responsible for funding the institutions but to ask what is really going on with the academics. The rot in the system is unimaginable. The VCs are lords and sometimes occultic. VC as the CEO of his establishment must take responsibility for everything and anything that happens to his school.