UNILAG crisis: Resolving the impasse

 

“Without prejudice to the general powers of the University Governing Council to appoint and remove a Vice Chancellor under the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Act 2003 (No. 1 2007), and without apportioning any blame to either the Governing Council or the Vice Chancellor, the University of Lagos Alumni is of the view that before the Council can exercise such powers, it must follow due process, particularly as mandatorily provided under Section 3(8), (9) and (10) of the Act in the removal of the Vice Chancellor and Section 3(13) in the appointment of an acting Vice Chancellor”

– University of Lagos Alumni Association in an August 14, 2020 statement.

I have more than a passing interest in the affairs and well-being of the University of Lagos. The 58-year-old institution is my alma mater where I bagged my first degree before I proceeded to the University of Ibadan for my postgraduate degree after my National Youth Service Corps. It therefore rends my heart to see the foremost university embroiled in a leadership crisis, the type it is currently enmeshed in. Last Wednesday, August 12, 2020, the media reported that the Governing Council of the university met in Abuja where the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, was said to have been removed by a majority of the council members. Since then, the media has been awash with all kinds of stories about what happened during the council meeting. A preponderance of the opinions suggested that due process was not followed in the removal of the VC and that the appointment of Prof. Theophilus Omololu Soyombo, of the sociology department, did not also follow due process.

What were Ogundipe’s offences? The Registrar and Secretary to the Council, Oladejo Azeez, in a press statement after the Council meeting said, “Ogundipe was sacked based on investigation of serious acts of wrongdoing, gross misconduct, financial recklessness and abuse of office”. Shedding more light, the Pro-chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), said the Council indicted Ogundipe for “reckless mismanagement” of university funds. He alleged that Ogundipe renovated his official quarters for N49m without approval from the Council and allocated N41m to the university bursar to renovate his residence to cover up the misdeed. Continuing, Babalakin said after a Committee of Council investigated the finances of the university, the report was sent to all those affected, Ogundipe allegedly wrote his defence to the allegations. Then, he spoke for one hour in his defence. He reportedly had all the opportunity of fair hearing under the law.  However, many of the university unions did not believe what Babalakin said

For instance, the chairman of the local chapter of ASUU, Dr. Dele Ashiru, said that Ogundipe’s removal flouted the university’s regulations. He said Ogundipe was not given an opportunity to defend himself. Ashiru further disclosed that the council disregarded the laws guiding the university by removing Ogundipe and appointing an acting vice-chancellor without due process and that the council ought to request recommendation from the university’s Senate for a choice of person to act as the vice chancellor.

Also a representative of the institution’s Senate on the Governing Council, Prof. Afolabi Lesi, reportedly faulted the process that led to the Governing Council’s decision on Ogundipe. Lesi, who is also the Provost, College Medicine, University of Lagos, alleged discrepancies in the process. According to him, his own analysis of the voting pattern shows that six persons voted that Ogundipe should not be removed as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos while four persons voted for his removal. Others abstained from voting. How then did Lesi come about this tally when it was a secret ballot?

In the opinion of the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Universities, the removal of Ogundipe as VC of UNILAG is a hatchet job. The position of the CVC was made known by its Secretary General, Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, who said: “The chairman of the council knows that the tenure of two members of the council has expired, so he waited for the members not to be in council to get the majority vote”. He argued that the extant laws of the University of Lagos state that one of the three Deputy Vice Chancellors should be appointed to act.

Ogundipe allegedly called a Senate meeting last Thursday, August 13 but Babalakin dismissed the meeting which expressed confidence in the sacked VC’s leadership and called for the dissolution of the Council. He said only the VC could call a Senate meeting, and having been removed, Ogundipe did not have the authority to call one, because he had been sacked.

It was also reported that the UNILAG Alumni Association was saddened by the situation leadership crisis rocking the university and met via Zoom to discuss the issue. President of the association, Dr. John Momoh, said to be one of the four members of Council who voted in favour of retaining Ogundipe during the Council meeting in Abuja. The Alumni association counselled the Governing Council that the status quo ante the Council meeting of Wednesday, August, 12, 2020 be restored while the it continued with its efforts at ensuring that lasting peace and harmony reigned on the campus as between the Council and the university management in particular, and all sections of the university community in general.

Was due process actually followed in Ogundipe’s removal as the VC and the subsequent appointment of Soyombo as an acting VC? Babalakin claims it was. However, it is instructive that all the labour unions in the university from ASUU, to SSANU, NASU, even the Alumni association and others roundly condemned the removal of Ogundipe.  It shows that something isn’t right and that though the allegation of financial recklessness against Ogundipe might not be farfetched, his removal did not follow due process. I therefore implore the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council to summon another meeting where the issue of the sacked Vice Chancellor will be revisited and due process not only done but also seen to have been done.

If indeed Ogundipe misappropriated the university funds, as alleged, let him and others who aided and abetted such infraction be punished. I am not comfortable with the invitation to the university Visitor, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), as well as the Minister of Education to intervene. This intervention is an affront to the university autonomy and may not help the cause of those calling for such involvement. The Governing Council has been given the power to hire and fire university vice chancellors. I strongly believe that Babalakin meant well for the progress and development of UniLag and I commend him for that.

As a legal luminary and a scion of an eminent jurist, he should reconvene another Council meeting where Ogundipe’s case will be amicably resolved. If need be, members of the Council could adopt open ballot system in their decisions. The other option is what Ogundipe has reportedly done which is to approach the court for redress. That is laudable. Law and order must not be allowed to break down in the Ivory Tower. I read someone comparing what is happening in UNILAG to what happened to Prof Eni Njoku in 1965 when he was replaced with Prof. Saburi Biobaku. While that may have been done along ethno-political lines, this time round, Babalakin and Ogundipe belong to the Yoruba race. So, the two incidents amount to comparing apples and oranges. It is not  beyond the UNILAG community to resolve this leadership tussle. Greatest Akokites, let’s give peace a chance!