Prof. Ezekiel Ayoola, one of the UI controversial candidates to selection committee and a caucus member of the outgoing UI Vice Chancellor, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, sent an SMS to his Dean of Science, Prof. Ayodele but mistakenly landed in another Prof. Ayodele’s of Ecotourism number.
This message which had gone viral within the University community and on social media, was sent on Wednesday morning of Oct. 28, the day the shortlisted six Vice Chancellor candidates were to be interviewed by five-member panel in which he is a member.
The short message made available to our correspondent is:
“We thank God my Dean. We can see that God already answered our prayers. It shall be permanent. Greetings to Adebowale, our wonderful candidate. His papers/ application is second to none. We shall celebrate today. Regards”.
The import of the message, which is generating ripples on UI campus, is that the interview will be a walk over for Adebowale.
This is so because they have made the Ministry of Education Representative a panel member who was to be an observer as advised by the Registrar.
The panel members are Nde Joshua Waklek (Chairman of Council), Sir Ben Okoronkwo, Dr Ms.Uchena Uba, (Rep Min. of Education),Prof. Ezekiel Ayoola and Prof. Peter Olapegba.
Were it not for the protest by the Joint Action Committees of SSANU and NASU on that day insisting on due process in the appointment of a new Vice Chancellor, the Panel would have foisted Adebowale on the UI Community as the new vice Chancellor.
Even the outgoing Vice Chancellor too sent another text to DVC Academic, (Ekanola) in which he wrote that “That Registrar is incompetent, a fool and Idiot, but we dealt with her”.
This is because the Registrar called the attention of the Council members to the role of the Representative of the Federal Ministry of Education that her role should be that of observer as against a member of the 5-man panel which the council rejected under the Chairman Joshua Waklek.
Though, she is a member of Council but the argument is that she is representing the supervising Ministry, and should as a matter of decency, watch proceedings so that she can write a detailed and unbiased report to the Ministry.
To also pave way for Adebowale, the preferred candidate of the outgoing UI Vice Chancellor, some very qualified Professors like Olapade-Olaopa, Raji- Oyelade were deliberately screened out as the only Ibadan indigene on the shortlist despite confirmed information that Adebowale is not truly an Ibadan indigene.
As it is now, the unions are awaiting the response of the Ministry of Education to its petitions as well as from the council.
Already, ASUU-UI had asked its members to stay away from the proposed convocation ceremony being planned by the outgoing Vice Chancellor for next week Nov. 17.
