Kayode Aponmade
Recently, new Vice-Chancellors were appointed in some Nigeria Universities without the twists and turns that have characterized the process
of appointment of a new VC for Federal University, Oye Ekiti.
This is because in those Universities, excellence, competencies, and due process were placed over mediocrity and selfish interests.
The Vice-Chancellors of those Universities, as well as the Governing Council Chairmen, did not have anointed candidates hence, due process took its course and best candidates emerged.
However, the case is different in FUOYE as verifiable facts revealed that the principal actors involved in the process, particularly in the likes of the Vice-Chancellor Prof. Kayode Soremekun, the University Bursar Mrs. Bolatito Akande and the University controversial Registrar Mr. ODUSANYA Olatunbosun Sunday are hell-bent on imposing one Prof. ADIMULA Isaac Abiodun against all odds.
This parochial and selfish interest of this few individuals is compounding the woes of the selection process rather than channel a better way out of the impasse confronted thus far. This action of been hell-bent on imposing Prof. Adimula for the position and seeing him through the selection process at all cost further put credence to the wide belief that some high-level corruption and illegality perpetrated by Prof. Soremekun and the duo of Mrs. Akade and Mr. Odusanya needs to be covered and hence a stooge like Adimula needs to be implanted to help perfect the dirty jobs.
It is this desperate attempt of illegally installing Adimula that has being delaying the selection process as some of the upright and unbribable Governing Council Members have insisted on following due process despite all attempt to buy them over.
Plans are ripe to adopt a wrong template for scoring the candidates and then jettison the approved template of the regulating authority (NUC). It is only in FUOYE that Vice-Chancellorship applicants would be assessed without recourse to academic publications, administrative experience and teaching experience. Hence, distance learning experience is taking credence over these prerequisite requirements as stipulated in NUC guidelines. This is just to favour their anointed Prof. Adimula since it is believed that it is his area of strength.
Prof. Kayode Soremekun’s desperation is borne out the fact that he wants his dirty tracks covered and to also be relevant in the control of the University Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) after his tenure as VC, that is the reason why he has entered into an unholy pact with Prof. Isaac Abiodun Adimula, the Bursar and the Registrar so as to continually impoverish the University community for another five years.
The public should note that Prof. Kayode Soremekun and his cohorts have been threatening some of the internal and external members of the University Governing Council and trying to induce them financially so as to make them to succumb to the pressures of installing Prof. Adimula over more competent and qualified candidates.
As part of their grand scheme, they have perfected arrangements to sponsor false and negative security report against some applicants for the job whom they believe might emerge if due process is eventually followed. This is worthy of noting!
DEFIANCE AGAINST NUC EXECUTIVE SECRETARY’S WARNING AND DIRECTIVES
Recently, the Executive Secretary of NUC at the instance of the Minister of Education summoned parties involved in the FUOYE VC appointment and gave a strong warning to
Prof. Kayode Soremekun never to interfere with the VC appointment processes again.
However, out of blatant disobedience to the directive of the Executive Secretary, Soremekun defied the instructions and warnings of the ES and attended the Selection Committee’s meeting of Wednesday 16th December, 2020.
This made some members of the Governing Council who were threatened and embarrassed by the insubordination of Prof Soremekun to stage a walk out of the meeting. It took the intervention of the Governing Council Chairman after disgracefully sending the VC out of the meeting venue before the aggrieved members could return to the meeting.
The VC was then mandated to write an apology letter to the Council for that act of insubordination and disrespect to the constituted authority, a copy of which we believe has been turned in to the Council Chairman.
RECKLESSNESS UNDER SOREMEKUN
Kayode Soremekun has been very reckless with the resources of the University in the last five years. He and his cohorts (Olatunbosun Odusanya and Bolatito Akande) have been spending both the Internally Generated Revenue and external grants of the University without approval from the University Governing Council and without recourse to the financial regulations. FUOYE students are the highest paying Federal University students in Nigeria and yet, the staff of the University is starved with their legitimate entitlements.
Contracts and recruitments racketeering have no limits under Prof. Soremekun's watch. In the last ten months when the whole world have been dealing with Covid-19 and its economic impacts, Kayode Soremekun and his cohorts have illegally recruited over 200 personnel in FUOYE without advertisement, submission of application or interview. IPPIS has been tricked to come over to the University to capture the illegally recruited Staff on more than two occasions during the lockdown under the guise that some Academic Staff under ASUU are the ones willing to register on IPPIS platform.
A controversial Distance Learning contract was recently awarded to compensate one Prof. Jegede, the former VC of NOUN who was a former boss of Mr. Olatunbosun Odusanya. Under the contract, certain percentage of the proceeds of the program will be going to Prof. Jegede out of which Soremekun, Mrs. Akande and Mr. Odusanya will also be drawing their kick backs thereby causing a capital flight on the resources of the University.
The same Prof. Jegede has been appointed to be the resource person (Consultant) for a proposed illegal ICT proficiency test for short listed applicants for the Vice-Chancellor position. What will be the level of fairness expected from such test where the Consultant is having an interest to be protected?
Some of these atrocities of Kayode Soremekun and his cohorts are not new as he has files with the Economic and Financial Crime Commissions (EFCC), and he has so far escaped justice by constantly bribing his way through.
The continual stay of Prof. Soremekun as the Vice-Chancellor of FUOYE when it is obvious that he has hidden and nefarious agendas is not healthy for the University.
For the umpteenth time, we call on the Honourable Minister of Education, Executive Secretary NUC, FUOYE Governing Council, all the Unions in FUOYE and all the stakeholders in Nigeria Education sector to rise and put an end to this imperious, undemocratic and tyrannical mode of operation and selection of Vice-Chancellor for FUOYE.
Signed
FUOYE INTEGRITY GROUP.
