FUOYE ASUU chairperson under fire as Group accuses him of sabotage

As leadership crisis continues to trail the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, the Civil Society Groups for Good Governance CSGGG, has accused the Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of the instituton – Dr. Akinyemi Omonijo – of sabotaging the University management’s programmes and policies aimed at expanding the academic and infrastructure base of the institution.

The rift which has been ongoing between the institution’s ASUU Chairman and the Vice Chancellor, has made the atmosphere in conducive for scholarly activities. Part of the criticism the ASUU chair made against the VC is that he appointed a Professor without Ph.D to head the Law Department, a claim the CSO’s faulted.

The President, Mr Ogakwu Dominic, in a statement on Wednesday, regretted that the ASUU Chairman’s consistent opposition of the University management was not in the interest of the institution as the local chapter ASUU Chairman has constituted himself into an authority that must be obeyed by all – management, staff and students – or the University will be crippled.

He said: “Available records show that the Vice Chancellor of FOUYE in consonance with the government’s strategy on boosting national productivity embarked on a massive infrastructural and intellectual content expansion. This is evidenced in the expansion of the University from an existing four Faculties to eight presently, with marching infrastructure. Other novel projects have been undertaken by the current Management which should be a welcome development to anyone who appreciates the dire need for quality and accessible education. These however are at cross purposes with Dr. Omonijo’s prism of reasoning as he feels the Institution should maintain status quo”.

The group further accused the Dr. Omoniji of abusing his office and called on the ASUU national body to reign in its local chapter chairman whose activities it said was a disservice to the academia.

“Our findings indicate that Dr. Omonijo has abused his Office – as Chairman of ASUU – and is still using the Office in a manner antithetical to the forward voyage of academics in Federal University Oye-Ekiti. Dr. Omonijo has flouted all the agreements and resolutions of the FOUYE ASUU Congress, he has pitted himself as Lord of the Manor with a blinding rage only bent on tearing down whatever achievements the University is recording all in a bid to cast aspersion on the image of the Institution. This action goes against the grain of academic ethos and stands to be condemned in the Court of erudition.

“Part of the criticism leveled against the VC is that he appointed a professor without PHD to head the Law Department but this is actually not the case. ASUU as a credible body should know better as this is not a matter to dwell on as there are records of several professors without Ph.D who are excellent in their tour of duty. Only recently, having a PHD was never a criteria for being made a professor and it is crystal clear that the said individual was made professor long before he was engaged by FUOYE.

“The recent rankings of Universities by the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) indicate that FUOYE is the best ranked among the newly established Universities. This clearly tells that a sound administrative team is at the helms of affairs at the University. Let it be emphasized that in a congregation of Academics one man cannot claim to be right at all times and on all issues while discrediting the greater percentage of the congregation all of the time. ASUU is thus invited to reprimand her local Chapter Chairman at FUOYE to rescue the University from the contrived crisis Dr. Omonijo is brewing. Dr. Omonijo has been feeding ASUU with a concoction of falsehood FUOYE is lacking in laboratories and other facilities essential o learning. It is imperative that the facts be made bare before ASUU that the Institution performed creditably well and came first at the Committee of Deans of Engineering Students (CODES) debate recently held. The leadership of ASUU is thus requested to embark on an assessment of the facilities at FUOYE as evidences on ground indicate contrary to Omonijo’s assertion and we pained that ASUU is led to believe this ignoble narrative”.