By
Osinachi K. Ezema
(B.A, UNN; M.A., University of Ibadan; doctoral fellow, Diaspora and Transnational Studies, University of Ibadan)
When an institution of learning engages in secular politics or interferes in the affairs of politicians with the intention of discrediting them, not only is the intellectual sanctity and integrity of the institution compromised, but trust in it, even among its own students, is also eroded. For an institution such as the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, whose founding fathers envisioned its task as the restoration of human dignity, even more is at stake. The consequences are dire; some examples of which the University of Nigeria provides.
When UNN’s initial hesitation over Peter Obi’s credentials during the 2023 elections sparked nationwide outrage, alumni networks fractured, donor confidence eroded. Student morale plummeted, faculty defections rose. Worse, it bred a culture of accusations that boomeranged. In a nation hungry for credible voices, such meddling doesn’t just tarnish reputations; it starves the next generation of role models and turns beacons of hope into shadows of suspicion.
The recent attack on the educational qualification of the ranking minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, His Excellency, Uche Nnaji by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in collusion with Premium Times newspaper, is once again demonstrative of the choice of notoriety that befalls revered institutions and professions when they allow themselves to be used by politicians.
Late evening of the 4th of October, the Premium Times, a news outlet increasingly gaining notoriety for sponsored witch hunt against the All Progressives Congress, published a concoction against the person of the minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, alleging that the minister neither graduated from the University of Nigeria nor served as a corps member.
A sponsored smear against the performing minister clearly intended to distract the people of Enugu and their disenchantment with the Government of Peter Mbah, the publication ignored a matter long put to rest by the registrar of University of Nigeria Nsukka as far back as 2023, verifying the minister as a bona fide graduate of the university. This isn’t journalism; it’s a desperate hatchet job, recycling debunked whispers from 2023 Senate screenings where Dr. Mrs. Celine Nnebedum’s letter affirmed Nnaji’s credentials, only for UNN’s new leadership โ beholden to Enugu’s PDP machine โ to flip the script allegedly under political duress. Imagine the human toll: a man who rose from Enugu’s dusty streets, now slandered to shield a failing Governor. Premium Times didn’t just err; it ignited a fire that exposes the rot in both academia and statecraft, and it would be unfair of us not to rise to the occasion in defense of the truth.
UCHE NNAJIโS EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND AND NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE HISTORY
To be clear, and as verified by the former registrar of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Dr. Mrs. Celine Nnebedum in 2023, the Minister, Chief Uche Nnaji, was admitted to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1981 in the Department of Biochemistry, where he graduated meritoriously in 1985 and proceeded to serve the Nigerian Youth Service in Plateau State, Nigeria. This isn’t hearsay โ it’s etched in official records, with Matriculation Number 1981/30725 stamped on documents Nnaji presented during his 2023 ministerial screening, broadcast live and unchallenged until political vendettas resurfaced. During NYSC, Nnaji served in Jos, contributing to community health outreach in rural Plateau clinics. Post-service, he channeled that discipline into building factories, not forging paths of deceit.
Fresh from NYSC at Jos, Uche Nnaji started small. His mom lent him N10,000; with N400, he flew to London, bought medicine, and sold it at Enuguโs Orthopedic Hospital. That hustle grew into a business supplying hospitals, creating jobs for hundreds in Enugu and beyond. In 1999, Chief Uche Nnaji ventured into politics. Betrayed by PDP, who picked Ken Nnamani, Nnaji joined AD days before elections, and emerged victorious, yet, in a surprising show of humility, stepped aside for Jim Nwobodo. Having once again begotten a minister of the Federal Republic, the University of Nigeria ought to pride itself and exploit the opportunity for research partnership and innovative education. But, just again, it takes the other way.
BETRAYAL OF AN ALUMNI, A BAD TRAJECTORY FOR WILLING HELPERS
Amidst all these, what calls to reflection is the increasing betrayal of the integrity of some Nigerian universities, which the University of Nigeria appears to symbolize. It is troubling how the leadership of the University of Nigeria has drifted the institution far from the ennobling dreams of its founding fathers, all because of its penchant for politics. Notorious for dilapidated structures, unkempt hostels, alleged selling of employment and admissions, shambolic elections, and inability to properly keep studentsโ results leading to cases of delayed graduation, etc, the University of Nigeria, which was the shining light of hope to other universities in Nigeria, is fast becoming a shadow of itself. It would be recalled that this same university falsely denied Peter Obi’s graduation in 2022, claiming discrepancies in his Philosophy degree from UNN โ only for the institution to retract amid public fury, admitting the records were “misfiled,” a scandal that cost Obi sleepless nights. Obi, like Nnaji, was vindicated, but the damage lingers: trust eroded.
Follow this up with other known instances: In 2023, UNN’s admission racket exploded when Senator Okey Nwebonyi exposed staff demanding N500,000 bribes for Medicine slots, leading to a Senate probe. Employment sales? In 2019, DSS exposed 23 staff members fleecing job seekers of โฆ1 million each for phantom posts, while others faced suspension for peddling employment amid harassment scandals. By 2020, โฆ1.5 million bribes for lecturer slots surfaced. Host communities continue to cry over marginalization, inconclusive Governing Council Elections still hang in courts, cases of sexual molestation, etc. With all these misnomers, one would think that the new leadership of the University of Nigeria already has enough souring disrepute to chew. But the recent case against the minister of innovation shows that even the new leadership is not prepared to take a new trajectory in bringing the university back to its lost glory.
THE CHAIN AROUND THE NEW UNN VICE-CHANCELLOR: PROF. ORTUANYA’S AUGUST 2025 ASCENSION SHOULD HERALD LABS BUZZING WITH GRANTS, NOT PRESS RELEASES PARROTING PDP SCRIPTS
With the appointment of the new vice chancellor, the first indigenous VC of the University of Nsukka extraction, one had hoped that a new dawn had come. We live in a research and innovation-driven world. At a time when other institutions and vice chancellors are partnering with the workaholic minister to drive innovations through research, the new vice chancellor of the University of Nigeria seems to be mistaking his new position for the political appointments he had held in the past. Although a known member of the PDP, one hopes that the new vice chancellor understands what is at stake in running the university like a political office. The people of Nsukka expect him to remain focused and, through his performance, bring honour and competence to the zone and not shame.
One understands the dilemma before him, trying to cower to the governor for his alleged role in his appointment as the VC, and maintaining academic discipline and integrity for which the Nigerian students expect of him. The new vice chancellor must not allow himself to be used by the irredeemably crumbling government of Peter Mbah. Prof. Ortuanya’s August 2025 ascension โ hailed as Nsukka’s pride โ should herald labs buzzing with grants, not press releases parroting PDP scripts. His gratitude to Mbah reeks of strings attached; it mirrors how Enugu’s SSG days turned him from scholar to enforcer. Nsukka students, weary of NUCโs threats of closing some courses, deserve a VC who woos Nnaji’s tech funds, not one who echoes forgery denials to curry favour. Break free, Professor โ before UNN’s chain drags your legacy into Mbah’s mud.
UCHE NNAJI AND THE FOCUS ON GOVERNANCE: THE GLOW THAT MBAHโS SHADOW ENVIES
The Honourable Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology is a gentle and meek man who is committed to delivering the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President. Since August 2023, Chief Uche Nnaji has turbocharged Nigeria’s innovation engine, clocking milestones that scream progress amid global headwinds. It is this glow that whispers from Enugu shadows envy. All these have obviously become troubling to the Peter Mbah-led government in Enugu State, as he fears that the gravely disenchanted people of Enugu State who are seriously looking for a better alternative come 2027 have begun to see that alternative in Uche Nnaji. Since he was appointed the minister, the Peter Mbah-led government has become jittery, especially with his stellar performance and growing love by the people. Mbah has continued to use the Enugu people’s money to try to discredit the minister. Unfortunately, the harder he tries, the more unsuccessful and the more he is disliked by the people of Enugu State.
THE ATTEMPT TO DISTRACT THE PEOPLE OF ENUGU STATE FROM THE DEATH TRAP AND TAX TERROR
Peter Mbah’s government is a house of cards โ glossy billboards masking crumbling foundations and evaporating promises. Disgruntlement festers in stats that scream neglect. Taxation has ballooned into a chokehold, hikes in land use charges over 200%, multiple tax increases straining informal traders, forcing over 15,000 small traders to shutter shops as monthly levies quadruple. Yet, IGR targets of N600 billion for 2025 remain a mirage.
The smear campaign by the state Governor against the stellar Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, shows that more than half of these revenues squeezed out of the poor lives of Enugu people might be deployed to fund elite lives and political fears, not pothole patches or water, and the many demands of the masses that have been left unattended. Undelivered projects loom. Less than 5% of the 260 Smart Schools pledged in 2023 are operational, while the N10bn for Nike-Ugwuogo-Opi-Nsukka dualization in 2025 reeks of slow advancement amid complaints of delays and poor quality. The Governor’s 2024 edict jacked urban leases 150%, evicting thousands of families from Enugu North, while land grabbing devours farmlands, compensating none, sparking bloody clashes that claim lives.
Stack this against neighbors, and Enugu withers. What you will find is that the once coal queen, Enugu, is now a shadow of itself, with youth migration up 25%, fleeing a “new dawn” that’s dusk for the masses.
BE NOT DISTRACTED, UCHE NNAJI, CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON GOVERNANCE AND ALLOW THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN UP GOVERNANCE FOR POLITICS TO DRIVE THEMSELVES AGAINST THE PEOPLE
Come 2027, Enugu’s masses, weary of Ebeano echoes, will storm polls like Bright Ngene’s jailers couldn’t chain truth. Mbah trembles at your shadow, knowing the interventions you are capable of with a flip of the script. His throne crumbles, not by force, but by the people’s unyielding roar against tax terror and other related offences against the people. When 2027 dawns, the feet of the people o gof Enugu know the trail. They shall not walk to the man who made life a hundredfold harder, but to the quiet builder whose hands heal what Mbahโs politics breaks.
