By
Uchenna Ekwo
In the early 1980s, I was a high school student observing the political landscape of the old Anambra State through a highly narrow lens. At the time, I did not care for the charismatic, handsome Executive Governor, Chief Jim Nwobodo, or his politics under the banner of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP). My teenage dislike was not rooted in deep ideological conviction, but in the immediate realities of my household. Both of my parents were teachers, and the Nwobodo administration owed them substantial arrears of salaries. Compounding this, the principal of my high school, Chief C.O.B. Eche, was the fiery Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) in Anambra State, locked in an endless, highly publicized battle with the government.
To a young novice, the government’s hostile relationship with educators defined my perception of the man. But time, maturity, and professional experience have a way of clearing the fog of immediate grievances, revealing the grander contours of history and leadership.
I got to appreciate Jim Nwobodo’s political sophistication up close when, during my years in the same ASUTECH and as Editor in Chief, I led a delegation of the editorial board of the ASUT Monitor (now ESUT Monitor) to interview Jim Nwobodo long after the military removed the civilian administration. He demonstrated a sense of humor and charm that is reminiscent of his effervescent vivacity in the campaign stumps during the Second Republic (1979–1983).
Looking back today from an adult and professional perspective, I recognize what I could not see then: Chief Jim Nwobodo was a visionary leader of immense proportions, piloting a vast territory that today spans three distinct states—Anambra, Ebonyi, and Enugu. His legacy is not just historical; it is prophetic. Consider the security challenges currently plaguing Nigeria. today, the entire nation is clamoring for the establishment of state police forces as an essential antidote to localized crime. Yet, forty-six years ago, Jim Nwobodo actually built one. Though his state-level policing initiative was ultimately dissolved by a rigid federal government, the national conversation has finally caught up to his foresight. What the country is debating today, Jim Nwobodo executed in 1980.
His economic and infrastructural footprints were equally massive. He established the Anambra Vegetable Oil Production Company (AVOP), pioneered regional broadcasting with the Anambra Television (ATV Channel 50), and spun a vast network of rural and urban roads that opened up the hinterlands. His record of accomplishment was so immense that today, multiple state governments managing mere fractions of his original territory struggle to even maintain the infrastructure he left behind.
But perhaps his most enduring legacy was in the sector that ironically caused my family so much anxiety: education. To redress the systemic inequities in higher education admissions perpetrated by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), which routinely disadvantaged brilliant youths from the region, Nwobodo founded the Anambra State University of Science and Technology (ASUTECH)—the pioneer state university in Nigeria, now known as the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT).
It is because of this towering record of visionary success that the current administration of Governor Peter Mbah should take a bold, historic step. It is time to honor this octogenarian statesman while he is still with us to witness it, by renaming the institution he created: The Jim Nwobodo University.
Around the world, great citadels of learning bear the names of the visionary figures who shaped history—think Rutgers University or George Mason University in the United States. Renaming ESUT would not just be an act of political gratitude; it would be an alignment of institutional identity with foundational vision.
However, this honor should go beyond a mere change of signage. The renaming should serve as a catalyst for a structural rebirth of the institution, adapting it to the realities of modern higher education. The Jim Nwobodo University should be restructured to feature campuses across all three senatorial zones of Enugu State, built upon a model of local participation and ownership.
Globally, the funding and development of higher education are gravitating away from complete state dependency and toward community involvement. The new Jim Nwobodo University should embrace this “community-engaged university” system. The host communities in which these campuses exist must be integrated as genuine stakeholders, actively participating in the university’s development, funding, and security.
Governor Peter Mbah has shown a strong appetite for transformative governance and disruptive innovation. Championing the transition of ESUT into a multi-campus, community-engaged Jim Nwobodo University would beautifully bridge Enugu’s storied past with its progressive future.
Chief Jim Nwobodo gave our people a lifeline to higher education when the federal system shut the door on them. It is only fitting that the house he built finally bears his name, transformed into a modern, community-owned citadel of learning that will outlive us all.
Dr. Uchenna Ekwo, Carnegie Africa Diaspora Scholar, is the President of The Consortium of International Education and Development, New York. Follow him on X: @UcheEkwo