As a student of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and a keen watcher of political development in Anambra State, I am compelled to lend my voice to issues bothering on the “doctorate degree” procured by the wife of the governor of Anambra State, Nonye Soludo, from the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), following the tides of disparaging remarks that has become the trademark and stock-in-trade of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).
Globally, honourary doctorates are meant to celebrate luminaries, visionaries whose contributions transcend the ordinary, etching their names into the annals of progress. But when such honours are bestowed upon the spouse of a sitting governor, in the very institution he oversees, the scent of desperation and favouritism wafts stronger than any laurel wreath.
Mrs. Nonye Soludo was, in May 2025, was draped in the robes of an honorary doctorate degree by the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), formerly Anambra State University.
The official narrative of the award paints a portrait of selfless advocacy: tireless champion of public health through her “Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo” initiative. Her husband and the state governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, himself hailed it as “a testament to her tireless advocacy.”
Yet, as the echoes of applause fade, a darker question lingers: Was this degree truly earned on merit, or it’s a slides thank-you nite for her husband’s flagrant disregard of the University Procedural Law, just three months later?
To understand the rot at the core, one must rewind to 6 August, 2025, a date that should haunt the corridors of COOU like a ghost of governance gone awry. On that day, Governor Soludo, in his capacity as Visitor to the university, appointed Professor Kate Azuka Omenugha as substantive Vice Chancellor (VC).
On the surface, it was business as usual: a nod to her interim stewardship since November 2023, praised for “positive institutional changes and visionary leadership.”
But peel back the veneer, and the appointment of Omehugha as the VC reeks of executive overreach, a blatant thumbing of the nose at the very laws Soludo swore to uphold. The COOU Law of 2014 is crystal clear on the selection process for VC, enshrined in Ordinance II (4)(d) and Statute VI (1) of the First Schedule.
A joint committee of the university’s Council and Senate, chaired in this instance by Pro-Chancellor Chidi Odinkalu, screens candidates, recommends three in order of merit, and the Visitor (the Governor) must select from the top three: first, second, or third, with the first-placed being the default, unless compelling reasons dictate otherwise.
Nine professors vied for the role, their applications advertised transparently in national dailies on January 2, 2025. The committee did its due diligence, submitting a merit-ranked list. And who topped it? Not Omenugha, but Professor Chike Osegbue, a seasoned academic whose credentials placed him unequivocally first.
Soludo’s choice? Omenugha, who languished outside the top three. This wasn’t a nuanced judgment call; it was a demolition of due process.
Osegbue, undeterred, dragged the matter to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria in suit NICN/ARJ/275/2025, naming Soludo, the Attorney-General, Odinkalu, the COOU Council, the university, and Omenugha as defendants.
Osegbue’s affidavit is damning: the appointment was “illegal, absurd, arbitrary, condemnable, and wrongful,” a “defiance” of the law that empowers no governor to whimsically bypass the Council’s recommendations.
“The governor cannot exercise such unbridled… powers to arbitrarily refuse… the recommendation,” Osegbue argues, seeking not just nullification but his own installation as VC.”
As of the time of this writing, the court battle rages, but the damage is done: COOU’s integrity, already strained by prior acting-VC fraud allegations against Omenugha herself, now bears the fresh scar of politicized patronage.
Enter the honourary doctorate stage, on the heels of this scandal. COOU’s combined 11th to 15th convocations on 24 May, 2025, part of the university’s silver jubilee celebrations, saw Nonye Soludo feted, alongside business titans like Keystone Bank’s Lady Ada Chukwudozie.
The government’s spin machine whirred into overdrive: This was no political sop, they insisted, but a hard-won recognition of Mrs. Soludo’s “transformative” work in health advocacy. Governor Soludo’s effusive social media post gushed about her as “my Queen,” crediting her initiative for reshaping Anambra’s health consciousness. Stakeholders, from APGA aspirants to health commissioners, piled on the praise, calling it “long overdue.”
But let’s dissect this fairy tale. Mrs. Nonye Soludo’s efforts, while commendable on paper, are hardly unique in Nigeria’s constellation of First Lady pet projects echoes of similar wellness drives by predecessors in other states. What elevates the case of Nonso Soludo to a honourary PhD status? Timing and proximity to power.
The convocation occurred mere months before the VC imbroglio peaked, with ASUU and concerned Senate members already clamouring for a substantive VC as far back as 21 May, 2025, citing procedural lapses under Omenugha’s interim watch.
In August, when Soludo rammed through Omenugha’s confirmation, whispers of quid pro quo had already begun. Omenugha, as acting VC, presided over the very convocation that honoured the governor’s wife, a ceremony where Soludo himself eulogised the university’s founder and pledged more support.
Coincidence or a subtle signal?: Play ball on my VC pick, and the institution gets the Soludo seal of approval complete with familial accolades?
The government’s portrayal of the PhD honourary award as a merit-based triumph crumbles under scrutiny. If Nonye Soludo’s nutrition advocacy was so groundbreaking, why not a national award from a federal body, untethered from Anambra’s political orbit?
Instead, COOU, under Soludo’s visitorial thumb, opts for this localised largesse, conveniently timed to launder the administration’s image amid mounting cries for transparency in university appointments. Petitions by the Staff, demanding Omenugha’s probe for alleged fraud in a ₦20 million-solar project, dismissed by management as “sabotage” tied to the VC race, only deepen the suspicion.
In a state where Soludo campaigned on “evidence-based” governance, this smells less like evidence of excellence and more like evidence of entitlement.
Anambra deserves better than performative honours that mask institutional erosion. Honorary degrees should illuminate true excellence, not cast long shadows of nepotism.
As Osegbue’s lawsuit inches toward resolution, one wonders: Will COOU’s next convocation revoke this degree in the name of integrity, or will it join the list of scandals Soludo’s “solutionist” era leaves in its wake?
The court of public opinion, at least, has already rendered its verdict guilty of glossing over graft with gratuitous glory.
•Okonkwo writes from Chukwemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), Igbarian Campus, Anambra State.
