Angry members of the Senior Staff Association of Universities and the Non Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Ibadan chapter have ‘swept’ the feet of Professor Idowu Olayinka, the 12th Vice-Chancellor of the university out of office on Monday, as his tenure ends.
The workers, holding brooms, demonstrated the cleansing of the university after the exit of the immediate past VC, by sweeping the floor of the institution from the office of the VC to the main gate.
Olayinka, the angry union members said, was the most corrupt and most high handed VC in the history of the 72-year-old university.
The Chairman of NASU, Mr Wale Akinremi, said, “Why we are here today is not to dissipate energy or make noise but to appreciate the almighty God for seeing us through the end of the regime of Prof. Idowu Olayinka. We suffered untold hardship under the watch of Prof. Idowu Olayinka as the VC.
“We pray that never again would any Vice-Chancellor put both the staff and students of the university through such tumultous journey. At the time Prof. Olayinka came in 2015, the Federal Government was not owing us promotion arrears in 2014, how come that it was in 2015 that he came in that they owed us promotion arrears?
“The fact is that his regime was an abysmal failure. For five years, both academic and non-academic members of staff could not get promotion arrears. We must have lost about two and half years of academic calendar to the wasteful regime of Prof. Idowu Olayinka.
“Prof. Olayinka tormented teachers of staff school for about five years. Teachers of staff school were collecting pension deductions from Federal Government and they were signing monthly return forms under Prof. Olayinka. Till date, he has not paid them.
“In other universities, teachers were promoted, but he did not do that. What manner of training did you benefit under Prof. Idowu Olayinka? What was the level of morale of workers or are you talking about security? Are you going to talk about works and maintenance or research grants? Till date, the cleaners are complaining. At some point we had to contribute money to contribute succour to the cleaners.
“If there is a corrupt regime, it is that of Prof. Olayinka. Today, go to Distance Learning School, there is no kobo; go to PG school, there is no kobo. All areas where you get Internally Generated Revenue, you cannot get anything.”
Malachy Etim, Chairman of SSANU, UI, said, “We are here by God’s grace to celebrate the exit of Prof. Olayinka. It is a shameful thing for a VC to leave office without having a successor to hand over to. At the last minute to the end of his tenure, Prof. Olayinka rushed to commission an uncompleted building project and one wonders why.”
The Chairman of NASU, College of Medicine, UI, Akinlolu Akinlade, likened Olayinka’s tenure to the inglorious years of the late Nigerian military dictator, General Sanni Abacha.
Calls made to the VC were unsuccessful as his telephone line was unreachable. Text message sent to his number were not replied as of the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, in a related development, the Governing Council of the University of Ibadan has approved the appointment of Professor Adebola Ekanola as the Acting Vice–Chancellor, University of Ibadan at its meeting today, Monday, 30 November, 2020 on the recommendation of the Senate.
The Council meeting was presided over by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Nde Joshua Waklek Mutka.
Before his appointment, Prof. Ekanola served as the Deputy Vice–Chancellor (Academic), Director of Office of International Programmes (OIP) and the Dean, Faculty of Arts, among other appointments.
Olatunji Oladejo Director of Public Communication, University of Ibadan
