The Management of the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), Igbariam in Anambra, has given sacked staff members one month to appeal the decision against them.

Kate Omenugha, vice-chancellor of the university, disclosed this while addressing journalists in Igbariam on Thursday.

Last month, the university council approved the sack of two professors – Chike Osegbue and C. C. Nwabachili – and Ifeoma Kakulu, I. H. Iheukwumere and Emeka Nwabunnia, all of the Department of Microbiology, for various reasons.

Ms Omenugha said the lecturers were sacked for various offences, including sexual exploitation of students and ethical misconduct, and that due process was followed before the university council reached the decision.

Regarding Mr Osegbue’s dismissal, Ms Omenugha said it was not connected to his participation in the vice-chancellor selection process but purely because he failed to teach a postgraduate course assigned to him and refused to appear before a constituted panel.

She said she was unconcerned by the court process Mr Osegbue instituted over the matter, adding that she did not deserve to be vilified for making the hard but inevitable decision.

Ms Omenugha said there was no truth to what she considered a coordinated media attack on her before and after she was appointed vice-chancellor, noting that she would not be distracted from her mission to reposition the institution.

The vice-chancellor said she came with the mission to give COOU viability, positive visibility and value re-engineering.

She said she was eminently qualified to be vice-chancellor, having been the second female professor of mass communication in Nigeria, served eight years as commissioner of education, six years as head of the Department of Mass Communication at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, and was an international consultant, among other roles.

Ms Omenugha said her administration aims to reshape the school’s landscape with a leisure park and an economic tree orchard. She added that they are pursuing a target of planting one million trees in five years to create a conducive, ecologically friendly environment.

She expressed worry about the security around the university host community and urged people to support the institution by constructing hostel accommodation to encourage on-campus residence among students.

She thanked Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State for investing in the infrastructure of the university’s Uli campus.

(NAN)