The Nation Newspaper

Tag: OAU

  • As OAU gets set to have a new VC

    Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, is getting set to have a new Vice-Chancellor, as its incumbent, Professor Idowu Bamitale Omole, rounds off his five-year tenure. The worry, however, is not the transition but the prognosis of the university’s condition over the course of the next five years under the next leadership.

    Here is a fifty-four-year-old university with, doubtless, some of the most beautiful modernist architectural structures on any African campus. Here is a university that prides itself on the pursuit of ‘educational and cultural excellence’, on the twin purposes of ‘learning and culture’—although its students would sometimes rather say, caustically, ‘learning and torture’. Here is a university which, as at2015, was reported to be the best Nigerian university for four years running. Here is a university with the soubriquet ‘Great Ife’.

    What makes this university, for all its potential for greatness, suffer? Infighting. The [twisted] Marxist ideologies brandished by the political proportion of the students (some of whom are surprisingly capable of troublemaking of the reprehensible ‘Oshodi Under Bridge’ style) clash with the iron-lipped illiberalism of the management. Student unionism is therefore proscribed, putting an end to the possibility of dissent, of debate, of dialogue. A student’s studies suffer because their supervisor is at loggerheads with their head of department.  The medical doctors and the medical laboratory scientists are in a near-daily war of attrition, a supremacy battle; the teaching hospital is brought to a simmer. Junior and/or younger lecturers brimming with ideas worth testing are persecuted by the old guard…

    What makes this university, for all its potential for greatness, suffer? Pride. Not all called ‘Great’ are indeed great, nor does greatness come by chanting ‘Another Great Ife is a counterfeit / Great, great, great, great, great!’ but it appears ‘Great Ife’ has yet to understand this. It squints at research done in some other universities as though they were altogether insignificant. Your Master’s degree obtained at some other universities within and even outside Nigeria may, to the mind of ‘Great Ife’, not be up to par. Therefore, you may not be admitted into a doctorate degree programme straightway, but may have to register for another Master’s degree programme in your field in order to ‘understand the terrain’ of this seemingly cash-strapped, clearly underequipped university. And it seems the more time you spend floundering about in your research, the more ‘qualitative’ it is, in relation to research done in universities where duration of study is strictly stuck to and quality of work done respected.

    The incoming vice-chancellor (either the one the incumbent authorities are widely believed to prefer or the one the federal government will finally appoint) has work to do—if s/hewill recognise this. Otherwise, this university, which has lately slumped to a distant third place behind the Old Lady, University of Ibadan, and the fiery comet, Covenant University, will plummet deeper than it already has, and it does not need all of the next five years to hit new lows.

    • G. Fadekemi Soyinka-Forsyth,

    Victoria Island, Lagos.

  • Court stops selection of OAU VC

    Court stops selection of OAU VC

    •Workers disrupt candidates’ screening

    Who is  the next Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State?

    The question has been hanging for some time, following the indefinite suspension of the selection by the Governing Council.

    The suspension followed a workers’ protest on the campus last Thursday.  Besides, a court injunction stopped the council and the university Senate on Friday.

    It was secured by the institution’s chapters of Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), which opposed the process.

    The injunction ordered that the process be stopped until after the suit instituted by the workers’ unions on the legality of the process is determined.

    NASU and SSANU  are urging the court to compel the Federal Government to dissolve the council, among other prayers.

    The OAU management confirmed the suspension at the weekend, saying it was a normal thing to do “in a chaotic situation”.

    The Public Relations Officer (PRO), Abiodun Olanrewaju, said the management suspended the selection when protesters barricaded all gates to the Administrative Building, preventing movement in and out of the building.

    The tenure of Prof Bamitale Omole expires on June 24, but the process put in place to choose his successor has torn apart the stakeholders and pitted the university workers against the council and the outgoing VC.

    More than 38 professors within and outside OAU are jostling for the top job. The contenders were pruned to 11 during the preliminary screening by the search team, comprising members of the council and the Senate.

    Last month, five of the 11 candidates were screened out, paving the way for six contenders to compete for the position.

    The six shortlisted candidates are the Deputy VC for Academics, Prof Ayobami Salami, Prof Afolabi Akindaunsi from Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Prof Charles Akinyokun also from FUTA, Prof Olabisi Aina, Prof Eyitope Ogunbodede and Prof Anthony Akinlo.

    The shortlisted candidates were billed to appear before a selection committee for screening last Thursday, but the session was disrupted by the workers’ protest.

    It was gathered that the protesters moved to the institution’s Conference Centre, where the selection committee members reconvened to screen the candidates, and locked up the committee members.

    They remained at the screening venue till the midnight of Friday to ensure the event did not hold.

    On Friday morning, the workers marched on the council’s chairman and VC’s residences to register their grievances on the method taken by the council to choose the new VC.

    At the centre of their complaints are the accusation of non-compliance with OAU Statute 6 in the method of VC selection and the allegation of favouritism against the departing VC.

    According to Section 3A, B, C, D and E of the OAU Statute 6 and amended Statute 22 of Miscellaneous Decree 11 of 1993, the council is empowered, among others, to constitute a search team consisting of a member of council as the chairman, two members of the senate, and two members of congregation to nominate suitable persons to contest for Vice-Chancellor’s position.

    Section 3D of the OAU Statute 6 advises the council to select three candidates from among the contenders recommended to it by the joint selection board after screening and forward their names to the Visitor, which is the President.

    But, an amendment by Miscellaneous Decree 11 of 1993 empowers the council to complete the VC appointment process without the input of the Visitor, thereby rendering Section 3D and 3E of the OAU Statute 6 irrelevant.

    After the search team completed its task, the council led by Prof Rowland Ndoma-Egba, convened a meeting on March 10 where it adopted the nominees presented by the search team.

    The problem started when the council selected six of the 11 candidates presented before it and screened them, without constituting the joint selection committee as required by law.

    The council allegedly went out of the criteria advertised for eligibility and introduced a scoring method to evaluate the competence of the shortlisted candidates.

    It was learnt that the candidates were ranked based on years of teaching (five marks), international exposure (10 marks), number of journal publication (10 marks), fund attraction (10 marks), years of professorship (five marks), research supervision (five marks), and calibre of referees (five marks).

    The total score was 50 marks, but the awarded scores for each candidate were doubled to obtain percentage scores.

    The Nation gathered that pass mark was pegged at 60 per cent, but all the six candidates, it was learnt, scored above the pass mark.

    The unions held that the council usurped the responsibility of the joint selection board to screen the candidates.

    They accused Prof Omole of influencing the outcome of the screening conducted by the council, saying the outgoing VC had a favourite among the candidates.

    A statement jointly issued by NASU and SSANU said: “The responsibility of the council in drawing up shortlist of suitable candidates for the post for consideration, as stipulated in Statute 6, Section 3, should be solely based on whether or not the applicants met the advertised eligibility criteria.

    “By rushing to score and rank applicants prior to the constitution of the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board, which is statutorily responsible to perform these duties, the council has unlawfully usurped and hijacked the statutory responsibility of the Board and rendered its purpose and functions irrelevant.”

    The unions urged President Muhammadu Buhari to dissolve the Ndoma-Egba-led council and re-constitute a new council that would work with workers in appointing a “credible and competent” person to succeed Omole.

    Olanrewaju denied that the council violated the extant laws of the university, saying the selection method complied with the statutory provisions guiding the selection of VC. Asked whether the council was right to bypass the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board to screen and rank the candidates, the PRO simply said: “The Council is the highest ruling body of the school and there is nothing wrong with the position of the council on the matter.”

    On the allegation of favouritism levelled against the outgoing VC, Olanrewaju said: “Prof Omole does not have such agenda and has not said it anywhere, either secretly or openly, that a particular candidate should succeed him.

    “The outgoing VC has been running an open and transparent administration. If some people feel aggrieved with the method taken by the council to pick the new VC, they should come forward for a roundtable discussion on the way to resolve the issues. This is the best way to move forward.

    “The members of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), NASU, SSANU together with students and alumni association are all stakeholders in the affairs of the school. We do not expect any of the groups to want to see to the downfall of the university as one of the best in Africa. What is happening is a family affair; we will settle our differences in a family way.”

    However, a top member of the Senate, who spoke to The Nation on the condition of anonymity, said the council was wrong in its method.

    He said the council did not comply fully with the OAU Statute, noting that it erred against the law to have screened and ranked the candidates before the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board.

    A lecturer accused the outgoing VC of having a favourite candidate, saying the management did not learn a  lesson from the controversy generated by similar scenario, which played out during the tenure of Prof Wale Omole, a former VC.

    The NASU Chairman, Comrade Wole Odewumi, threatened a “total showdown” if the council goes ahead to pick the next VC against the court order.

    He said the only condition for peace was for the council to start the process afresh.

  • OAU NASU/SSANU and misrepresentation of facts

    It is with a heavy heart that I write in response to the open letter jointly written to President Muhammadu Buhari by the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Obafemi Awolowo University branch. The referred advertorial, signed by the branch chairmen and secretaries, was published in the March 24, edition of The Nation. The crux of the misconceived article is the call on President Buhari to dissolve the Governing Council of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) on the invented pretext of ‘deliberate and irreparable violation of the statue and laws for the appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor’ in a bid to enable the outgoing VC’s successor to cover up the former’s ‘numerous allegations of corruption, vindictiveness, non-transparency …’.

    Any discerning mind who reads that boondoggle will not fail to note that the authors are out to distort fact, in fact, project bald falsity as concrete truth all in an attempt to mislead the public. For the avoidance of doubt, the ongoing process for the selection of a new VC to succeed Prof. Bamitale Omole whose five-year single-term tenure ends on June 23, conforms thoroughly with the OAU Statue 6, Sections 3a to e. Whatever NASU/SSANU perceive as violation is at best a figment of their fevered and febrile imaginations.

    As stated in Statue 6, Subsection 3a, it is the responsibility of the Governing Council to advertise the vacancy, outline the qualities of the applicants for the post, and ‘thereafter draw up a short-list of suitable candidates for the post for consideration’. But rather than stick to their claim that the Governing Council has adhered to the stipulations of that statue, they descend willingly into the abyss of specious reasoning by claiming that that highest ruling organ of the university drew up another criteria other than the advertised one to assess the applicants for the position of the VC.

    Except the OAU NASU and SSANU, every other group on campus, and, indeed, keen followers of the country’s universities’ affairs know that the teaching experience, international exposure, publication, ability to attract funds, years of being on the professorial cadre, supervision, and referees of the candidates vying for the post of a VC are exceedingly important. They constitute vital components of the eligibility criteria. Therefore, it is absurd that some groups, which should be in the vanguard of championing the emergence of competent administrator through an excellently rigorous process, view this as an infraction of the law. Since in the current process the OAU Governing Council operates within the ambit of Statue 6, it is entirely out of place for NASU and SSANU to dictate or insist on different course of action.

    It is against the foregoing backdrop that the call by those bodies for the dissolution of the OAU Governing Council comes clearly as misplaced and ill-conceived. That OAU NASU and SSANU are comfortably inured to unlawful processes also manifests vividly in their request to President Buhari to violate the law by dissolving a lawfully constituted Governing Council. To argue that those two bodies are unaware of the recent apologies and reversal of the Federal Government’s decision on the sacking of some universities’ governing councils is to excuse their calcified penchant for reckless mischief, wounding misinformation, and bizarre illogic. Those bodies would do anything, including having the federal government undermine the integrity of the university autonomy agreement, in order to both misinform the general public and project themselves as conscientious watchdogs that they lack the character to become. The university autonomy agreement, which the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) laboured mightily to wrench from the federal government, makes it impossible for the Visitor to dissolve the governing councils of any federal university. It also invests the governing councils with the power to hire and fire VCs. But ask the OAU NASU and SSANU, they will tell you it is right to throw out the baby together with the bath water.

    Additionally, given their stance on serving falsehood as sacred fact, both the OAU NASU and SSANU have decided to see the continuing process of appointing a new VC for the institution as flawed. It is remarkable to reveal that about two weeks ago, the OAU branch of ASUU expressed deep satisfaction with the selection by the Governing Council of six out of the 11 candidates for the position of the VC. While NASU and SSANU are flailing about concocting grand untruths, ASUU is adding value to the selection process by organising an interactive session with the six contenders. The committee to see to that laudable initiative is supervised by Professor Sat Obiyan.

    Again, the myopic and puckish minds of the OAU NASU and SSANU apparatchiks must be tutored and attuned to the fact that allegation of corruption on the pages of newspapers can never conduce to hard, irrefutable evidence. Rather than the inaudible calls by the imaginary ‘staff and students of the university for investigation by the EFCC’ to willy-nilly find the outgoing VC guilty of misappropriation of funds, NASU and SSANU will do well to compile a dossier detailing the VC’s acts of corruption and dispatch it to the EFCC for action. It is insulting and maligning for these unions to insinuate that the ongoing appointment process is being done to deliberately violate existing laws so as to throw up a successor that will conceal and wipe off the misdeeds of his predecessor. If, as it has been explained in this piece, the OAU NASU and SSANU are wrong in their claim that the OAU Governing Council is violating the law, it is pointless to further contend that they are insincere and reckless in howling that ‘The Vice-Chancellor is allegedly working together with the Pro-Chancellor to manipulate Council and ensure imposition of a successor, who would cover up his atrocities and continue on his track to the detriment of OAU’.

    It worries the mind that entities who advertise themselves as being ‘highly responsible unions’ feel no qualms and are happily at peace baking the bread of disinformation for the unsuspecting public. Unable to contribute sensibly to the appointment process of a new VC for the school, those amalgams infested by certain characters of oily manners deliriously choose to fire the darts of fantastic untruths, thinking inanely that their constructed edifice of distortion and perversion will take on the hue of truth and sense. The OAU NASU and SSANU must gravely note that just as it cannot convince any serious minds except theirs with misinformation on the smoothly-going process, so also will they become unhelpful in the efforts towards the development of this lighthouse of learning as a truly modern emporium of significant human capacity enrichment.

     

    • Alawode, a public affairs analyst, writes from Ile-Ife, Osun State

  • OAU unions row over VC selection

    There is apprehension at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, over the selection of a new Vice Chancellor (VC).

    On the one hand is the quarrel of the unions over their roles in the selection process; on the other hand is the allegation that the outgoing VC, Prof Bamitale Omole, is scheming to place his stooge in the exalted office.

    The selection process for a new VC to succeed Omole who leaves on June 24, began last December.

    At the close of advertisements on January 26, 11 candidates had applied.

    A four-member search team constituted in January was reportedly unsuccessful in wooing any of the 39 candidates it contacted for the job.  Of the 39 candidates, 36 reportedly declined, while the remaining three did not apply.

    The university’s Governing Council, chaired by Prof Roland Udoma Egba, met from March 8-11 to consider the 11 applications submitted.

    It decided on selection criteria used to generate a scoring system to rank the applicants.  Six applicants were, through this process recommended, for interview.

    A source alleged that the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics), Prof Ayobami Salami, rumoured to be favoured by Omole and the Council, scored 100 per cent.

    The others, Prof A. A. Akindahunsi, Prof E. O. Ogunmodede, Prof I. O. Aina, Prof E. A. Akinlo and Prof A. Akinyoku (all from OAU), and Prof Akindahunsi and Prof Akinyoku, both from the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) trailed behind.

    The source claimed that Omole seeks Salami to replace him for selfish reasons.

    “This Omole administration is (by a letter dated February 8) being summoned by the Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) to furnish the accounts of Internally Generated Revenue of the University and its utilisation from January 2011 to December 31, 2015.

    “What has been done therefore is an attempt to further undermine the laws of the university and impose a favoured but less qualified candidate on the university community, who has been part of the process under current investigation. It is very obvious that the selection process had been highly compromised to achieve selfish motives,” the source said.

    The source also faulted the ranking process adopted by the council without interviewing the candidates.

    “It should be of interest that the interview will also be chaired by the same Pro-Chancellor who had already chaired the meeting where the applicants were incongruously ranked.

    “The laws of the University do not vest the power to rank applicants for the position of a new vice-chancellor on the Council. It only allows the Council to ‘draw up a short list of suitable candidates for the post for consideration’ by the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board,” the source alleged.

    However, debunking the allegations, the Public Relations Officer, Mr Biodun Olarewaju, said Omole has not been summoned by any committee and is not supporting any candidate.  He also absolved the council of blame.

    “It is not true that the VC is trying to scheme for anybody to replace him.  I am not aware of any scheming by the VC to be replaced by the DVC.  It is the duty of the council to choose a vice chancellor.  And they are doing it to the best of their knowledge.  I know the Pro-Chancellor is an erudite scholar and he will not do anything to jeopardize his constituency,” he said.

    On the part of the unions, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian University, (SSANU) and Non- Academic Staff Union of University and Allied institutions, (NASU), OAU chapters, have accused the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of colluding with the Council and Omole to impose their candidate on the university.

    In a statement jointly signed by the SSANU Chairman, Comrade Ademola Oketunde, and NASU, Comrade Wole Odewumi, the unions alleged that the ASUU chairman, Dr Caleb Aborisade’s failure to refute a publication alleging a quarrel among the unions on the selection issue showed he was complicit.

    The statement reads:” On 24 March, 2016 at about 6.30am, the OAU ASUU Chairman telephoned the SSANU Chairman to inform him about a publication in that day’s Nigerian Tribune titled ‘Appointment of VC: OAU ASUU disagrees with NASU, SSANU’, which stated that: ‘Worried by the agitation by NASU and SSANU for input into the processes leading to the appointment of the next Vice-Chancellor (VC), ASUU in a statement signed by its Chairman, Dr. Caleb Aborisade, faulted the move, saying that the appointment of a VC falls strictly within the purview of the appointing authorities, namely, the Governing Council.’ He (Aborisade) denied and dissociated himself from the publication and promised to write a rejoinder. He did not do so.”

    SSANU and NASU claim that a planned interactive session between ASUU and the short listed candidates to hold on April 4, 2016, contradicts Aborisade’s claim that he had no interest in the selection process.

    “A publication in The Nation of 28 March, 2016 titled ‘OAU ASUU to screen candidates for VC position’ stated that ASUU would facilitate interaction with the shortlisted aspirants, indicating that it had endorsed the illegal short listing by Council. This contradicts the earlier publication in which Dr. Aborisade was quoted as saying that the appointment of a VC falls strictly within the purview of Council. Besides, what purpose will the interaction serve after Council had unlawfully shortlisted, scored and ranked the aspirants contrary to the stipulated Status and Laws, and without any interaction with them (under Dr. Aborisade’s watchful eyes)?; Meanwhile, their preferred aspirant was allegedly awarded a perfect 100 per cent score.  Before Dr. Aborisade emerged as Chairman, ASUU (and other Unions) used to conduct a referendum for lawfully shortlisted aspirants and send the results to Council for input (prior to interview, scoring and ranking by the joint Council and Senate Selection Board.”

    The two leaders said NASU and SSANU would continue to seek the interest of the university system with or without Aborisade’s support.

     

  • Apprehension in OAU over VC selection

    Apprehension in OAU over VC selection

    There is apprehension in the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, over the selection of a new vice-chancellor.

    The tenure of Prof Bamitale Omole expires on June 24. The selection process for a new vice-chancellor began with advertisements in December. At the close of the advertisements on January 26, 11 candidates had applied.

    A search team was constituted in January with four members. Two members each elected from Congregation meeting of January 26 and the Senate meeting of January 27.

    The search team reportedly searched but could not find a suitable candidate. Of the 39 candidates contacted, 36 reportedly declined and the other three did not submit any application.

    The university council met from March 8-11 to consider the 11 applications submitted.

    It decided on the criteria for selection and used this to generate a scoring system for ranking the applicants.  Six applicants were, through this process recommended, for interview.

    A source alleged that the deputy vice-chancellor (academic), who had all along been rumoured as the candidate favoured by Omole and the Council, scored 100% while the five other shortlisted applicants trailed behind.

    The source said: “It should be of interest that the interview will also be Chaired by the same Pro-Chancellor who had already chaired the meeting where the applicants were incongruously ranked.

    “The laws of the University do not vest the power to rank applicants for the position of a new vice-chancellor on the Council. It only allows the Council to “draw up a short list of suitable candidates for the post for consideration” by the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board.

    “This Omole administration is (by a letter dated February 8) being summoned by the Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) to furnish the accounts of Internally Generated Revenue of the University and its utilisation from January 2011 to December 31, 2015.

    “What has been done therefore is an attempt to further undermine the laws of the university and impose a favoured but less qualified candidate on the university community, who has been part of the process under current investigation. It is very obvious that the selection process had been highly compromised to achieve selfish motives.

    “The unions have met to condemn the action in very strong terms. As it is, only the Ministry of Education can save the situation, and prevent the University from going into further administrative, economic, and social degeneration.”

     

  • OAU ASUU to screen candidates for VC position

    OAU ASUU to screen candidates for VC position

    To ensure that the best emerges Vice-Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife‎, the institution’s branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has finalised plans to screen candidates for the position.

    It was learnt that the action was to facilitate and organize interaction with the shortlisted aspirants.

    The tenure of the current occupant, Professor Bamitale Omole, who became VC almost five years ago, expires on June 24th, 2016.

    About 12 professors had applied for the position following an advertorial in the newspapers in December 2015 but the Governing Council has shortlisted ‎6.

    With the setting up of a committee to interact with the shortlisted candidates for the position, the union has endorsed the decisions of the University Governing Council.

    It was gathered that the union, after ‎its congress meeting which took place on March 15, 2016, received reports from some of its members in the Governing Council, and concluded that the University Council acted within its powers in shortlisting candidates for the post of Vice-chancellor of the university

    The union afterward ‎appointed Professor Sat Obiyan, who heads the institution’s Department of Political Science, to head the 5-man screening committee to organize and drive the interaction process.

    Confirming the development, Obiyan explained that it was true that a committee was set up by ASUU-OAU, adding that the committee was already finalizing arrangements for the event which is likely to hold in early April.

     

  • Fear in OAU over ‘malaria epidemic’

    •University: it is not true 

    There is fear among students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.

    Reason: Suspected malaria epidemic on campus.

    It was learnt that more than 70 students “visited” the university’s health centre in the last three days to complain of similar symptoms.

    Investigation revealed that they complained of headache, stomach ache, body weakness, irritation, fever, vomiting (in some cases), sore throat and loss of appetite.

    Many students are raising the alarm over the disease and calling for an immediate intervention.

    However, the school’s Acting Director, Medical and Health Services, Dr. Adedayo Irinoye, denied that there was an epidemic on campus.

    According to him, “If there is any outbreak, we will be the one to first inform the public.

    “Malaria is endemic on the campus but there is no epidemic. The cause of the students’ sickness is multi-facet.

    “Some are caused by anxiety over examination coupled with poor nutrition, increase in stress and change of climate.

    “We have doubled our manpower and adjusted our roasters.

    “As we speak, we have not referred anyone to the OAU Teaching Hospital.

    “The symptoms are those of malaria and the students are treated before leaving in good health.

    There is nothing strange happening, there is only increase in traffic.”

    Also, the school’s spokesman, Biodun Olarenwaju, said the situation was not peculiar to the school alone.

    He noted that the increase in the number of sick students might be linked to climate change.

    “It is just a kind of reaction to the climate change and it is not peculiar to OAU.

    “We have competent medical doctors and researchers who would have detected if the complaints are unusual.

    “That we admitted 150 students as being reported on  social media is propaganda.

    “Our beds are not filled up yet. We have only 14 beds. Everything is under control,” he said.

  • OAU to verify credentials online

    Alumni of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife and institutions seeking their transcripts and to verify their credentials will no longer have to travel to the institution to get what they want.

    This is because the university has signed an agreement with a firm, ETX-NG, to manage the process online.

    Managing Director of ETX-NG, Mr Hillary Obomighie, said in a statement that the new system would make responding to verification requests, from students and third party institutions, such as WES (World Education Services), an international credentials evaluation company, easier and faster for workers of the university because the process has been automated.

    Obomighie said his firm was glad to partner with OAU to relieve thousands of people and institutions the burden of physically travelling for transcript request and credentials verification.

    “In these critical times, everyone should be able to save some money and time, which is why the usual www.etx-ng.com has gotten its own OAU extension: www.etx-ng.com/oau-verifications for all stakeholders of the institution,” Obomighie said.

    ETX-NG is an electronic transcript exchange and degree verification system, which allows free participation of all tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

     

  • OAU students resume

    OAU students resume

    Students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, have been asked to resume on January 10 from the mid-semester break.

    A statement by the institution’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, said this was contained in a resolution of the university senate at its meeting yesterday.

    Accordingly, students will start to receive lectures immediately. The statement, therefore, advised the students to be law-abiding and go about their normal academic duties, urging them not to engage in any act that may truncate the current academic calendar as approved by the university senate.

    The students were forced to leave school abruptly on December 1, last year, after they protested against the poor state of the hostels and poor welfare.

  • OAU graduates 2,444

    OAU graduates 2,444

    The Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, will tomorrow graduate 2,444 students.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Bamitale Omole, at a pre-convocation briefing yesterday said 45 students bagged First Class, 1,241 Second Class Upper Division, 2,717 Second Class Lower, 818 Third Class and 64 Pass.

    Omole said the university could not give automatic jobs to the First Class graduating students because of the economic down turn, which he said had affected the university’s finances.

    He said the Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Rev Matthew Hassan Kukah, would deliver the 41st convocation lecture on Friday on the theme: “The Pursuit of Happiness: Some Thoughts on Human Rights, Freedom and Justice in Nigeria”.

    Speaking on achievements of the university lately, Omole said the institution received a $1.12 million grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada, to advance research on indigenous vegetables.