AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has been urged to intervene in the ‘injustice’ being meted out to indigenes of Oyo town regarding the appointment of principal officers for the Emmanuel Alayande University, Oyo.
To avert crisis, an association within the ancient town called the Oyo Heritage Group, said that the governor should make necessary changes in the appointment.
A statement signed by Alhaji Gbola Busari, made available to Oyo Reporters in Ibadan, read that contrary to the directive of the governor that all the zones in the state should be evenly represented in the appointment, the Governing Board of the Institution, led by Prof. Ayo Ogunkunle, manipulated the process to the detriment of Oyo people.
The statement titled, ‘Why the hatred against Oyo?’ read, “Quite unfortunate, irritating and insulting is the way the Governing Council of the Emmanuel Alayande University, Oyo, handled the process of ongoing appointment of Bursar and Registrar which commenced on 27th March, 2024.
“Contrary to the goodwill and equity posture of the Governor, as stated in his speech during the inauguration of the Governing Council of the University that apart from the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor which he had made, all other management positions should be shared according to zones of the State, the Council rubbished the good intention of the Governor, pencilled down someone who finished few days ago as Bursar of The Polytechnic, Ibadan for appointment as Bursar of the University.
“Interestingly, the person is currently under the investigation of the ICPC for financial corruption to the tune of N20m. This is said to be a fund from TETFUND for the sponsorship of a lecturer in the Department of Quantity Surveying, Dr Babatunde Dosumu, for a Ph.D study abroad.
“In the same vein, a person who has acted as Registrar of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo for almost four years and continues in same role under the University, (who is not an indigene of Oyo State, but from Osun), has also been penciled down for appointment as Registrar when an Oyo indigene came first in the interview.”
According to the statement, this is contrary to the interview report that one candidate from Ibadan zone had the highest score for the Bursar position, while one candidate from Oyo zone had the highest score for Registrar position.
“The Council considered the importance of inclusivity in the appointment process and since the two candidates exhibited the highest competence level and came from different geo-political zones of the state, the two of them were recommended to the University Governing Council to be appointed as Principal officers of the University.
“Ibadan zone had already taken up two seats in the Management when the Council appointed one Ibadan man as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and another Ibadan man as Director of Academic Planning, following the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor who is from the Ibarapa zone.”
The group tasked Governor Makinde on the need to investigate what it described as the manipulative tendencies by the institution’s Governing Council. It called for a redress in line with principles of decency, fairness and justice.
