Gbenro Adesina
As the tenure of the 12th Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan (UI), Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka comes to an end on Monday November 30, 2020, the Senate of the Premier University is set to converge to select an acting Vice Chancellor.
This is following the directive by the National Universities Commission (NUC) asking the Governing Council to appoint an Acting Vice Chancellor so that there will be no vacuum in governance.
In a letter signed by the NUC Executive Secretary, Professor Abubakar Rasheed, dated November 27, 2020 and addressed to the Pro-Chancellor of the University, the Senate was directed to convene a special meeting to appoint the Acting Vice Chancellor among its members for Council approval.
The letter read in part:
“The university Senate should convene a special meeting for the purpose of selecting one of its members who is not a candidate in the ongoing process for the selection of a new vice-chancellor, for recommendation to the Governing Council for appointment as acting vice-chancellor for a period of not more than six months as stipulated in section 3(13) and (14 ) of the Universities (Miscellaneous provisions: (Amendment) Act, 2002.
“In view of the fact that the tenure of the incumbent Vice-Chancellor expires on Monday 30th November 2020, it is pertinent for the Governing Council to meet in the afternoon of Monday, 30 November 2020 to consider and approve the appointment of the Senate nominee as acting vice-chancellor in order to avoid a vacuum in the administration of the university.
“Following the appointment of an acting vice-chancellor, the outgoing vice-chancellor should hand over to the acting vice-chancellor possibly on Monday 30 November 2020 or latest by Tuesday 1st of December, 2020.
“The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council is also directed to attend a meeting with the Honourable Minister of Education in his office on Wednesday, 2nd December 2020 at 11.00 a.m. to brief the Honourable Minister on developments following the Ministerial directives on the resolution of the impasse.”
To this effect, the Deputy Registrar,(SAAI), Morenike A. Afolabi, has sent out a notice on behalf of the Registrar to members of Senate to converge for a special meeting on Monday November 30, 2020, to select an Acting Vice Chancellor, who will resume on Tuesday December 1, 2020.
According to the notice, the Acting Vice Chancellor to be selected will not be among the candidates jostling for the position of Vice Chancellor.
This move becomes imperative as all the processes for the appointment of the institution’s 13th Vice Chancellor were truncated as a result of crisis that characterised it.
It would be recalled that the non-academic staff led by Wale Akinremi had been protesting against the candidature of two of the six finalists shortlisted for the exhausted post, vowing that they would not allow any of them be appointed as Vice Chancellor. The candidates are the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic, Professor Kayode Adebowale and former Vice Chancellor, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Professor Olufemi Mimiko.
The grouse against them is that while Mimiko is said to be non-academic friendly, Adebowale is allege to be the candidate of the outgoing Vice Chancellor, Professor Olayinka.
