Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has paid the highest institutional tribute to the founder of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU). At the 2025 convocation ceremony held at the Igbariam campus, the governor announced the renaming of the university’s historic Uli campus after the late Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju, who governed Anambra State from 1999 to 2003. The announcement came with an emotional acknowledgement that the man who planted the seed of higher education in the state had not received his full due until now. “Dr. Mbadinuju was the first visitor and pioneer founder of this university,” Soludo told the gathering of academics, students, and diplomats. “Yet he has not been properly celebrated for this monumental contribution to our state.”
The Uli campus, located in Ihiala Local Government Area, is where the institution first took root. It was established by Mbadinuju in 2000 as the Anambra State University of Science and Technology, a single‑campus institution that later expanded and was eventually renamed Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU) in 2014. The main administrative and academic hub has since been relocated to Igbariam in Anambra East Local Government Area, but the Uli site remains hallowed ground. By naming that original campus after the late governor, Soludo has turned a physical space into a perpetual monument to Mbadinuju’s foresight. The gesture is both symbolic and concrete: generations of students and faculty who pass through Uli will now be reminded that the university’s foundation was laid by a man who, in the words of the governor, “lived his life in service to humanity.”
The renaming came during the institution’s 2024/2025 convocation ceremony, a composite event that also served as a showcase for the administration’s broader education agenda. Soludo announced full government sponsorship for all 37 first‑class graduates of the university, covering their master’s and PhD programmes at any Nigerian public university. The overall best graduating student received an immediate cash award of four million naira. These initiatives, the governor explained, are part of a deliberate strategy to strengthen the state’s intellectual capital. “You must strive to be worthy representatives of this institution by contributing to the building of a better Nigeria,” he told the graduands, invoking the classic song “Which Way Nigeria” by the late Sunny Okosun.
In a significant parallel development, Soludo formally introduced Bishop Matthew Kukah as the newly appointed Chancellor of COOU. Bishop Kukah, in his inaugural address, expressed gratitude for the appointment and urged alumni to remain closely connected to the university through resource mobilisation and institutional support. The vice‑chancellor, Professor Kate Omenugha, described the 16th convocation as a historic milestone, noting that it restored the tradition of annual convocations after a prolonged hiatus. For the first time in the university’s twenty‑five‑year existence, the ceremony also hosted two foreign ambassadors, lending it an international dimension that reflected the institution’s growing global recognition.
The university traces its origins to a law passed by the Anambra State House of Assembly in 2000, during Mbadinuju’s tenure. The institution was initially named the Anambra State University of Science and Technology, with a single campus in Uli. It was later renamed Anambra State University and, finally, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, after the Biafran leader, in 2014. The evolution of the university’s name and structure has sometimes overshadowed the foundational role of its original creator. Soludo’s decision to rename the Uli campus is a deliberate correction of that historical oversight. By anchoring Mbadinuju’s name to the very soil where the university first broke ground, the governor ensures that the founder’s legacy can never be separated from the institution he built.
The gesture also has political resonance. Mbadinuju served as governor at the dawn of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, a period of intense political realignment. His single term was marked by controversy and he left office under a cloud of unproven allegations, but his role as an education pioneer has never been seriously disputed. Soludo, himself a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and an economist of international standing, has staked much of his administration’s reputation on education reform. By honouring Mbadinuju in this manner, he is reaching across party lines and generational boundaries to affirm a principle: that the quality of a leader’s contribution is not measured by the duration of their stay in office, but by the durability of the institutions they create.
Reaction from the academic community was swift. Faculty members who served under Mbadinuju’s administration recalled his personal intervention to secure land and funding for the fledgling university. Alumni groups welcomed the renaming as a long‑overdue recognition. The Vice‑Chancellor, Professor Omenugha, described the governor’s action as “a message that every founder, every pioneer, will eventually be remembered.” Bishop Kukah, who has known several Nigerian governors personally, observed that such gestures are rare and require a special kind of political courage. In his brief remarks at the convocation, he praised Soludo for “lifting up a predecessor without diminishing his own standing.”
The ceremony also served to highlight the state government’s commitment to staff welfare. Soludo disclosed that he would soon engage the university’s management and governing council to establish a sustainable financial agreement and support framework for faculty and staff. This is a sensitive issue; public universities in Nigeria have suffered from years of underfunding, leading to repeated strikes by academic and non‑academic unions. By addressing this matter publicly, the governor signalled that his interest in COOU goes beyond symbolism.
For the 37 first‑class graduates who will now pursue postgraduate studies at no personal cost, the day was transformative. For the best graduating student, the four million naira gift was a life‑changing sum. For Bishop Kukah, it was the beginning of a new chapter as chancellor. But for the state of Anambra, the most enduring image of the convocation may be the simple act of renaming a campus. It is a reminder that progress is not only about building new structures but also about remembering who laid the first stone. Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju died on April 12, 2023, at the age of 77. He did not live to see the Uli campus bear his name, but his spirit was present in the hall. Governor Soludo’s voice cracked ever so slightly when he announced the tribute. In that moment, politics fell away, and all that remained was the quiet, powerful act of gratitude.
📩 Stone Reporters News | 🌍 stonereportersnews.com
✉️ info@stonereportersnews.com | 📘 Facebook: Stone Reporters News | 🐦 X (Twitter): @StoneReportNew | 📸 Instagram: @stonereportersnews
Add comment
Comments