Gbenro Adesina
The University of Ibadan Community is organising a town hall meeting to engage aspirants for the 13th Vice Chancellor of the nation’s Premier University.
The event, which will hold on Monday October 4, 2021, and tagged “UI Community Forum 2021: Voice of next Vice-Chancellor” is jointly organised by the five Campus Unions – the Student Union (SU), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The event will have 16 professors from within and outside the institution who are jostling for the exalted position, trying to convince the UI community that they are the best for the job.
It would be recalled that before the process for the appointment of the 13th VC was cancelled last year, 18 professors were in the race.
However, with the new process, only 13 of them returned to vie for the position, while five of the aspirants did not re-apply. They are: Hassan Ajisafe SALIU, Raheem Adebayo LAWAL, Tal-hatu Kolapo HAMZAT, Babatunde Lateef ADELEKE and Anthony Kayode ONIFADE.
Also, there are three new entrants to the race: Adebola Babatunde EKANOLA, the Acting VC of the institution, Ganiyu Adesola ADEROUNMU and Anthony Adegboyega KOLAWOLE.
The other aspirants are: Kayode Oyebode ADEBOWALE, Adeyinka Abideen ADERINTO, Babatunde Lawal SALAKO, Aderemi RAJI-OYELADE, Emiola Oluwabunmi OLAPADE-OLAOPA, Nazeem Oluwafemi MIMIKO, Olusegun George ADEMOWO, Oladele Olatunde LAYIWOLA, Clement Olusegun Olaniran KOLAWOLE, Olatunde Rasaq KALILU, Akeem Babatunde FAWEHINMI, Ebenezer Olatunde FAROMBI, and Temitope Oluwagbenga ALONGE.
Filing the position of the 13th VC of the institution has generated a lot of controversies and commotion such that an acting VC had to be appointed for two six months term.
It also pitted the non-academic staff against the academic staff especially the Senate as they insisted that the whole process was being staged managed in order to bring in an unpopular candidate to the exalted office.
Stakeholders are of the hope that this new process will be able to produce a VC that is acceptable to all and sundry and bring peace to the Premier University, acclaimed to be the First and the best.
