On Monday the Senate of the University of Ibadan will convene and decide on the extension or termination of the tenure of the current acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Babatunde Ekanola.
The Senate’s meeting is coming ahead of the expiry date of the present acting VC tenure, which is May 31st, as holding the acting capacity for six months.
Remember that Ekanola had emerged, for a six months tenure, following a lengthy crisis between the immediate past Vice-Chancellor, Professor Idowu Olayinka, and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) over the emergence of the next Vice-Chancellor of the University.
The crisis, including various directives from the Federal Government and its agencies as well as the governing council of the university, had stalled the process of electing the next Vice-Chancellor after 18 persons show interest.
Today’s session might be tumultuous due to clashes of various interests in the stalled Vice Chancellorship race and the emergence of new camps who are expected to push their cases to determine who leads the university moving forward.
At some point of the meeting, the Chairman of Senate, who is the acting Vice-Chancellor, can be asked to stay aside for a while, as he is the major reason for the meeting.
Not only can a new acting vice chancellor be elected, but the Senate might also make a similar decision on the present acting bursar; extension or termination of official capacity.
At the end of the meeting, the Senate’s resolution is to be passed to the newly inaugurated governing council of the university, led by Chief John Odigie-Oyegun for ratification.
The university’s director of Public Communication, Mr Olatunji Oladejo confirmed today’s meeting adding that, “The Senate of the University is the highest decision-making body on academic activities in the university and that it can regulate its activities in its own way.”
Leave a Reply