Some top Academic Staff of the Ekiti State University (EKSU) have raised the alarm over the alleged highhandedness of the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Edward Olorunnisola Olanipekun.

They alleged that the Vice-Chancellor, who has been describing himself as ‘the new sheriff in town,’ has been issuing queries to tens of senior professors in the school on frivolous and malicious grounds.

But the management of the institution has denied the allegations, saying they are not aware of the queries issued.

In a statement issued on behalf of the concerned lecturers, entitled; “‘RAIN OF QUERIES IN EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY: SHERIFF (PROF) EDWARD OLANIPEKUN ON THE PR0WL” and made available to journalists on Sunday, the allegedly persecuted lecturers said the calm in the university under the leadership of Professor Olanipekun was peace of the graveyard.

According to the statement, “There has been an uneasy calm and atmosphere in the Ekiti State Ivory Tower, Ekiti State University, under the leadership of the present vice-chancellor and self-styled ‘Sheriff,’ Professor Edward Olorunnisola Olanipekun.

“Professors in any university are very senior academics with the requisite mien, charisma and experience for mentoring and sustaining an enduring academic culture.

“Today, the scenario has changed for Ekiti State University under the ‘Sheriff’ who has obviously turned professors into ‘punch bags’ and has queried not less than 20 well-respected among them in the university for frivolous, baseless and, most times, selfish and pedantic reasons which clearly smack of envy, vendetta and mission to destroy accomplished and senior academics in the university.

“Professors that have fallen victim of the highhandedness, irascible and irrational display of academic rascality include Professors Olu Olufayo of the Department of Sociology who is the immediate-past chairman of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), EKSU chapter; Professor I. E. Adeyeye of the Department of Chemistry, the immediate past Dean of the Faculty of Science; and a former member of Council, Professor S. O. Adewole of the Department of Animal Science; a former member of Council.

“Professor James Olaogun of the Department of Sociology; a well-respected cleric and former member of Council, Professor Femi Omotoso of the Department of Political Science; and the immediate-past Dean of the Faculty of the Social Sciences, Professor E. A. Akintayo of the Department of Chemistry.

“Others are a former Council member, Professor I. Akomolede of the Faculty of Law who is a former Dean of the Faculty; a former member of Council, Professor S. O. Bandele of the Faculty of Education who is the immediate-past vice-chancellor; Professor Popoola of the Faculty of Education, and Professor I. Babatunde of the Faculty of Law, a current member of the University Governing Council, among others,” it said.

Some of the professors, when contacted, confirmed what they termed “the destructive, arbitrary and autocratic style of administration of the Vice-Chancellor who is bent on destroying personalities in the university for selfish reasons.”

Some of the professors also questioned the rationale for appointing a known partisan politician, in the person of Professor Olanipekun, as Vice-Chancellor, particularly in view of his antecedents.

A very senior Professor in the university who spoke on a condition of anonymity expressed very serious concern about the immediate future of the University and the fate of the remaining few Professors who have not received their “dose” of queries if the recklessness and rascality of the Vice-Chancellor are not checkmated by the Governing Council and the Governor.

“We equally and reliably gathered that the Vice-Chancellor runs one-man government without inputs from the Deputy Vice-Chancellors and other members of the management having silenced and made them prostrate.

“Panels and committees are set up indiscriminately with the mandate to indict Professors and others in the University and where they refuse to indict as instructed, he would reject the reports until they are doctored or tampered with to reflect his selfish interest, a situation that portends serious danger for the University,” he said.

A non-academic staff who also spoke on the condition of anonymity simply retorted, “It is only God that can save us from the hands of this Sheriff who has turned this University upside down”

However, when contacted, the head of the university’s Media Unit, Mr Bode Olofinmuagun, said the management was not aware that any frivolous queries were issued to some lecturers.

Speaking in a telephone interview, Olofinmuagun said “I am not aware of such frivolous queries issued to any professor. I am not aware.”

Also, the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), EKSU chapter, Dr Kayode Arogundade, said he would not say any query issued had anything to do with highhandedness or witch-hunting.

“If you are someone in Ekiti here and you want the good of the state, you will realize that what has been happening at EKSU since three years ago is not what we should be looking at.

“This is about the university portals ‘fraud.’ When the university sets up a committee to look into a matter and the committee submits its report, do we say the report should not be implemented? It’s been on for about three years. Up till now, more than 160 students can’t find where the fees they paid went to; and this runs into millions of naira. It is those who fingers are pointed at that would get queried.

“As a matter of fact, we the unions in the University insisted that the report of the committee should be implemented,” he said.

Also, the Chairman, the Senior Staff Association of Universities (SSANU) in the school, Mr Temitayo Aguda, who also spoke on phone said if any such development was taking place in the university, the Ivory Tower had its own mechanism of resolving the issue.

“I can’t say if any such thing is happening or not. On the issue of usurpation of jobs of non-teaching staff, In the past, the Vice-Chancellor had brought similar requests to the Council, but we addressed the issue using the University mechanisms, and that was that. I am not sure that is happening now.

“So, there is no reason to raise an eyebrow. We have our ways of regulating things. The University is a universe. Its procedures are bigger than any Vice-Chancellor or even the Council,” he said.

Courtesy (excluding headline) Daily Independent

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