'Don't Push Your Luck' — Omenugha Issues Stern Warning to Staff Over Student Exploitation, Unveils Naming and Shaming Policy

She has said it before but on Thursday, she said it with greater force and greater detail. The Vice-Chancellor of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Prof. Kate Azuka Omenugha, issued a pointed and unambiguous warning to staff members who may be tempted to exploit or abuse students under their care: "I can take hard decisions, don't push your luck by being silly." The room, by all accounts, received the message.

Prof. Omenugha delivered the warning on Thursday, April 23, 2026, while addressing staff and students at the Interdenominational Service held at the ETF Auditorium, Igbariam Campus, as part of activities marking Day Two of the university's 16th Convocation Week. Speaking with the measured firmness of a leader who has both the will and the authority to act, she made clear that no shield of seniority, familiarity, or personal closeness to the Vice-Chancellor's office would protect an offender from consequences.

The warning came with a policy teeth that gives it real institutional weight. Prof. Omenugha disclosed that the university's COOUNews monthly bulletin now carries a dedicated "Naming and Shaming" section, a public platform in which individuals found guilty of misconduct are formally identified by name. The intent is explicit: to make accountability visible, to signal to the entire university community that exploitation and abuse will not be quietly managed away but publicly confronted.

The Vice-Chancellor also turned directly to students, urging them not to be silent in the face of any form of abuse or injustice. Her administration, she emphasised, is not merely open to receiving complaints, it is actively waiting for them, ready to act swiftly and without hesitation. "I will protect you and I mean it," she reiterated, reinforcing the personal dimension of a commitment she has consistently placed at the centre of her leadership.

Taken together, the two pledges the maternal promise to students and the stern warning to staff, paint the portrait of a Vice-Chancellor who has decided that the safety and dignity of every student at COOU is a matter she is prepared to defend, professionally and personally, at every turn.

©️COOUNewS, 2026