Senate, Unilag
Members of the University of Lagos Senate who were led by their chairman, Prof Chioma Agomo, have attempted visiting the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, but were reported to have met the Minister of State for Education instead.
The chairman, while briefing the newsmen after the meeting, said although they did not meet the President, they dropped a letter of the resolution of the Senate adding that Ogundipe’s sacking without due process was a dangerous model for the university system in Nigeria. In her words:
“We are here on behalf of the Senate of the University of Lagos. We came to the Villa because the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a visitor to the university, so we thought we should pay a courtesy call to the Villa because we had gone to the appropriate authorities to give them the resolution of the Senate concerning the event that is unfolding on the university.
“On August 13, we had an emergency meeting, attended by 91 professors. What was the issue? We want to make it known that the purported removal of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos did not follow due process. Therefore, it is illegal and cannot stand. We are not saying that the council has no right to remove the vice-chancellor.
“There is a laid-down procedure in the extant laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The law provides the procedure for the removal of the vice-chancellor that there should be a joint committee of the Senate and the Governing Council. This has not been followed. The rule of law has been trampled on the ground. We are talking about the life and soul of the rule of law, of fairness and justice, not just for the University of Lagos, but for the entire university system and indeed the entire nation.
“We are not saying our vice-chancellor has or has not committed any offense. Binding allegations here and there is begging the issue. The issue is, if you say he has done something wrong, follow due process. And if he is found guilty, so be it.”
Agomo however disclosed that the Senate has lost confidence in the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of UNILAG, Dr. Wale Babalakin, suggesting that the council should be dissolved.
Recall that the UNILAG governing council had on August 12, the first day of its meeting, announced Ogundipe’s sacking and appointed Prof Theophilus Soyombo as the new vice-chancellor.
Supporting the stand of the Senate, Babalakin yesterday at the MMA2 on his arrival in Lagos from Abuja, where the school’s governing council had been in a three-day meeting, defended Ogundipe’s sacking, accusing him of looting the university’s treasury “recklessly” and criticizing his style of confronting his employers (the governing council) with legal action over his removal. In his words, he said:
“Without mentioning to anybody, Ogundipe spent N49m renovating his official house; he sought no approval for this. To cover it up, he gave the bursar N41m to renovate his official residence. An investigation found out that he exceeded his authority. He was paying security vote to the Dean of Students’ Affairs without anyone authorising it.”
Meanwhile, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Universities in Nigeria on Friday faulted Ogundipe’s sacking because it didn’t follow due process and while calling on the UNILAG governing council to follow due process in Ogundipe’s removal, the organization said the embattled vice-chancellor should be given an opportunity to defend himself.
However, the newly appointed acting Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Omololu Soyombo, has said his appointment is a call to service with the overall objective of fostering an atmosphere of peace in the university. In a statement signed by Shoyombo, he noted that it was a position of responsibility that was entrusted upon him which he accepted out of a sense of duty to the University.