The Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) have been utterly criticised by the Senate of the University of Ibadan for interfering and opposing the extant laws that guide the procedures of appointing a new Vice Chancellor (VC) for the University.
The SSANU and NASU, under the umbrella of the Joint Action Committee, UI Chapter, had disrupted the activities of the selection committee by rejecting two of the six candidates selected for the position of Vice-Chancellor, resulting to members of the committee threatening one another.
The Unions accused Prof. Idowu Olayinka, the incumbent Vice Chancellor, of trying to influence the imposition of his preferred candidate in the person of Prof. Kayode Adebowale, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration) of the University.
They also opposed Prof. Olusegun Mimiko, a former VC of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, who is among the six candidates, saying he was anti-workers during his tenure at the institution.
It was gathered that this incident propelled the Senate to call for an emergency meeting at the institution’s International Conference Centre on Wednesday, November 4, 2020, which was attended by a total of 188 members.
While addressing the issue, the Senate stated that the selection process in use is in line with the existing law of the school; noting that, ‘the union do not have any deciding role to play in the appointment of Vice Chancellors.’
The statement issued by the Senate reads in part:
‘We condemn in the strongest terms the disruption of the meeting of the governing council of the University of Ibadan that was convened to conclude the selection of the next vice-chancellor of the university.’
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The Senate, however, resolved that the university disciplinary procedure should be applied on any member of staff found guilty of working against the laid down procedure governing the university.
In addition, the Senate decided that, ‘representatives be appointed to visit the Minister of Education to submit a copy of the resolutions taken at the meeting.’
The six candidates vying for the position include; Femi Mimiko; Abideen Aderinto, Department of Sociology; Babatunde Salako, a former Provost, College of Medicine; Kayode Adebowale, the incumbent Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics); Olusegun Ademowo and Olatunde Farombi.