Ile-Ife community yesterday alleged that the management of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) refused to appoint its indigene as the Vice Chancellor (VC) because of the land dispute between the community and the institution.
The community, through the Ife Development Board (IDB), said the varsity thought that if an indigene of the ancient town was given such an appointment, he might cede the disputed land to the community.
In a statement, the President of the board, Lawrence Awowoyin, said: “The crux of the matter is a pending land dispute between the community and the university since the emergence of the outgoing Vice Chancellor, Prof. Tope Ogunbodede.”
He said the management discriminated against any candidate of Ife origin because of controversial parcel of land, which the university was claiming.
Awowoyin noted that “we had advised the university that their purported claims were invalid. We, therefore, sought dialogue with the university authorities, asking them to produce gazetted documentary evidence in their possession so that both parties could easily reconcile their conflicting claims. The university consistently refused to avail us of such documents in support of their claims.
“The administration of Prof. Ogunbodede turned a simple dispute resolution process into an unbelievable war of attrition, alleging criminality against members of the community and wilfully waging a media campaign that sought to malign and undermine our leaders in the eyes of the world, thereby disrupting the peaceful and mutually respectful relationship of many decades.
“Prof. Ogunbodede and his collaborators have since convinced themselves that if a candidate of Ife origin emerges as the vice chancellor, he/she will automatically determine the outstanding land matter in our community’s favour. With such a subjective mindset, he has tried to poison and mislead the Governing Council and officials of the Federal Government to believe in such false assumptions and wrong conclusions. This devious attitude, therefore, set the stage for the discrimination being suffered by one of our sons, Prof. R. A. Adedoyin, who is contesting the vice chancellorship.”
OAU spokesman Abiodun Olarewaju said: “The Ile-Ife community has petitioned the Federal Government over the process that led to the appointment of Prof. Adebayo Bamire. Let them wait for the outcome now! Instead of this name-calling.