By Chunks Eke
Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka, the proprietor of Ranent Industries Company Limited located at Oba in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra state has sealed the premises of the company which he donated to the authorities of Tansian University, Umunya, Anambra State as a take-off campus of the university.
This followef a recent court judgment which authorized Ezeonwuka to seal the campus, sell the university’s moveable and immovable properties in order to recover about N60 million outstanding debt owed him by the university as honorarium or rent for donating the Ranent property to the university authorities as a take-off campus.
Ezeonwuka who stormed the university campus yesterday in company of court beliefs and management of Ranent Industries, drove away some security staff of the university and sealed off the campus entrance gate some trips of sand.
To authenticate the seal, the court bailiffs pasted copies of the court judgements all over the entrance gates, defaced the sign posts bearing some inscriptions Welcome to Tansian University Take-Off Campus, Oba. They also pasted some sign posts with some inscriptions: “No Trespass”.
Ezeonwuka and Renant Industries had successfully won a court case against Tansian University over million of naira accruing from several years of unpaid honorarium. The honorarium of N10 million per annum was agreed upon between Ezeonwuka and the founder of the university, the late Monsignor John Bosco Akam many years ago before Akam died about two years ago
The honorarium agreement was jointly signed by Ezeonwuka and Monsignor Akam with their witnesses before they both took the agreement to court and obtained a consent judgement that the university authorities should pay Ezeonwuka the sum of N10 million every year as rent for donating the Ranent property with structures to the university for use as take-off campus about 10 years ago.
The National Universities Commission, NUC had while giving an approval for the establishment of the university, directed that the annual payment being made to Ezeonwuka by the university authorities should not be called house rent or property rent but honorarium because a university cannot be cited in a rented apartment.
In a judgment delivered by His Lordship Hon Justice Arinze Akabua of High Court of Anambra State holden at Ogidi had granted leave of execution to confiscate movable and immovable properties of the University to recover Ezeonwuka’s outstanding indebtedness.
Justice Akabua also ordered that the judgment debtors/respondents (Tansian university authorities) vacate with immediate effect its temporary site or take-off campus located at Umuogali Village Oba from the premises of the property of judgment creditor/applicants (Ezeonwuka/Ranent Industries Limited).
Speaking to press shortly after recovering his property, Ezeonwuka, Chairman of the company expressed gratitude to the court for being the last hope of the common man, even as he regretted that the saga has cost him lots of fortunes.
He abhorred dilapidating state of the university campus and wondered how students cope studying in such a dirty environment.
“This institution may not be synonymous with cleanliness – the two hostels are disgusting, the entire environment is stomach-churning, its filthy an uninhabitable, filth-ridden University filled with mountains of refuse and bad sewage system is so vile that it guarantees nightmares”, said Ezeonwuka.
He disclosed that having recovered his property, he has concluded arrangements to bring in his Chinese partners to arrive Nigeria before end of first quarter of the year 2024 to revive the moribund Ranent Industries Company Ltd and offer employment to well over 5,000 Anambrarians.
