Nigerian professor sacked by Ghanaian university says he was misrepresented | EduCeleb
Chukwudi Chukwudubem
18th July 2019
The Nigerian Professor sacked by a Ghanaian university over some allegedly insulting comments about Ghana, has said that he was misrepresented while the controversy lasted.
Austin Nwagbara who was on sabbatical leave at the University of Education, Winneba got eventually dismissed by the institution after a controversial video of him addressing some persons came online over a month ago. The Ghanaian police also arrested him over what it termed incitement.
The don who felt humiliated by the incidence has now vowed not to go back to Ghana again.
He spoke on Thursday in Abuja at a meeting with the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Citizens in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
Nwagbara noted that the police further complicated the matter when he voluntarily reported at the police station with the Nigeria High Commissioner to Ghana. He claimed the police twisted the story that he was arrested and handcuffed.
The Professor of English at the University of Lagos noted that the meeting in the video was supposed to be a private discussion and not a lecture as Ghanaian media claimed, adding that it was not meant to condemn the people of Ghana.
He said the Ghanaian media deliberately skewed the story as part of their anti-Nigeria agenda with the view to cast aspersion on Nigerians living in their country.
He added that the entire story was orchestrated to run Nigeria down.
He said, “It was a gathering of Nigerians who came out to see how the unfriendly relationship between Ghanaians and Nigerians could be resolved. For a large part of that meeting, Nigerians were taking the blame but the person who edited the video has his agenda.
“I know that nobody likes to be condemned and the intention was not to talk bad about Ghanaians. I have a great Ghanaian friend. I taught many Ghanaian students and we have been in good relationships. There are great Ghanaian scholars but the media projected it in a strange way, saying, “who is this Nigerian to come and question our system.”
“You cannot plan a coup in an open place, you cannot do it in an open restaurant and what will I be planning a coup for? That is an absolute lack of knowledge to say a Nigerian with thirty others were planning to take over the government of Ghana.
The professor also said he was not given enough time to defend himself before the panel of enquiry set up by the university to investigate the matter.