Education

EL-RUFAI, KASU AND THE SACKING OF LECTURERS: WHY THE KADUNA RECORD DOES NOT PROVE OTTI ORDERED THE ABSU SUSPENSION The Difference Between Evidence, Institutional Responsibility and Political Attribution The controversy surrounding the suspension of Professor Nnamdi Nwaeze by Abia State University has increasingly been dragged into a wider political argument about Governor Alex Otti. The argument being circulated in some quarters is straightforward: because Otti is Governor of Abia State and Visitor to ABSU, and because the university suspended a professor whose public comments were critical of the welfare conditions of lecturers, the suspension must therefore have been ordered by…

ABSU, ASUU-ABSU AND THE OTTI QUESTION: WHO REALLY CREATED THE CRISIS AT UTURU? An investigative examination of salary arrears, union claims, inherited liabilities, university finances and the suspension controversy now being placed at Governor Alex Otti’s doorstep There is a seductive simplicity to the story presently being told about Abia State University, Uturu. Lecturers are unhappy. ASUU-ABSU has declared an indefinite strike. A professor has been suspended after criticising the remuneration and welfare of academics. Alex Otti is Governor and Visitor to the university. Therefore, the argument goes, Alex Otti must be responsible for everything that is wrong at ABSU.…

A GOVERNMENT THAT NOTICES MERIT: THE MICHAEL OFFORKAILE EXAMPLE By Pastor AProf. Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke A good government does not only build roads, rehabilitate schools and improve public infrastructure. It also identifies excellence, rewards hard work and creates opportunities for gifted young people to fulfil their potential. Governor Alex Otti, OFR, has demonstrated this responsibility through the support extended to Master Michael Offorkaile, an Abia-born student who scored an outstanding 367 in the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination. By receiving the student, his parents and representatives of his school at the Government House in Umuahia, Governor Otti sent a clear…

FACT-CHECK: THE VIRAL “ABSU LECTURER’S LAMENT” IS ANONYMOUS, UNSUBSTANTIATED AND SERIOUSLY MISLEADING The Facebook post attributed vaguely to “an ABSU lecturer” contains no name, staff number, department, promotion letter, payslip, payroll record, union statement or official correspondence. It therefore cannot reasonably be presented as established fact. VERDICT: A MIXTURE OF UNVERIFIED ALLEGATIONS, MISSING CONTEXT AND DEMONSTRABLY INACCURATE GENERALISATIONS. 1. THE CLAIM THAT PROMOTIONS HAVE NOT BEEN EFFECTED IS FALSE AS A GENERAL STATEMENT In August 2025, the ABSU Governing Council publicly announced the approval of promotions for numerous academic and non-academic employees, including Professors, Readers and Senior Lecturers who had…