Abia State Governor Alex Otti on Wednesday charged the management of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) to be open-minded in their investigation to ascertain the real cause of the recent protest by students of the institution, which led to the closure of the school.

He said it was important that the panel set up by the university to investigate the student riot gets to the root of the problem in order to forestall future unrest.

Otti gave the charge while receiving a delegation of the management of the university, led by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Maduebibisi Iwe, on Tuesday.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday in Umuahia by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Kazie Uko.

Otti noted that the academic distortion, a direct consequence of the school closure, was not healthy for the future of the younger generation, and offered to liaise with the management of the institution and other stakeholders to enable the resumption of full academic activities in the university.

“It is important that you get to the root of the matter. If the investigation panel does not do a thorough job you may not get to the root, and one of the ways to solve a problem is not to prejudge it. That (prejudging) will close your mind to every other suggestion.

“Let’s find out what exactly is the reason for the protest, I think it turned out violent. Let’s do a thorough investigation to know the root cause and deal with it from the root,” he advised.

The governor, who also spoke on the Agric Business Incubation Centre which the university management said would soon be established in the school, directed the Commissioner for Agriculture, Professor Monica Ironkwe, and the Principal Secretary to the Governor, Mr Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, to engage the institution on the way forward.

On the court case instituted against the university by the Abia State Internal Revenue Service two years ago on account of unremitted PAYE, Otti assured that the matter would be settled amicably.