Angry youths stormed Dennis Osadebe University in Anwai Umuagwu, near the Delta state capital Asaba, on Wednesday, May 24, to protest the institution’s so-called unfavorable employment policies.
Nearly 100 protesters blocked the school’s entrance on Wednesday morning, preventing people from entering and leaving the campus.
They held placards with inscriptions such as “Oghojafor corruption is personified”, “Oghojafor is authoritarian and tribal bigotry”, “We say no to Oghojafor’s brutal rule”, “Respect for the host community is sacrosanct “etc.
The protest lasted for hours, and security personnel at the school gate came to save the situation.
Commenting on the developments, Ndubuisi Biose, chairman of the Asaba Community Employment Council, said that despite the state government’s decision to immortalize their son Dennis Osadebey at the university, the school authorities had for years refused to hire his people.
Biose also claimed that vice-chancellor Ben Oghojafor had been playing the national card by hiring his own people.
Likewise, Youth Principal Obodo Okediachi said the community is not happy with the situation at Dennis Osadebe University.
He said, “University is our own, it’s in our house. So, anything in your house, you should benefit from it.
We, the Asaba community, did not benefit from Osadebey University, which was given to us by the government to compensate our people,” he added.
Meanwhile, the university’s vice-chancellor, Ben Oghojafor, denied the allegations, saying only, “The employment numbers will bear out the fact that the allegations are not true.
“We’re not just hiring people from the state in Nigeria because we’re looking for the best.
“I went to Asagba in Asaba to look for people of Asaba descent who could be employed in university-related fields.
“Our people are educated but not ‘educated’ about it.
“How do you have people who only study one thing or another and are not ready to be employed after college?
“We need people because we need them.
“If I’m looking for an accountant, I have to go through a headhunter to find an accountant to participate in grants and audits.
“If we were looking for engineers, we couldn’t find anyone.
“The facts will tell. That’s a fallacy. Let them bring whoever applied. The record doesn’t lie.
“Obi Elunor threatened me before I even came in, saying I should go to Abraka and become a VC.
“I have written to the Department of State Service (DSS) and the state’s police chief,” he added.