From Kehinde Adewole
Strong indications emerged at the weekend that Lecturers at the Federal University Oye Ekiti have again disowned Professor Olu Olu the ASUU Zonal Coordinator who was interviewed in a newspaper recently. This was done in response to the damaging comments which the ASUU Zonal Coordinator made against the FUOYE University management.
This is just as other members of the union in FUOYE who have held chief positions at the local EXCO level have come out to again, disown Prof Olu Olu the ASUU Zonal Coordinator over comments he passed against the out-going VC and his Management team in a recent interview he granted a national daily. While denying all allegations of mismanagement Prof. Olu had leveled against the VC and his Management team, the ASUU members said the zonal Coordinator was speaking only for himself and not for any member of ASUU in FUOYE.
Speaking with our Correspondent, a leader of the ASUU faction in FUOYE, Prof. Sola Omotola said his group, The Concerned ASUU (CASUU)still stands on its position since 2018 when the leadership crisis broke out that Omonijo has been impeached as FUOYE ASUU local branch chairman because he lacks the kind of leadership which embraces democratic and progressive principles. It will be recalled that CASUU members, through their spokesman, Dr Wasiu Oyedokun-Ali, had in December 2018 press briefing, accused ASUU, Akure zone of fueling crisis in FUOYE.
Oyedokun Ali, while making known CASUU’s stand,Dr Oyedokun said it was wrong for Olu-Olu to have taken sides with Dr. Omonijo when the problem was still at its infancy.
The group said that it decided to take the bull by the horn to rescue the union from those who had decided to run it like a ‘cult.’
He debunked allegations of illegal promotions, mismanagement of funds and gross incompetence, among other accusations levelled by the now disowned and impeached Omonijo-led ASUU against FUOYE VC, describing them as baseless and unfounded.
Oyedokun said: “Our members felt the problem was not really about ASUU; it was about one man, Dr Omonijo. To us, impeaching him has been the only way for us to make progress; that is where we stand.
“ASUU congress had earlier met in October, 2018 and resolved that Dr Omonijo must be removed. The motion was moved and the resolution taken to that effect but efforts to realise that was sabotaged by Prof Olu-Olu, because he stopped the letter we sent to ASUU National Executive Committee.
“Despite this, we insist that the Congress is supreme and we decided to assert its supremacy and proceed with the impeachment. On that, we stand.”
A former Secretary of ASUU at the local branch in FUOYE who served with Dr. Omonijo , Dr. Jonathan Mbachaga, said: “Dr. Omonijo has been a high-handed leader when he was the ASUU chairman. From my understanding,ASUU members in FUOYE have since denounced his leadership due to his high handedness and insensitivity.
“My personal encounter with him as a former Secretary of ASUU testifies to the fact that he wanted to run ASUU Secretariat as his personal estate. What we are waiting for now is for the Covid 19 crisis to be completely over so that internally the union can do another election for a new chairman for our local branch
Reacting to Olu Olu’s claims that he was not appointable as a Professor, Professor Abayomi Fasina, FUOYE’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, (DVC), Administration, said he had gone on Sarbactical leave to FUOYE before his appointment as Visiting Professor, adding that the appointment followed due process and had the approval of the Federal Character Commission who witnessed the interview.: “What Professor Olu Olu said in that interview are just same old lies.
After my Sabbatical leave and it was clear I still had some workloads to complete and I had to use my accumulated leave to complete the workloads. After that, l was appointed as Visiting Professor to FUOYE. Later, the VC found me useful in other important areas such as administration and security matters on campus and asked me to apply for permanent appointment with FUOYE I was interviewed and the representative of federal character commission was present at the interview and I was appointed as a Professor in FUOYE. Federal Character commission also gave a letter of compliance to back up my appointment. This made me to transfer my service from EKSU to FUOYE in September, 2017.
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” As for Prof Olu Olu’s comments that our VC has refused to pay Dr. Omonijo half of his salary since his suspension for gross misconduct, the truth is that it was Dr. Omonijo himself who dragged the University to court over the Management’s position that he committed gross misconduct.So, as he himself knows, until the court proceeding is over, he cannot be paid. It is even a contempt of the Court for Prof Olu Olu to be discussing such matter on the pages of the newspapers, ” he said. But then that is ASUU leadership for you,he concluded.
Barrister Ige is the Convener of Congress for University Academics (CONUA), FUOYE chapter, CONUA is a break away from ASUU with local branches in some Universities across the country.
While attributing his group’s decision to break away from ASUU in FUOYE to leadership crisis blamed on Dr. Omonijo, he said: “
I have met the Management on the matter of Dr. Omonijo and l discovered the offence he was alleged to have committed as an academic staff. He did not make himself available to all internal mechanism of resolving issues in the University but instead, ran to Court where he is at present.
Besides, Management availed us of information of another pending disciplinary matter against him where he was queried for covering up for another staff who travelled outside the country without permission. That is the type of leaders we have.
” Congress for University Academics (CONUA), FUOYE chapter, broke away from ASUU as a result of the opaque leadership style of the Omonijo led group in the school. We as a group do not have any secret pact with anybody in the University, whether the Management or otherwise, we choose to chart a new path when it became obviuos to us that the leadership of ASUU in FUOYE has embarked on a wrong cause and they are increasing their speed when it is obvious they are already embarking on a trip in the wrong direction.
” The remnant of ASUU in FUOYE has disowned the zonal Coordinator, Prof. Olu Olu several times and l doubt if he is talking on behalf of FUOYE ASUU. He must be talking for himself.
We challenge Prof Olu Olu to come to FUOYE to put his house in order by resolving the crisis in ASUU that has split the union at the local branch into four factions and fractions. May be he is not aware that we now have four different factions of ASUU in FUOYE. He should tell us which faction he is speaking for. Prof. Olu Olu should know that as a matter of fact, today in FUOYE, we have four factions of ASUU namely Congress of Nigerian Academics (CONUA), New Academic Staff Union (NASUF), Concerned Academic Staff Union of Universities (CASUU), and the disowned and impeached Omonijo faction. And l made bold to say other factional leaders of ASUU in FUOYE have disowned Prof Olu Olu several times even on the pages of national dailes, so l don’t know which faction of ASUU he is speaking for as we challenge him to come to FUOYE for a popularity test by first putting his house in order as he is known for crying wolf at the zonal level without making concrete efforts at putting his house in order at the local level in FUOYE.”
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