By Jossy Mmirindu Elekwa
The impasse over the ownership of Tansian University, Anambra State, and it’s property has been raging since the passing of its founder, Rev Fr Prof Johnbosco Akam.
While the current managers of the university have refused to give consent to court judgments showing that the property on which the university was established belong to Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, the CEO of Ranent Industries Nigeria, the carpet is gradually being pulled from under their feet, as documented evidences presented by Ezeonwuka have shown that there were far-reaching agreements proving that he indeed is part of the ownership of the entire school, aside being the owner of the landed property on which the school stands.
Speaking on the matter, Ogbuefi Anikwe Ejike, a signatory to the consent judgment that settled the ownership tussle between Tansian University and Ranent Industries, said that when the issue of ownership was laid to rest, the university enjoyed peace.
His words “for anyone to have adviced Monsignor Akam to make a u turn and start challenging what he has consented to, what he has already started acting upon, it’s an anomaly, I can’t even understand it.
“Sequel to that, efforts has been made to reach the university through the Vice Chancellor, the church and their lawyer, Fr Obiora SAN. but all these people I mentioned seemed bent on converting Ranent Industries owned by Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka to their personal use. So anything Ezeonwuka does now, you won’t blame him, it’s backed by court order.
“Yes, there is a court order asking the university to evacuate the property. There is nothing I see but for them to return to him to redress his grievances. The consent judgement is a sine quanon, it’s a no go area. It’s already agreed. There ought not to have been any issue about ownership now, it was settled by that. So whatever Chief Ezeonwuka does now to reclaim his property is what anyone else would have done to reclaim his property.
The CEO of Ranent Industries Nigeria, Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka also spoke on the matter, stated, “Whoever is tampering or is planning to tamper with that consent judgment is a criminal. He doesn’t want the future of the school because it is this consent judgment that has kept the school going. We moved from fighting for ownership and I lost the battle of ownership.
“If I had won that, it is me who would have claimed the entire university because I am the financer. I brought in my property as a working capital to the university.
“I even included Rojenny Stadium which is also my property in the agreement. It was the Secretary of NUC who adviced me that I should remove Rojenny if I don’t want it to lose its international capacity. If you want it to continue to feature international matches, and Nigeria league matches, then you can’t include it in the school, he said.
“So assuming I allowed Rojenny to be included in the deed of agreement, these hawks would have been claiming it too. These hawks, none of them is part of the university.
“The consent agreement that was ordered as law by the current chief judge of Anambra State, the signatory to that, is alive right now.
“The vice Chancellor of the university, the CSO (Sendee), and others, the whole personalities are here. The society should ask, these people parading as the owners of Tansian University, who are they?
“Are they part of Tansian University? And there are many people that are involved. Dr Eloka Menakaya is part of this university. Prof VVI Okoye is part of this university. Chief Andy Uba is part of this university.
“So these people flying about are just hawks, trying to hijack what they don’t know how it was formed. They thought John Bosco had died, but Johnbosco signed the future of the university with me before he died. Now they hijack the university, they hijack my property. God forbid them!
“The General public should ask these claimants to the university if its possible for Rev Fr Johnbosco Akam to will this institution to them. They are hawks, selected hawks within the arenagement of Obiora to hijack the university. But what they cannot do is to hijack my property.
“Johnbosco had a will where he mentioned the people he willed the university to, but these people sacked those who were mentioned in the will. So anyone thinking that these people running the university are genuine is mistaken. They are crooks, they are not genuine, and they are hawks. I allowed them to be running it because I already signed a consent judgment with the founder of the university, but assuming it wasn’t signed, I am the one to take over the school based on my commitments to its establishment.
“It’s very important that the public knows that these people has nothing absolutely to do with Tansian University”, Ezeonwuka stated.
Looking at the whole scenario, one would see that the current management of Tansian University are not truthful about their motives. Dragging the ownership of the property where the school stands is folly, but has gone beyond folly as there are forces urging them on, trying to use every hook and crook to convert these landed properties from being a property of Ranent Industries to their personal acquisition.
They know they will never be able to claim ownership of the institution because their is no document that willed it to any of them, but they are busy, harvesting whatever they can off the school and at the same time, letting the scandals against the school gradually kill an institution that it’s founders spent so much money, time, energy and commitment to build. Of course, which parent would want to take his or her children or ward to a school embroiled in court cases, where it’s management is always in the news for issues of fraud and dishonesty?
They are not fair to Humanity. They are not fair to the aims and ideals of those who established the institution who had great and lofty reasons why they established the university. These people don’t care about the reasons, which is to better humanity. In their greed, they want to destroy all these. They are like vultures whose only job is to tear apart and consume. They are wicked, despicable, and evil.
So as the school gradually winds down, they reap what they didn’t sow, and will eventually leave the school bereft of both physical properties and good name. Question is, when the real owners eventually take over, will they be able to rebuild the institution into an enviable educational centre, with the current proliferation of higher institutions across the country?
Jossy Mmirindu Elekwa, an educational enthusiast, writes from Awka, Anambra State capital