Professor Kate Azuka Omenugha is the first female vice chancellor of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu University, (former Anambra State University), Anambra State. From a very humble beginning, through determination, hard work and tenacious pursuit of goals, she overcame the challenges of growing up in the village setting to earn a doctorate degree in Britain on scholarship. In this interview with the Sunday Sun, Omenugha shares the story of her dogged journey to the top.
By Agatha Emeadi
How did you receive the news of your appointment as the first female Vice Chancellor of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu University (COOU)?
Let me start by telling you that Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu University (COOU) is a tertiary educational institution owned by the Anambra State Government. By a pronouncement in December 2023, the state governor, Charles Chukwuma Soludo, appointed me as the acting Vice Chancellor (VC) of the university. This came after I had completed eight years of service to the state as the Commissioner for Education and Basic Education, and had gone back to continue my teaching career as a Professor of Mass Communication in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. So, when the governor appointed me as the first female VC of COOU, naturally it was an exciting moment for me. One day, I was on my way to work at Unizik when a call came through and someone was shouting that I have been announced as the acting Vice Chancellor of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu University. Honestly, I am grateful to God and I thank the governor for the appointment. Again, I am deeply humbled that I have been found worthy to become the VC of a great institution. I am committed to doing my best; I will not disappoint the governor and people of Anambra. They would be proud of me by the time I finish my tenure. I am in the midst of males with their chauvinism, but excellence is the watchword. As long as one is focused and on the right track, then it will all work out for good. With God involved and taking me through this journey, He will cause the lines to fall in pleasant places.
Looking back what would you be remembered for as a former commissioner?
I will always be referred to as the woman that came and turned around the face of education in the state, built confidence, made the stakeholders including children in different schools, to believe in the themselves. I reminded them that they would compare with their mates globally. We also made various students to go beyond the state and go for international competitions. During my time as commissioner, members of my team also made students to believe that nothing is impossible. They motivated them not to accept failure and to believe in their capacity to do the right thing.
It was under my watch that mindsets were changed. I made them think about what they could, study, work hard to achieve success instead of being aided by examination malpractices. We fought examination malpractice to a standstill and became confident that our children could stand tall on the global stage and do very well. Again, the entrepreneurship and can-do spirit we inculcated in our children is a great legacy nobody can take away from them.
In your journey to career excellence and academic achievements, how supportive was your husband along he way?
My husband remains my greatest cheerleader and supporter. It all started in year 2002, when I got a scholarship to study in the United Kingdom for my doctorate degree. I have six children, and my last child then was less than two years; my husband asked me to go while he looked after the children. It will take less than two percent of men to do that. So, I give him every credit for where I am at the moment because without him being there for me; I would not have been where I am today.
Apart from taking care of our children then, if I had to travel for other short and long-term conferences, he would take charge, though I have my domestic workers. What I tell women who are in good positions is that you are going to be a topnotch if you balance the homefront very well as a wife and mother. Though it has not been easy, but because of the kind of man God blessed me with, it has been so easy to balance the homefront and look after my children. One of the greatest things I had to do is to be a good mother to my children, so they will always be proud of me. When we talk about integrity, hard work, humaneness, sound morals and that is what we tried to inculcate in the children with their academics.
Young people in the GenZ age bracket show challenging attitudes, they are even lazy and joke with their studies. How have you been able to manage them?
All my life, I have been mentoring people, especially children. I have been speaking and interacting with them. Again, raising my six successful children was not easy.
Now, working as a Vice Chancellor, I have to devise every manner of means to get them to change some attitudes. What we have here is not different from where I am coming from in Unizik. So, I have told the authorities that the students should be part of this government. They will be the ones driving some of the things we are going to do. I have also requested that the staff treat the students like their own. They should not be made to feel bad or be exploited in any way. Another feather added to the cap is that there are times I come down to their level, talk with them and know their challenges. I emphasize the use of the right words, statements, and sentences to show that education is not and cannot be a scam. We also make them believe that they can do it and be more friendly with their studies.
One of the greatest achievements is that we have very zero tolerance for any form of examination malpractice. These are things that need to be inculcated in them; they will not get it easy. They are told that they must be hardworking students. So, I am hoping that in the years to come, we will have more impactful meetings and relationships with them. That is what I pray for daily. I also pray for gradual change in attitude, especially laziness in their studies. I am keeping my eyes on them and I know we will get there.
In the course of your career journey and becoming VC, did you encounter chauvinism and how did you deal with it?
Like I have said earlier, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu University is not a private university, rather a state university. It is not easy to be a female VC among men who think it should have been them. But, if you see where I am coming from, one will know that I am used to such an attitude and am not bothered with it at all. What I look out for is to build an excellent team, focused men and women who will deliver on the mandate of the university, as long as one is on the same page with ideas.
But I can also tell you that I have had the support of men in places I have worked; otherwise, male chauvinism is real because we are in a parochial society. Such does not bother me, as long as I am willing, and doing my best for the university.
What is your position regarding private hostel accommodation? Some people frown on it, given the atrocities made possible by private ownership of the facilities..
Well, we have private accommodation scattered around the university. At the moment, we are trying to get more investors into the university to build more hostel accommodations for us. The truth is that on-campus accommodation for students is what will make us an all-round trainer, have more control through policies, rules and regulations of the university. It will also make us know the character of our students more. A lot of things happen when students live outside the campus. But we are trying our best. Do not forget that this administration is just two months old. Again, we are already making an impact and getting people to be interested in building hostels within the school compound which will help us and make our children better.
How was growing up?
I grew up in a very sheltered family. Both my parents were teachers, my father was a school principal while my mother was a primary school teacher. Some of the greatest influences I have was from my parents. I learnt a whole lot from my mother though she died when I was 11 years old. She was only 44 years when she died, but that little bond made a lot of impact on me. As young as I was, my mother taught me all the prayers, how to be humble, reaching out to others, relationships, psalms and songs. She also taught me all that and the most is how to share love. She was a lovable person. We lost her early enough in life with a lot of influence on me. We are a deeply Catholic family raised to be humane. I have seven other siblings. I have also been to all the village schools because of my father’s profession. We have to travel from one village to another for primary schools and that also helped to form me in so many ways. I am a typical native person in every sense of the world. We were not raised speaking English. Rather we spoke vernacular. I normally tell people that they are stronger in English when they know their.vernacular very well. We were also raised having values for the family, having our own small farm in the compound. I went to College of Education, Nsugbe for my Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) programme and I was in Kano for the national youth service at the age of 19. Later I went to University of Nigeria, Nsukka,
to get my degree, got married and started having my children. Through the support of my husband, I went back to school and got my Master’s Degree in Mass Communication and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degree in the United Kingdom. That was how I rose from being the village girl to where I am today. I was the best graduating student in the College of Education. I have received so many awards of excellence. I won a university scholarship to study in the UK just by writing from Nigeria, and I was chosen for doctoral studies for the Ph.D (African women as news).
Then again, my father taught me to read novels, while my mother taught me to read classics. As young as I was, before my primary, I had read so many of the classics like King Solomon’s Mines, She Who Must Be Obeyed and Montezuma’s Daughter among others, which my father bought for me. Growing much older, we were busy reading all the novels in the Mills and Boons, James Hardley Chase, Denise Robins and the Pacesetters series.
It baffles me when I look at today’s children holding unto their phones browsing from one site to the other which does not allow them to concentrate on their studies. I would simply remember the olden days when I would be called for chores, I would hide in the toilet to read, especially when I feel my siblings are disturbing me. I just love remembering the good old days!
Talk about Kate Omenugha Foundation
I initiated the Kate Omenugha Foundation, which tries to lift a whole lot of people up, especially women. There are people who are in my scholarship scheme. I pay their school fees and provide their upkeep to ensure they get educated. That is my little contribution to society.
Looking back at the little village girl who overcame challenges to attain great height, what advice do you have for women?
I advise women to be very professional in what they do. They should not mix work with pleasure at all, but focus on the work. Women naturally have so many challenges, men have a whole lot of things that keep them going and society will not frown at them. A woman has a stereotype that she must follow to avoid societal attack. I also advise women to find time to relax and think out ideas about how they would harness and make themselves better people.