It all began when Federal University Gasau, in unprecedented effrontery, denied promoting Mr Benard Odoh to the rank of Professor and claimed to have no records of Mr Odoh among its staff.
Mr Odoh was consequently not only sacked as the 7th Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka on account of that fraud, but the Council that appointed him was also sacked, apparently for want of due diligence.
After his sack, Mr Odoh, in an interview with Mr Abati of Arise TV, blamed his woes on what he called ‘mischief makers’ who undermine his people as inferior. For Mr Odoh, some people were playing ethnic cards, and his removal was tied to prejudice against his Ebonyi State origins.
In his words, ‘some people feel that I am not qualified because I come from Ebonyi State’.
Many people, including Mr Ruben Abati, did not believe Mr Odoh. They insisted that many people from Ebonyi State have actualised themselves outside Ebonyi in general and Anambra in particular, but Mr Odoh will not have any of those.
However, in a suit by an alumnus of Nnamdi Azikiwe University challenging Mr Odoh’s integrity in an application for promotion to the rank of a professor, Mr Odoh, in a volte face, blamed his village people for his woes.
He stated that his woes are traceable to his roughening some feathers in his native Ebonyi State, where he allegedly fought corruption.
It is left to be seen how the court will react to this change of narrative. If the court believes this new narrative, it means that Odoh lied when he played the ethnic card. Since the court does not pick and choose, it may well be that Odoh has scored an own goal.