…as management reveals alleged sex scandal is being investigated by govt agency
President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Bamidele Akpan and Vice-Chancellor, Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Prof Kayode Soremekun have had a robust dialogue to ensure lasting peace is restored to the twin campuses of Oye and Ikole communities of the institution.
The number one Nigerian student, in company of hundreds of student leaders across the 36 states of the federation, met with the VC on Tuesday evening at the VC’s Conference hall of FUOYE’s central administration in Oye campus, where they rubbed minds on a number of issues ranging from reopening the school, lifting ban on Student Union Government (SUG) and reviewing past events that led to a recent tragedy recorded in the killing of two students, Okunofua Joseph and Dada Kehinde allegedly by security men in the convoy of Ekiti State First Lady, Erelu Bisi Fayemi on September 10.
Speaking with the VC and a team of FUOYE’s management and Council members, Akpan said: “We are here in a very sad note first to sympathize with the management and students of the school on the unfortunate students. We have been in Ekiti for three days doing fact finding. We had sent an advanced team to see if , and to ensure that students with capacity to foment trouble are not allowed to do so. No students have been seen fomenting any trouble.
” We identify with you in this kind of grief and assure that our support are with you.
We met with families of the two students who killed by those uncivilized police officials. We have identified those who shot our students as the men of Counter Terrorism Unit of the police.
” What had happened in Oye wouldn’t have warranted the presence of the CTU who are trained to kill. What happened here was peaceful according to our investigation.
” Students didn’t vandalize or destroy anyone’s property. Unfortunately, we were told trouble started after the protest when those who came to give security back up to her Excellency the First Lady of Ekiti State, were in town.
” Having completed our fact finding. We came to the realization that our students did what they had to do within the ambience of the law.
Students had been protest in other climes and no student was killed.
” I give those students of FUOYE kudos for conducting themselves peacefully. We have had cause to caution whenever hoodlums took advantage of the protest to foment trouble.
In this case, none of that had happened , students protested peacefully and after all that the President was summoned by the Fhief Security Officer to Governor and that was when trouble started.
” When we were with the mother of Joseph Okonufua who was felled by the police bullets , she narrated the painfully story of late Joseph of how she had struggled to pay fees of the young man through thick and thin, hoping that one day, he would became a graduate and take care of her at old age but unfortunately Joseph is now dead . For a very long time in my life, I have never had reason to cry but yesterday I wept because I saw a young man who was full of aspiration, who would have been the Governor of Edo State, who had the tenacity and energy to attain that height. But who his life caught short because of the mindlessness of some heartless policemen who shot him.
” We even learnt that he went to the hospital where the first student, Kehinde, was shot, he came back and was shot when he was armless. And I realized that it can be anybody.
” One thing is sacrosanct, that your students were orderly and peaceful, to that extent we are satisfied with what they did. We can only call for peace and say everyone should allow peace to reign.
” We met with the Kabiyesi of Oye-Ekiti and interacted with him and what we discussed was the need to have peace. We want justice.
” You are not the cause, we have been fully briefed that you have been treating the students like your own children we will therefore take the issue of his justice to the appropriately quarters.
” We have heard about the closure of the university which was done to ensure that normalcy returned. We appeal that it is time to reopen the school with the assurance that nothing bad will happen. We have take care of all of that with the students and we are all on the same page.
” We also want to call for your support for the SUG, I have also spoken with the agencies in charge of power and they have promised to do the needful. The students have one or two requests which they wanted me to amplify, first is availability of street lights which will make movement easy for students at anytime on campus.
” We shall help talk to appropriate quarters should you not have the money to do this.
They also want the availability of Wi fi for stronger internet connections. We can also help discuss with the appropriate quarters to assist you on this. The SUG represents the entire students on the campus.
“Let us allow student SUG in the interest of the school management, may I appeal to you to lift the ban on the proscription of FUOYE SUG.
We want a favour which is to the advantage of the school, we urge you to visit the families of the deceased.
“Joseph is yet to be buried as the mum said they have to take his body to Edo state for burial. Azeez in LASUTH is recuperating, we urge your management to see them to restore hope for the students.
” The SUG has not done anything wrong and an attempt to victimize any of them will not be in the interest of any of us. I beg of you to reconsider your stand on the proscription of the SUG. The student Union President was slapped by a policeman when he was summoned by the security men and he obeyed. This was the remote cause of the mayhem. I want to appeal to you as your son to kindly reconsider your decision,” he said.
Prof. Soremekun sounded pleased while responding: “Let me begin by thanking the NANS President, Mr. Bamidele Akpan for how he has addressed us. As I listened to him, what occurred to me is that there is a great deal of hope for this country, contrary to the narrative that our youths are unreliable, he appears to me as an Individual with a lot of cerebral prowess. Having said that, let me say that any narrative can also do with a counter. That is why,we are scholars. I appreciate your narrative, and it can also do with a counter narrative in the spirit of scholarship. Your deposition on the peaceful nature of the protest can easily be faulted. But we will not go into this so as not to jeopardize the probe panel which has been put in place.
We have also visited the families of the bereaved, I will also visit LASUTH when I get to Lagos tomorrow. We are already working on power situation in the school. In the midst of thorns, there are roses; as terrible as this incident was, it has made people to be more conscious about what should be done as regards power not only in our varsities but in our surrounding communities. The issue of power is not only about functionality it is also about our economy. The demands of students are legitimate.
“Prof. Bolaji Aluko has told me that there is a contract of power for the nation’s university system and they will factor FUOYE in it.
Regarding street lights, we intend to go into solar but we need money for that. This country has many tertiary institutions, which are all being run by FG. We only access very small money from the FG and what we have is not enough we are only supplementing that with fees from students.
“Our fees are low but the huge number of students can help. We will put the street lights in place once students begin to pay.
As regards the WiFi, we have been doing our best. When I came here in 2016, the university had no portal.We were being colonized by the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), but now we have ours.
” We are having a meeting on how to strengthen the internet system. It is also in our interest to reopen the university, I can assure you that as soon as practicable, we will reopen the varsity because it is in our own interest. Incidentally, there are structural dynamics in running this place, if senate has taken an action, I have to go back to them to explain to them and persuade them. There will be narratives and counter-narratives; somebody might come up with a superior argument and will have his way. I am also under authority here but will speak with the Chairman of the Council.
“We are having the Council meeting on 3rd and 4th of October, 2019 where we will discuss the issue of reopening. What we did is to put the SUG of FUOYE on hold in order to reorganize, and reassess the situation, to see if it is possible to engage in a paradigm shift.
Even though, we have proscribed the SUG, I have been picking the calls of the executives and they can testify to this.
Once I meet with the University Council, we will sort out this issue..There is a spirit of camaraderie between myself and the students and this will hasten the resolution of the issues. I must let you know that to call a council meeting costs so much.
Responding to the VC’s view, the NANS President said: “We appreciate you for your response on behalf of the 80 million Nigerian students. But those responses have not put us on the same page because we are sad. FUOYE is one of the most expensive universities on the campus for freshers. We also learnt of a sex scandal involving a Professor, an ex-staff of the school and a female student. It was alleged FUOYE management might have killed the case,” he said.
Responding again, the VC reassured that: “We have agreed that the university will be reopened it is only a mechanics of when that will happen. There are different statues provided for universities. With what the statutes provide for us, I can’t reopen the varsity without the senate.Our fees the VC deposed is not exorbitant.
“About the Professor who allegedly ravaged a female student, I am happy you mentioned this, and I will give you an account of what happened. When the issue was brought up, the then dean of students’ affairs set up a panel.Before I could act, we had a senate meeting in which many were very vociferous about the issue. I cautioned them not to overact so we would not be seen as prejudging the case as members of the panel to probe the matter will be drawn from among them
“If I wanted to save him I would have allowed the senate to continue to vent their anger, because it would have amounted to prejudging the case. A good lawyer would have had the chance to extricate the offending Professor.I subsequently set up my own panel based on the rules of the university, and when I saw the findings I was outraged and I decided to suspend the Professor with a view to putting him before the staff disciplinary committee. At that point in time, he threw in his letter which was odd and when I consulted opinion,I was advised that I could not stop him. I then consulted the Council, the council said we should allow him to go as we could still recall him anytime we wanted.
” Shortly after that, we downgraded a colleague and we sensed that his credentials were not what they should be. Before we could act,he also quickly threw in his letter of resignation and according to University rules then, he also had to be allowed to go. It was then that it dawned on us that we had to recast our law because there was a lacuna that made such people to get away. We have since put measures in place to forestall a repeat of the development.
” I am a father of six daughters and I share deeply the pain of the poor girl. A well known Reverend Sister in this University had also approached at the urgings girl’s parents and they pleaded that they didn’t want the case pushed further, probably to protect her image. But in spite of that I still went ahead with the case. One of the government agencies is still investigating the matter and I have given them all the documents to assist them,” he said.
