Enyinna Omoke, Abakaliki
After weeks of protests and crisis that engulfed Ebonyi State Federal College of Agriculture,the Academic Staff Union of Colleges of Agriculture (ASUCA) and the Joint Action Unions (JAU) have bowed to the newly appointed Provost of the institution, Prof. Agwu Ekwe, after rejecting his appointment earlier that led to civil unrest that hampered academic activities.
The unions had prevented the acting Provost, Dr. Jonah Nwawuisi last week from handing over to the new provost. They shutdown the school, locked the entrance gate and the provost office to show their anger over the appointment of Agwu as the substantive provost.
But the following day, the new helmsman stormed the college and took control of the institution amidst tight security.
“The acting Provost, Dr. Nwawuisi has handed over to the new provost and he can’t say no to it because it is a Federal Government directive. The new provost came in with soldiers, policemen, DSS officials and I told the joint unions officials not to resist him or fight and they should be civil.
According to the National President of ASUCA, Dr. Kadurumba Chukwuemeka, said:
“So, the unions allowed the security agencies to break the gate and the new provost entered the college and addressed those he saw in the college”, National President of ASUCA”.
The substantive provost had stormed the campus amid heavy security presence and forcibly assumed control of the institution, ending days of confusion in the college over its leadership.
The crisis worsened when armed security personnels, including soldiers, police officers, and Department of State Services (DSS) operatives, escorted the new provost into the school after the main gate—earlier locked by aggrieved unions—was forced open to gain entrance.
The crisis reportedly left staff confused, with the Chairman of the Joint Union Action, Dr. ThankGod Nwaneri, stating that he received contradictory instructions from both leaders.
Nwaneri said “Before now, we have an acting provost in the person of Dr. Jonah Nwawuisi. This is an illegal appointment that was done on the April 10th, 2026 when they appointed one Prof. Ekwe.
“As a matter of fact, we do not know the actual provost for now because yesterday (Monday), two different persons gave me instructions as the provost and I disregarded the instructions because I don’t know the one to follow.
“The issue on ground is we have qualified persons who applied for the position and after the submission of applications, they have not been invited for interviews either oral or written till today,” he told the reporter in the school on the day the new provost was expected to take over from the acting provost.
But based on the new directive,Nwawuisi reportedly stepped down and complied with what sources described as a federal government directive, paving the way for Prof. Ekwe’s takeover on Tuesday, April 14th as the substantive Provost.
With the help and efforts of security agencies, the new provost addressed staff and students and took full administrative control of the institution under tight security to avoid further breakdown of law and order.
