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Tag: FUOYE

  • FUOYE’s unending crisis

    FUOYE’s unending crisis

    The crisis between the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) and the workers has taken a new turn. The school is accussing Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose of fuelling the strike.  ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA examines the scenario.

    The crisis at the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) is not over yet. Last week, a new twist was added to the workers-management face-off when the Vice Chancellor, Prof Kayode Soremekun, alleged that the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, was fuelling the crisis by instigating the workers against the management.

    As at the time of this report, the gates of the institution have been shut by workers, who are demanding sundry allowances and colleagues’ promotion.

    The twist was added to the crisis on Wednesday, last week, when the union leaders allegedly unleashed terror on memebres of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), who were not part of the industrial action. The aggrieved workers allegedly dragged and beat some lecturers for their failure to join the strike. They were also alleged to have hung fetish objects at the main gate of the university, supposedly to scare visitors away.

    According to the management, the development forced it to contact the police, who arrested the chairmen of the three unions – Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) – Mutiu Ademola, Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) – Dada Adebayo, and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) – Ekundayo Ajibaye – for disrupting the peace.

    Briefing newsmen last  weekend, Soremekun claimed that the crisis in the university was being fuelled, sponsored and instigated by Fayose. He alleged that the governor used the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Modupe Alade, as a front to secure the release of the union leaders.

    “The unionists were becoming so unruly in recent time. In fact, they beat up some lecturers and we called for their arrest only for the SSG to bail them out, acting on the governor’s directive,” Soremekun told reporters. Nonetheless, Governor Fayose denied it all.

    Speaking on his behalf, his  Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said as the chief security officer of the state, Fayose’s priority was to protect the entire state and not dabble into irrelevances.

    The union leaders have also shot back at Soremekun, saying their release was secured by their national leaders.

    The crisis started in January when workers protested over non-payment of about three months salary arrears and Hazard Allowances. Workers also alleged Soremekun of carrying out questionable employment in contravention of the federal character. They accused the VC of engaging on frequent trips abroad, despite the school’s financial constraint.

    But Soremekun, who denied the allegations, said he sits on boards of many foundations and global bodies across the world, which usually facilitate his trips abroad whenever the need arises.

    The unions claimed that the recent promotion carried out in May was marred by favoritism and irregularities. Workers also kicked against an average score of 85 per cent pass mark set by management as against the  60 per cent entrenched in the Condition of Service for senior staff in the university. They alleged that certain workers, who scored below 85 per cent were promoted, leaving many others, who equally deserved promotion on merit.

    The two parties eventually went for negotiation in February, brokered by the Ekiti State Office of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity. They both agreed that all arrears would be paid within five days of suspending the strike, The Nation learnt.

    Explaining the rationale for last week’s crisis, workers claimed that the VC refused to sign the said agreement, adding that this fuelled their fears that the management was not ready to honour the pact.

    During the briefing, FUOYE management further accused Fayose of sponsoring the union leaders to launch physical attacks on lecturers and other workers in the Registry.

    Soremekun said the unions’ actions almost resulted into anarchy as students wanted to launch a counter-attack, but the management promptly waded in.

    The VC said the union leaders invaded the Bursary Unit, ejected workers forcefully, and deflated tyres of vehicles parked.  He lamented that the incident coincided with the meeting of the university’s Governing Council, which had to relocate to Ado-Akiti to conclude its agenda because of the chaotic atmosphere.

    He listed some of those wounded by the unionists to include: the Dean of Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Babatope Alabadan; Dr Ayodele A Fajinmi and Dr Olatunde Oyelawon of the Department of Crop Science and Mechanical Engineering respectively.

    Others were: Messrs. Tunde Ogundana and Olawale Sanni both of Department of Mechanical Engineering; Head of Department of Physics, Dr Olusayo Olubosede and Dr Kikelomo Oluwalola, an adjunct staff member. Another victim, Mr. GabrielOkoli of the Department of Computer Engineering got his car vandalised during the attack, management added.

    According to Soremekun, the Registrar, Mr. Daniel Adeyemo was almost manhandled by the unionists.

    Ahead of last week’s attack, Soremekun recalled that the union leaders were given queries, which they refused to answer, adding that they also shunned a panel set up to investigate their activities.

    The VC accused Fayose of exerting pressure on him while he served as the Chief Returning Officer (CRO) for the Edo State governorship election by sending one of his (Fayose) aides to him.

    He claimed that Fayose had allegedly been after his life after serving as the CRO in the election last September, which saw Governor Godwin Obaseki of the All Progressives Congress defeating the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

    Soremekun said: “I am not a politician and I didn’t expect the governor to be sponsoring violence against me. Before the Ondo State governorship election, it was rumoured that I would be the Chief Returning Officer and before I could blink an eye, Fayose released my phone to the world where all sorts of messages were being sent to me.

    He continued: “Although I occupy a political position, but I am not a politician; the next election held was that of Ondo State and they thought I was going to be the Chief Returning Officer only to be sending horrible text messages to me.

    “As I speak with you now, my life and those of the Registrar and other management members are not safe. It is as bad as that.This fight is meant to save the soul of our university against partisanship. It is a fight against principalities and power of darkness in high places, working to politicise and destabilise our university.”

    Soremekun denied employing over 300 workers. He explained that few numbers of staff were employed to fill some vacancies and in deference to the principle of federal character.

    Fayose challenged Soremekun for having the gut to order the arrest of the protesters.

    “The Vice Chancellor is the one that should search his conscience whether or not he is doing the right thing concerning the management of the university,” Fayose said.

    “Be that as it may, it sounds so illogical that head of a university will stand before the press to say that university staff should be arrested and detained by the police for protesting,”the governor added.

    The union leaders, however, described Soremekun’s allegation as an attempt to gain the sympathy of the federal authorities and the public.

    Ajibaye said the unions were primarily concerned about the welfare of their colleagues and payment of their benefits and promotion of those who deserve it.

    Ajibaye said: “There is no truth in the allegation by the VC that the governor is sponsoring unions in FUOYE. The allegation should be disregarded by the entire public and the authorities.

    “The VC is only trying to deceive the public and the authorities in Abuja to cover his inefficiency. This VC in January stopped the payment of occupational Hazard Allowance to academic technologists in the university.

    “This is an allowance that is component of monthly salary paid by the Federal Government and has been appropriated in the university’s budget. This allowance has been part of the staff salary for four years now in the university.

    “This is a VC who, in the space of one year, has employed over 320 illegally without proper approval. In a bid to cover up this crime, the management recently did a kangaroo regularisation of appointments and forwarded few names to the Federal Character Commission as if due process were followed.”

    Ajibaye claimed that the national representatives of the unions that visited FUOYE management to seek a truce left in frustration because the VC was not cooperative.

    Ademola also denied the union’s involvement in the attacks on lecturers last week. He said workers’ grouse was further fuelled by the VC’s refusal to sign the aforementioned tripartite agreement.

    Agreeing with Ademola, Adebayo said the union was left with no choice than to picket the Bursary Unit, adding that though the agreement stated that workers’ arrears and salaries must be paid within five days of suspending the strike, NASU was disappointed that the management failed to fulfill its part of the bargain 17 days after the unions suspended the strike.

    He said the union found that the management intentionally delayed the payment to punish workers for their participation in the strike earlier in the year.

    Adebayo said: “The general public is hereby informed that the bail of the union leaders illegally arrested was not secured by the SSG, but by representatives of the national bodies of SSANU, NAAT and NASU. The letter written and signed by the representatives is at the police headquarters for the world to see.”

    The university’s Students’ Representative Council (SRC) the equivalent of Student Union Government (SUG), appealed to all parties to sheathe their swords in the interest of peace.

    “We want the crisis to be resolved, all parties in the crisis should come to the negotiation table in the interest of all students, who want to graduate at the right time.

    “Unions came to classes last Wednesday and stopped lectures, we are not happy that academic activities are now at a standstill. The earlier the crisis is resolved the better for everybody,” said the Deputy Speaker of FUOYE SRC, Miss Monjolaoluwa Bamiteko.

    Ekiti State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Mr. Alberto Adeyemi, told The Nation that the union members were invited for clarification and were allowed to go after issues were sorted out.

    Adeyemi explained that the union leaders were not detained at the command’s headquarters.

    “We invited them (union leaders) for clarification and they made their statements and left. That is all I can say for now,” Adeyemi said:

    Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) was one of the nine universities established by the Federal Government in 2011 under former President Goodluck Jonathan. The purpose of their establishment was to make their host states have more Federal presence, while also generating employment opportunities.

    Unfortunately, FUOYE appears to have been more crisis-ridden since inception, owing to frequent showdown between management and the unions.

    Only three Vice Chancellors had presided over FUOYE since the institution was established. Its pioneer VC Prof Chinedu Nebo, left to take up an appointment as Minister of Power under the immediate past administration. However, Nebo’s successor Prof Innocent Asuzu, whose stay at FUOYE was brief, had a running battle with all the unions. Except ASUU, Soremekun’s administration has also been wriggling in crisis by three other unions, leading to strikes and forceful closure of the university.

     

  • Promotion marred by irregularities, allege FUOYE workers

    Workers of Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Oye-Ekiti have urged the Federal Government to investigate the last promotion, which they alleged was marred by nepotism, favouritism and irregularities.

    They hailed the government’s decision to name the university after ex-Military Governor of the defunct Western State, the late Maj.-Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo.

    “The honour bestowed on the great man is a welcome development for his contributions to the country’s unity and progress,” the workers said in a statement.

    Speaking under the aegis of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT),  they demanded the sack of the Registrar, Mr. Daniel Adeyemo.

    The workers condemned management’s insistence that only workers who scored 85 per cent and above as average in their APER form would be promoted, as against 50 per cent in the extant rules.

    The unions alleged that only cronies of the management benefited from the promotion, adding that due process was set aside.

    The workers conveyed their positions in a joint statement by the chairmen of NASU, Adebayo Dada; SSANU, Mutiu Ademola and NAAT, Ekundayo Ajibaye.

    The university spokesman, Godfrey Bakji, described the unions’ allegations as false, baseless and unfounded, saying promotion was done, based on vacancies.

    He said the workers could not substantiate their allegations of corruption, promotion irregularities and favouritism, adding that anybody who levelled an allegation must substantiate it.

    Bakji said there was no reason to demand the sack of the registrar, adding that he had not gone outside the university’s statutes in performing his duties.

  • Attah Igala made FUOYE’s Chancellor

    The Federal University at Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) at the weekend held its maiden convocation ceremony where the Attah Igala, HRH Michael Idakwo, Ameh Oboni II, was installed its Chancellor.

    Five hundred and four students for the 2014/2015 and 2016/2016 sessions got certificates their first degrees.

    Ten of the graduates made First Class honours.

    The university conferred honorary doctorate degrees on four personalities, including 100-year-old former Headn Teacher of Ekiti Parapo College at Ido-Ekiti, Prince Adepoju Akomolafe; 92-year-old former Head Teacher of Queen’s College in Lagos, Mrs. Efunjoke Coker; 89-year-old former Head Teacher of Aramoko District Commercial Secondary School at Aramoko-Ekiti, Chief Francis Daramola and an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) expert, Dr Babatope Agbeyo.

    Only Daramola was present to be decorated among the honourees; the rest were represented.

    The university set up an Endowment Fund for capital projects, such as roads, lecture theatres, lecture rooms, faculty buildings, sports centres, laboratories, hostels, utility vehicles to facilitate learning and research.

    The endowment fund is shopping for N30 billion to be raised over five years to execute the projects.

    The Attah promised to live up to expectation and justify the confidence reposed in him by the Visitor, President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The monarch, who is also the President of Kogi State Council of Traditional Rulers, urged the Federal Government to inject more funds into universities to compete favourably with their peers around the world.

    The Vice Chancellor, Prof Kayode Soremekun, expressed satisfaction that FUOYE had grown since it admitted the first set of students in 2012.

    He said the university, which had three faculties and 29 programmes at inception, now has seven faculties and 49 programmes.

    Soremekun said the university had improved on the Webometric ranking and the National Universities Commission (NUC) ranking, which rated it as the first among the newly-created federal universities and 14th best in Nigeria.

  • Retired principals for FUOYE honorary doctorates

    Retired principals for FUOYE honorary doctorates

    •VC says honours not only for the rich

    A centenarian and retired principal of Ekiti Parapo College, Ido-Ekiti, Chief Adepoju Akomolafe, come Saturday 29th of this month, will be conferred with a honorary doctorate degree at the maiden convocation of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE).

    Akomolafe will be honored alongside 89-year-old retired principal of Christ’s School, Ado Ekiti, Chief Francis Daramola, as well as the first indigenous principal of Queen’s College, Lagos, Mrs. Efunjoke Coker.

    The trio will be conferred with honorary Doctor of Educational Administration for their immense contribution to education, scholarship and manpower development in the country.

    Speaking at a pre-convocation briefing last week, FUOYE Vice Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, said honorary doctorate degrees should not be the exclusive preserve of moneybags.

    Soremekun said: “The gesture is to remember these great Nigerians, who had in their own ways contributed to scholarship. It is sad that we are all suffering from amnesia which makes us forget people so easily.

    “The people we only remember are politicians. With this, we will be setting a new moral standard for the Nigerian society

  • FUOye matriculates 3,000

    The Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), at the weekend, matriculated 3,000 students with a warning against them joining unregistered and anti-social organisations.

    The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, said the number of students seeking admission into the institution had doubled.

    The FUOYE boss said he was delighted to preside over the sixth matriculation, which was his first since taking office.

    He described the number of matriculating students as the highest since the university’s establishment in 2012.

    Soremekun added that the management was making efforts to provide more hostels, lecture theatres, laboratories, medical, water and alternative power supply to make teaching, learning and research more conducive.

    The VC said the management had concluded arrangements to establish a revenue board to supervise business ventures, such as bakery, guest house, laundry services, postgraduate school, distance learning, among others.

  • Ekiti ANA, FUOYE to host Okediran

    The Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) and the Ekiti State Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) are hosting former  ANA National President Dr Wale Okediran as the guest writer at the school’s February Monthly Reading today.

    ANA State Coordinator and Secretary Akogun Tai Oguntayo and Dr Olumide Ogunrotimi said the reading would hold at the university auditorium, after the state’s first ANA Convention where new leaders would be elected to lead the chapter for the next two years.

    FUOYE Vice Chancellor Prof Kayode Soremekun is the chief host, while ANA National President Mr Denja Abdulla will be the Chief Guest of Honour at the reading expected to be attended by writers, scholars and literary enthusiasts from within and outside Ekiti State.

    Okediran, a multiple award-winning author, is the founder of the Ebedi International Writers Residency, Iseyin, Oyo State.

    His novel, Tenants of The House, was a co-winner of the 2012 Wole Soyinka African Literature Prize while his latest one, Keepers of The Tribe, was recently released by Nelson Publishers PLC.

    On why FUOYE accepted to host the event, Soremekun said: “Apart from our resolve to encourage the dwindling reading culture among our students, it is also our determination to put FUOYE on the front burner of academic excellence in Nigeria. One of the ways to achieve this is to collaborate with a viable and educative organisation such as ANA which is a non-political and non-religious organisation.”

    The ANA, with chapters in 32 states, was established in 1981 at the University of Nigeria Nsukka by  the late Prof Chinua Achebe, who was its first national president.

    Some of the association’s past national presidents are Prof Femi Osofisan, Prof Kole Omotoso, Odia Ofeimun,  Abubakar Gimba, Professor Olu Obafemi, Dr Wale Okediran, Dr Jerry Agada and Prof Remi Raji.

     

  • NASU, SSANU and the rumpus in FUOYE

    As a senior public-spirited citizen, I have watched with dismay and unease the unfolding drama between the authorities of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) and some workers’ unions. The unions under reference are the Non-Academic Staff Union and the Senior Staff Union of Nigerian Universities.
    In my capacity as a free-wheeling journalist, I was able to have a comprehensive insight into the nature of the issues which have brought the young university to a near-standstill in recent weeks.
    Incidentally, the platform was provided by the interactive session between the vice-chancellor of the university, Prof. Kayode Soremekun and newspaper correspondents in Ado-Ekiti.
    As far as I could gather from the interaction, three main issues constitute the bone of contention.
    The first has to do with the fact that outstanding salaries are being owed for two months. The second revolves around the issue of promotions while the last one, which is arguably the most important and intractable, centres on the issue of hazard allowance.
    In his response, the vice chancellor proceeded to take on the issues in turn. As regards outstanding salaries, he pointed out that, as of Monday, January 9, when the press conference was being held, November salaries had been paid and to boot; December salaries though late, would hit the workers’ bank accounts on that day. And true to the vice-chancellor’s words, the workers are not being owed any salary.
    On the second issue, Soremekun pointed out that modalities were in place to carry out the promotion exercise. In this respect, he pointed out that earlier on, the management had had to accede to the workers’ earlier demands by jettisoning the idea of conducting promotion examinations.
    On the issue of hazard allowance, the vice-chancellor told the journalists that only one union, that is, the National Association of Academic Technologists, had the statutory power to draw this allowance since the allowance was embedded in the personnel costs of the respective technologists. According to him, other universities were directed to pay the hazard allowance, “IF THEY COULD”, from their respective Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
    The vice-chancellor went on to say that, a five-year old institution like Federal University Oye Ekiti has a very sparse IGR base. It was further deposed that this was more so when comparisons were made with first generation universities like the Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Lagos and University of Ibadan. The vice-chancellor wondered where he was expected to get the funds to pay hazard allowance, which was not part of the agreement which NASU and SSANU reached with the Federal Government.
    Meanwhile, the vice-chancellor pointed out that even the sparse IGR base of FUOYE was being compromised by the violent tactics of the striking workers. Such tactics, as he pointed out, included the disruption of activities at the Centre for Pre-Degree Studies, which in fact is one of the main sources of the IGR for the young university.
    According to him, the National Universities Commission had just approved 19 new programmes for the university, such that in relative terms, the Federal University Oye Ekiti could easily be regarded as one of the fastest growing universities in Nigeria.
    He also informed the media gathering that plans were in place to establish two new faculties in the nearest future. These are the Faculty of Pharmacy and the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences. Indeed and as further deposed by him, come January 25, the university Senate would formally consider and approve the Doctor of Pharmacy, (Pharm. D) programme of the new university. And as if to indicate that this was not a tall dream, it was authoritatively revealed that funds for the new faculties were virtually in place, courtesy of the Federal Government.
    A question was also put to him about the alleged award of arbitrary contracts, and his response was that there were the subsisting institutional frameworks such that, it was impossible to award contracts in an arbitrary way as alleged.
    As regards the allegation that the VC had embarked on frequent overseas trips and that he had travelled to the United States six times in the last year, Soremekun merely laughed this off by contending that he had been to the US on only one occasion since he assumed office.
    On whether N2m was given to each of his management staff for the Yuletide session, he also dismissed this allegation as a mere fabrication. The VC remarked that the ongoing tussle could be likened to a war in which truth is usually the first casualty as in all wars.
    After the session, not a few of the journalists in attendance seemed to have left with the impression that the vice-chancellor was more sinned against than sinning. In my view, this was due to two factors. One, so much has been achieved within the spate of 12 months that only apostles of decadence could attempt to hamper the institution in its strides. Indeed, as I looked round the half campus/half forest campus when I later visited the university, my view was that despite the fact that Soremekun had two predecessors, there was still much to do.
    Second, the hazard allowance which appears to be the main bone of contention is not really his fault, since as pointed out, only technologists have managed to wrest hazard allowance in the form of a formal agreement with the Federal Government. Meanwhile, my own investigation reveals that all the other universities which started at the same time with FUOYE do not pay this hazard allowance.
    Therefore, it is my considered view that the two unions, NASU and SSANU, should sheathe their swords. Rather, their efforts should be directed towards the making of a robust case, before the Babalakin Committee which has just been constituted to re-negotiate the FGN- Agreement with the Academic Staff Unions of Universities and the other unions to ensure a crisis-free academic environment in the institution.

    • Adeyemi writes from Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

  • Workers’ protest shuts down FUOYE

    Workers’ protest shuts down FUOYE

    Academic activities were grounded yesterday as workers of Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) marched on the streets to protest the non-payment of salaries and other entitlements.
    Acting under the aegis of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), the placard-carrying protesters accused the management of being insensitive to their welfare.
    They claimed that they celebrated the Yuletide without receiving their salaries, insisting that the university will remain closed, until all their demands are met.
    The protesters called on the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, to accede to their demands, warning that they are ready for a showdown with the authorities.
    The protest disrupted the orientation course for freshmen, who were stranded at the main gate, which had been blocked.
    FUOYE SSANU Chairman Mutiu Ademola identified other grievances to include non-remittance of check-off dues, arbitrary award of contracts, victimisation of workers, underhand recruitment of new workers.
    The VC could not be reached for comments and the university spokesman, Innocent Baji, said he was not authorised to speak on the development.

  • NUC approves 18 courses at FUOYE

    The National Universities Commission (NUC) has given a nod to the Federal University of Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) to run 18 new programmes.

    The approval was contained in a letter dated November 14, 2016 and addressed to the Vice Chancellor, Prof Kayode Shoremekun.

    It follows a visit by the regulation body to assess the preparedness of the university to run the programmes.

    The approved programmes, which the letter, signed by Dr G. D. Kumo, Director, Academic Standards, directed should be run in full-time mode only, include: Public Administration, Business Administration, Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, Business Education, Educational Management, Library and Information Science, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Mass Communication and Accounting.

    Others are: Banking and Finance, Education/Agricultural Science, Education/Biology, Education/Chemistry, Education/Mathematics, Education/English, Criminology and Security Studies, Political Science, and History and International Studies.

    The programmes will start running with effect from the 2016/2017 academic session.

    Shoremekun, who expressed joy at the approval of the programmes, added that the university is making plans to establish a faculty of pharmacy.

    “The Faculty of Pharmacy Committee which I inaugurated in April has turned in its report.  The Committee was chaired by a renowned Professor of Pharmacy, Adebayo Lamikanra. This means that very soon after approvals by the University Senate and NUC, the University will have a Faculty of Pharmacy,” he said.

  • FUOYE pledges to comply with Federal Character principle

    Authorities of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) in Ekiti State has pledged to adhere to federal character principle in employment of workers and admission of students.

    Its vice chancellor, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, made the promise on Friday while hosting the officials of the Federal Character Commission (FCC) led by the Commissioner representing Ekiti State, Bunmi Ojo.

    Soremekun explained that application of federal character principle in the university would ensure proportional representation for all Nigerians, saying he could not afford to work at variance with the policies of the Federal Government that brought him into office.

    The VC said it was in consonance to this that the university advertised vacancies for teaching and non-teaching positions for all willing and qualified Nigerians to apply.

    “We are mindful of the sensitivity of the principles of Federal Character to the impending staff recruitment and we know such would give preference to some states, who are yet to be  represented in the university.”