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Tag: UNILORIN VC

  • Tariff hike: N230m monthly electricity bill not sustainable, says UNILORIN VC

    Tariff hike: N230m monthly electricity bill not sustainable, says UNILORIN VC

     The monthly electricity bill of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) has jumped from N70 million to N230 million, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Wahab Egbewole, has said.

    Prof. Egbewole, in an e-mail message to staff members and students, said the new bill is not sustainable. According to him, recent hike in electricity tariffs by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has affected the institution’s budget.

    He stressed the urgent need for critical re-assessment of the current electricity usage in the university.

    The don appealed to staff members and students to adopt more responsible consumption habits and support the administration’s efforts to implement cost-saving measures.

    Read Also: Police recruitment: No fixed date for training yet, says PSC

    According to him, the management has intensified efforts in negotiations for alternative power supply to the university. He said buildings under construction in the Faculties of Agriculture, Arts, Environmental Science, Law and Social Sciences would include provisions for alternative power sources as part of their designs.

    Prof. Egbewole also added that strategies were being developed to ensure that all faculties and units were equipped with reliable alternative power options.

  • Kwara monarch, UNILORIN VC attribute violence to inequality

    Kwara State first class monarch Olomu of Omu-Aran in Irepodun Local

    Government Area Oba Abdulraheem Adeoti and Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem yesterday attributed the country’s growing violence to injustice, inequality and poverty.

    They spoke in Ilorin, the state capital, at the 2nd distinguished personality lecture organised by the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, UNILORIN.

    The lecture was entitled: “International trends in peace action and peace research: South-North.”

    Oba Adeoti said: “Disorderliness, rancour and acrimony are borne out of disparity between the rich and the poor in Nigeria. The Boko Haram insurgency might not be unconnected with differences in living. While

    some are living in affluence most people are living in abject poverty.

    “For us in Nigeria, it is high time we addressed how to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich. Nigeria was colonised by the British, but we practice American system of government. I can say that Nigeria muddle both the presidential and parliamentary systems of government.

    “It is, therefore, behooves this centre to look into our local problems and solve them locally so that peace can be sustained and maintained in Nigeria in particular and Africa in general.

    Read also: FG blames monarchs for Northwest violence

    “Peace can be maintained by addressing the Nigeria’s political system.  We are talking of peace, but over 91 political parties were registered in the last elections. We shall continually look forward to how the academia and this centre can restore peace to Nigeria. Without peace nothing can be accomplished. Without peace, there will be no development. Even living together will be very difficult without peace.”

    Prof. Abdulkareem, who was represented at the event by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Management Services, Prof. Fatai Sule, said the root of the pervasive conflicts in Africa can only be uprooted, if culture of African values that are built on justice, fairness and equity are imbibed.

    Abdulkareem called on Africans to retrace their steps and adopt African traditional values to eliminate structural tensions that would give birth to indigenous framework for building peace in Africa.

    The VC hailed the centre for coming up with laudable peace building programmes that are capable of restoring peace and order.

    The director of the centre, Prof Noah Yusuf, said the event was in two folds, personality lecture and public book presentation.

     

  • UNILORIN VC seeks pact with foreign bodies

    The Vice Chancellor of University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Prof Sulyman Age Abdulkareem  has canvassed partnership in all spheres to discover latent talent of the university’s students.

    Abdulkareem said this during the second edition of Photography Exhibition(FotoClique 2018) organised by the photo journalism and public relations students of the Mass Communication department of the university.

    Represented by Deputy Vice Chancellor Research, Technology and Innovation, Prof Gabriel Olatunji, he hailed the ingenuity of the students as displayed in the various photos displayed.

    He noted that nothing could be more rewarding than having international exposure for the students’ handiwork.

    “This would help the advancement of the cause of our talented students help them to fully achieve their potential and also increase the internally generated of our university” he stressed.

    The organiser of the event and photo journalism lecturer, Dr Kadiri said she was inspired by the great experience she had at the exhibition of her work last year.

    “Photos are amazing sources of communication. They cannot but communicate. This led us to the theme of this edition of the exhibition ‘convergence’,” she said.

    The Head of Department, Dr Saidat Abdulbaqi who said students were trained to realise their potential extolled the virtues of the convener, which she said were worthy of emulation.

     

  • Ahmed congratulates UNILORIN VC

    Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has congratulated the Vice Chancellor of University of Ilorin, Prof. Sulyman Age Abdulkareem.

    The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Abdulwahab Oba, described Abdulkareem as a tested administrator and academic of high repute, whose appointment will sustain the success of his predecessors and record milestones in the better-by-far university.

    “This appointment is a well-deserved one,” the governor said.

    Ahmed promised to support the university, especially in human capital development and research on agricultural practice and sustainable energy.

    The governor also congratulated ex-Vice Chancellor Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali for ensuring that the institution maintained a stable academic calendar, among other achievements.

    He prayed God to see Prof. Abdulkareem through in his responsibility.

  • ASUU urges Buhari to probe UNILORIN VC

    •Alleges victimisation

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to probe alleged fraud and corruption at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN).

    It said this will show the President is committed to fighting corruption.

    The union condemned the sack of UNILORIN ASUU Secretary Dr. Solomon Oyelekan barely 72 hours after the Chairman, Dr. Kayode Afolayan, was sacked for “blowing whistle on the corrupt activities of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali, for subverting due process in the employment and promotion of his wife, among other atrocities.”

    It called on people and authorities to intervene, to restore justice to the university and prevent national crisis.

    ASUU in a statement by the Ibadan Zonal Coordinator, Dr. Ade Adejumo and Chairman, University of Ibadan chapter, Dr. Deji Omole, alleged that as far as industrial relations was concerned, UNILORIN remained a terrorists’ organisation.

    “A few days ago, University of Ilorin terminated the appointment of Dr. K.N. Afolayan, the chairperson of our union in the university. We held a news conference, describing the university as a terrorists’ organisation as far as industrial relations is concerned. Barely 72 hours after, the university forwarded a letter to terminate the appointment of Dr. Solomon Oyelekan, the secretary of our union in the university. We believe even the press must be shocked by this brazen demonstration of terrorism. It is time once again for the nation to focus on the evil machinations of the present and past administrations in University of Ilorin,” the union said.

    Adejumo and Omole challenged the university administration to state the offence the purportedly sacked ASUU leadership committed, saying the action was an open display of victimisation.

    ASUU said just as UNILORIN had lost cases in the past over illegal sack, “these cases will not be an exception.”

    It said it was laughable that the information officer of the university, Mr. Kunle Akogun, defended the institution as following due process, wondering why the same “due process” was blind to “genuine and established acts of misconduct, such as sexual harassment, plagiarism and corruption, but is only trained to terminate the appointment of ASUU officers.”

    The union added: “Our tag of UNILORIN as a terrorist is based on its actions of terrorising progressive workers, students and indeed the community for nearly two decades. It is common knowledge that in 2001, the university sacked 49 academics for no other reason than going on strike with their colleagues nationwide. At least, three of them died in the brutal circumstances of the termination of their appointment. But for the university’s action, the likes of Professors Adegbija, Annor and Dr. Ajayi will be alive today.

    “The university vilified the workers, told lies against them, forged documents against them, sent gun- totting men, cudgel-wielding security guards and sometimes cultists after them, evicted them from their university quarters, deprived them of their means of livelihood and their health access, chased them from alternative job options, and the three died. If all of these are not terrorism within the context of a university, then what else is? UNILORIN is a place where all manners of atrocities take place. Court bailiffs are regularly beaten up in the offices of the vice chancellor and registrar; none of the unions is allowed to participate in national actions, yet the university benefits from such actions. Several workers, including genuine ASUU officers, are forced to pay money monthly into the coffers of a group of impersonators already outlawed by the courts. The university stole millions from students in the name of unsupplied equipment (PC tabs); UNILORIN stole billions from its workers by forcing them to pay pension into a phantom pension fund that did not go into the account of the workers; the university has suppressed the promotion of a group of workers for upward of 15 years due to hatred; UNILORIN is the only university that attempted to institutionally victimise a sexually-harassed female student for blowing the whistle on a ‘favoured’ worker; UNILORIN is the only university that maintains gun-totting policemen at its gate and gun-totting DSS to harass academic workers within; UNILORIN is the only university where the vice chancellor will promote his wife unduly and then sack the people who protest this anomaly, and the Governing Council will support such brazen corruption; UNILORIN is the only university that brings a ‘battalion’ to prevent the union from holding a meeting on its campus, although it is a publicly-funded university. The list is endless. Therefore, if we call UNILORIN a terrorists’ institution, this is more than justified.”

  • UNILORIN VC to herdsmen: vacate our land in seven-day

    UNILORIN VC to herdsmen: vacate our land in seven-day

    University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) Vice–Chancellor Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali,  yesterday gave herdsmen encroaching on the institution’s land a seven-day ultimatum to quit.
    The vice-chancellor gave the ultimatum at a meeting he held with the representatives of the herdsmen and other stakeholders on the campus.
    He said their presence there was a violation of the laws governing the university.
    “Your activities are affecting our research works. Plants grown for research works are being destroyed and slowing down the pace of research work.
    “We must ensure we do not hinder and frustrate each other, as we are members of the same society,” Ambali said.
    He said the meeting was called because the institution believed in dialogue and peaceful resolution of conflicts.
    “People are building permanent structures on our land. When we went round, we counted about 16 structures.
    “We want to use these plots for the purpose for which the university was established, hence, the need for this meeting.”
    The V-C said the university had reached agreements with some foreign collaborators to develop the land for research purposes.
    Ambali added that the illegal activities of the herdsmen on the campus would affect the university’s over 30,000 students.
    He advised the herdsmen to cooperate with the institution to achieve its mission.
    The vice-chancellor told them that one of the reasons for establishing the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was to cater for the needs of the herdsmen, not to be a source of conflicts in the communities.
    The institution’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Management Services, Prof. Adedayo Abdulkareem, noted that several university farms were being destroyed by the grazing cattle.
    He said the unlawful encroachment on the institution’s landed property was worrisome to the university administration.
    Abdulkareem condemned the use of chemicals by the herdsmen for illegal fishing in the institution’s waters.
    The DVC described this as a dangerous development that could lead to water poisoning, as the university relied on the water for treatment and supply to the campus.
    Some of the herdsmen on the occasion thanked Ambali for the matured way he handled the situation.
    They promised to assist in arresting any of their members trespassing on the university’s land.
    Alhaji Baba Bello, the Daudu of Fufu, warned the herdsmen against building permanent structures on the university land and decried the destruction of farms by the nomads.

  • ASUU calls for UNILORIN VC’s resignation

    ASUU calls for UNILORIN VC’s resignation

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ibadan Zone, has called on the Vice Chancellor of University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, to honourably resign his appointment to allow for an independent investigation of fraud allegations brought against him.
    The union called on the Ministry of Education, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), to act quickly to avoid insinuation of complicity.
    A statement by the Chairman, Dr Ade Adejumo and Secretary, Dr. Deji Omole, said the call became imperative following the monumental fraud revealed by an investigative report of
    The Nation newspaper, which lend credence to the petition the union submitted against the present and past Vice Chancellors of Unilorin.
    The statement reads: “At this point, the union has no option but to call on the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, to honourably resign his appointment in view of the weight of these allegations, to allow for an independent investigation.
    “This is the civilised practice. In the alternative, the union calls on the Ministry of Education and crime authorities to act quickly to avoid any insinuation of complicity.”

  • Why they are after me, by UNILORIN VC

    Why they are after me, by UNILORIN VC

    UNIVERSITY of Ilorin (UNILORIN) Vice Chancellor Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali said yesterday that the recent criticisms of his administration over some allegations were aimed at ushering him out of the seat with ignominy.
    Ambali’s tenure as the Vice Chancellor of Unilorin expires between July and August this year.
    Speaking with reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, the professor of veterinary medicine, accused a faction of the institution’s Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of being the brain behind his ordeal.
    “So, I won’t be surprised as I have been told that it is the tradition of some people, whenever the tenure of a vice chancellor is coming to an end, they embark on smear campaigns against him.
    “The campaigns are aimed at ushering me out with ignominy instead of saying thank you for the service rendered. They would say ‘who told you to do all this?’ That to me is not the best way,” he said.
    Ambali added that the bashings were calculated attempts to smear the reputation the university had achieved over the years.
    He said: “To me, the rising tempo of attacks on my administration is a wrong approach to succeed in life. If you want the seat of the vice chancellor, there are laid down procedures by government. You don’t destroy somebody in order to occupy his place. You can as well be a fellow good passenger in the bus, so that the bus can get to its destination safely and peaceful and all of you can disembark and go home. But by destroying the same vehicle you want to use to get to your own destination as well, nobody will get there.
    “And now the latest option is to put our reputation at stake by defaming the famous University of Ilorin and demystifying all the reputation we have garnered over the years. All the allegations that are going round are calculated at undermining all the 17 years of uninterrupted academic calendar the university has earned. That has also undermined all the good and hardworking staff of the university.
    “That to me is very unfortunate. In any democratic setting, there should be room to allow some idiosyncrasies; allow people to be slightly different and do something different from the majority of the people, so that we can appreciate the skills and talents God has given everybody.
    “If you could recollect, that same week, we had great challenges at the same time. We had the fire incident at our plantation, the CBT crisis and the write-ups all geared towards putting one into confusion to see whether he would not break. I inherited a peaceful university and by the grace of God, I will leave the university better than I inherited it.
    “We are on course. We have tremendous growth in the university.”
    On the last year’s expulsion of UNILORIN by the national ASUU, the vice chancellor said: “They told every university in Nigeria not to associate with us. That in all academic and social matters, all other universities in Nigeria should boycott us; that we thought was not a wise decision because in matters pertaining to education, we should be liberal and allowed everybody to interact at whatever levels and exchange academic materials.
    “UNILORIN over the last 17 years has been doing things slightly different from the rest of other universities in the country.”
    Though the national Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expelled us from its fold, we have used that time to look inward and focus attention to our tripartite mandate of teaching, research and community service.”

  • N2.5b fraud claims: UNILORIN VC denies allegation

    Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Prof Abdulganiyu Ambali has, for the first time, reacted to the corruption allegations levelled against him and his predecessor, Prof Ishaq Oloyede by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    Ambali described the allegations of N2.5 billion fraud against him and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Registrar as attempt to embarrass them and  the university.

    ASUU Southwest Zone had petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), accusing the duo of N2.5 billion pension scam and other allegations.

    Speaking with reporters in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, the professor of Vet Medicine, said: “All they wrote were cooked up because on the issue of PenCom. It has been trashed by the person concerned. He has given details of what happened and when the amount was increased from N7.5 million to N8 million based on the circular we got we increased and members were adequately briefed.

    “On the issue of PC tablets we have started distributing them a couple of days ago and that will continue. And they talked about N2.5 billion. Where will I get such amount? It all sounds very funny to me and they are just out to embarras our persons and UNILORIN. They have tried to penetrate the university without success.”

    He continued: “Nobody will know your house more than yourself. For somebody to be levelling allegations by proxy appears very unusual to me. But most importantly, when I read the whole thing, it was just like somebody sitting down to cook up lies against another personality.

    “These people have tried several times to invade UNILORIN. For of us, they came trying to convince everybody that they wanted to carry the university along. They wanted to have UNILORIN in their fold and I created the environment for them to interact with the stakeholders in the university. That was about three years ago. The stakeholders include the Academic Staff Union of Universities (UNILORIN) branch on ground, the elders of the university and other stakeholders.

    “Unfortunately, that attempt didn’t see the light of the day, probably because of their approach, but I did what I had to do to introduce them to the stakeholders.

    “Then the national ASUU advised the remaining UNILORIN sacked but reinstated 49 to go on membership drive as they are in the minority.’’

    Ambali said the ASUU planned to hold their zonal convention and but that he advised them to discuss with the collaegues on the campus in view of its security implication.

    He continued: “If minority is coming to hold a convention within a majority that is ready to welcome them, there was going to be confusion. I, then, said that the time we were then was not ripe for them to come and hold that kind of meeting on our campus.

    “Probably, they were not happy with that advice. Their next step was to mobilise all the ASUU members within the zone to force themselves on campus even when the session was on. When I heard this, I said that would cause chaos within the campus. That was when that attempt was resisted.

    “They also made several contacts with several people that could force me to open up the gate and allow them, but I told the people the situation on ground then. They didn’t like that.

    “The next thing was for them to meet and embarrass by writing petition against us. They know that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is zero tolerant to corruption.

    “When you look at the school in relations with what we have been doing in the last four years, even a blind man will know that the institution has changed positively and the promise I made, which I still adhere to, is that I want to leave the university better than I inherited it.”

  • Nigerian graduates compete favourably, says UNILORIN VC

    Inspite of the dearth of infrastructure in Nigerian universities, products of Nigerian universities are globally competitive, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Prof Abdulganiyu Ambali has said.

    Ambali added that the perceived falling standard of education in the country has no effect on annual rating of Nigerian universities in the world.

    He said that reports from various employers of labour in and outside the country indicated that Nigerian graduates are performing to the admiration of their employers.

    Speaking with reporters in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, the professor of veterinary medicine recalled that UNILORIN was  ranked first among Nigerian universities in Africa in previous years.

    The university was recently ranked 41st in Africa with the University of Lagos in 29th position in Africa.

    Ambali, who said that annual world ranking of universities was about every university keying into best practices in the world, added that certain variables were used to arrive at the rating.

    They include: age of the university, assets, level of endowment and laureate attracted to the university, Information Communication Technology (ICT) capacity, how much money the university could attract through research works, and presence of the Web and number of activities on campus.

    “It is all about beefing up those areas by universities,” he said.

    Speaking on the high rate of expulsion of students in the university, Ambali said the university authority always felt sad whenever it resorted to student expulsion.

    He added that the number of expelled students was negligible compared to the total number of students in the university.

    Ambali said: “We feel sad to resort to expulsion; but we are established to produce graduates worthy in moral, character, and academic ability that will, in turn, be models in the society.  So, if we found out these to be absent in any of them, we find no other option than to show such person the way out. And the number is small to the number of students we have.

    “We have to monitor every student. So, if we find one to be a threat to others, we ask such person to go. We have zero tolerance to non-compliance with agreed dress code, cultism or exam malpractice. Penalty varies as it is not actually expulsion for the dress code offence. We usually put parents of offenders into the picture and we restrict details to only parents of offenders. That’s why we don’t ever publicise reasons for expulsion and also for security reasons.”