Visitation panel to recommend sanctions –Ministry
ASUU: Right signal to other governing councils
Soyombo: I wanted to restore peace, stability
Stakeholder: FG’s action, right step in right direction
INTERVENTION
The Federal Government finally intervened in the crisis rocking the University of Lagos (UNILAG) by constituting a seven-member special visitation panel to look at causes of the crisis, while the Chairman of Council/ Prof. Chancellor and Vice- Chancellor were suspended
Kayode Olanrewaju The face-off between the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Governing Council and the management, leading to a protracted crisis rocking the ivory tower in the last two years has taken a new dimension.
Following the unresolved crisis, the Council-led by the Chairman/ Pro-Chancellor, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN) had on Wednesday, August 12, at an emergency meeting of the Council at the Conference Hall of the National Universities Commission (NUC) in Abuja announced the removal of the Vice-Chancellor.
The suspended Governing Council named a Professor of Sociology, Omololu Soyombo, as Vice-Chancellor in an acting capacity. The Babalakin-led Council, which sacked Ogundipe through a controversial voting process by members of the council, claimed that the Vice- Chancellor was sacked on the allegations of financial malfeasance and management misconduct.
The face-off between the management and the Council got to a head in March, when only a few days to the 52nd convocation of the university that the Federal Ministry of Education announced the cancellation or suspension of the ceremonies.
Babalakin, was said to have informed the Education Minister, Mallam Adamu Adamu in a letter dated March 2, 2020, that the programme was not approved by the Governing Council, because he was either not carried along in the programme and thus the convocation that has been widely published was suspend. The action of the Babalakin-led Council has since continued to generate massive ill-feelings and condemnation among the major stakeholders within and outside the university community.
Stakeholders including the institution’s various workers’ unions; the University Senate, led by Profes- sor Chioma Agomo, a former Dean of Faculty of Law, the University Alumni Association, led by Dr. John Momoh; the Committee of Vice-Chancellors; UNILAG Parents’ Forum, among other Nigerians condemned the controversial removal of the Vice-Chancellor for lack of legality, due process and rule of law.
Meanwhile, the removal of Ogundipe and appointment of Soyombo had also caused a split in the university community, especially among the staff unions of the university, as some rose against the removal of the Vice-Chancellor without due process and rule of law, the nonteaching staff unions pitted their tents with Babalakin, and Soyombo as Acting Vice-Chancellor.
With this development, and support from other quarters, as claimed by the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Soyombo formally assumed office on Wednesday, August 19, where he appealed for support of all members of the university community, saying: “UNILAG is bigger than any individual.”
While the tension generated by both the sacking of Prof. Ogundipe and appointment of Prof. Soyombo was still aggravating on campus, the Federal Government, which had maintained a grave silence since August 12 over the crisis, on Friday, August 21, announced the suspension of the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council and the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ogundipe, over the lingering crisis.
The decision by President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend the duo had not only doused the tension in the university, but had also been lauded by the university community.
As part of moves to resolve the crisis and restore sanity into the 58-year-old university,
The President, therefore, constituted a seven-member Special Visitation Panel to look into the crisis rocking the ivory tower. In a statement signed by the spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Education, issued on Friday, Ben Goong directed the Pro-Chancellor, Babalakin and the embattled Vice-Chancellor, Ogundipe to recuse themselves from official duties immediately.
According to the statement, they should step aside pending the outcome of investigation by a visitation panel, while the university Senate was also directed to nominate an Acting Vice-Chancellor for Council approval. Members of the visitation panel are Prof. Tukur Sa’ad, as Chairman; Mr. Victor Onuoha, a lawyer; Prof. Ikenna Onyido; Prof. Ekanem Braide; Prof. Adamu K. Usman; Chief Jimoh Bankole; and Mrs. Grace Ekanem, also a lawyer as the Secretary.
According to the President, the panel’s terms of reference are to review the report of the Council committee of review on expenditure of the University of Lagos since May 2017 and make appropriate recommendations after affording all those indicted an opportunity to defend themselves.
To examine the steps taking by the Council leading to the removal of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe and ascertaining whether due process was followed as stipulated in the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Act 2003 and the principle of fair hearing adhered to.
The panel, among other terms of reference is to determine whether the process (if any) leading to the appointment of the Acting Vice-Chancellor for university was consistent with the provisions of the enabling Act; make appropriate recommendations including sanctions for all those found culpable by special visitation team on the allegations contained in the report as well as other subsequent actions among there from. The panel is also to make any other recommendations that will assist the government to take decisions that will ensure peaceful, stable, effective administration of the university.
The special visitation panel, which will be inaugurated by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu tomorrow, Wednesday, 26 August, has two weeks to submit its report. Earlier, the embattled Vice-Chancellor, who described the action of the Babalakin-led Council as illegal, unlawful and run foul of the extant law of the university had filed a lawsuit at the National Industrial Court to challenge his removal.
But, before the announcement of the suspension of the council and vicechancellor, Ogundipe through his lawyers, Messrs Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN) had approached the court on Friday with an application to discontinue the case.
The suit, marked NICN/ LA/278/2020, had as defendants: UNILAG; the university’s Council; its Senate; Pro-Chancellor, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN); Registrar, Oladejo Azeez; and Prof. Theophilus Soyombo, who was appointed acting Vice-Chancellor in the wake of Ogundipe’s controversial sacking.
The Notice of Discontinuance, filed pursuant to Order 61(1)(1) of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (Civil Procedure) 2017, reads: “Take Notice that the claimant doth here- by wholly discontinue this suit against the 1st-6th defendants.”
According to Adegboruwa, “This is to defer to the authority of the President as the Visitor of the University as Prof. Ogundipe has enough time to challenge his purported removal. Meanwhile, Prof. Omololu Soyombo, on Saturday afternoon announced that he was stepping down as the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the university with immediate effect.
His action followed the setting up of a Special Visitation Panel to the institution by the Federal Government on Friday and the directive that the University Senate to nominate an Acting Vice- Chancellor for the university.
Soyombo, who in a statement announced that he was stepping down with immediate effect, said: “With this, I am stepping down, with immediate effect, as Acting Vice-Chancellor of the university.”
He said in the statement signed by him: “I wish to express my sincere appreciation to all members of staff and our dear students, the staff unions, alumni, and the general public for their wonderful support and cooperation in the past 10 days since my appointment as Acting Vice-Chancellor of the university on 12th August.
“As I noted in my address to a cross-section of staff on 19th August, I accepted the offer to serve as a call to service, with the objective of restoring peace and stability in the university. “It is my prayer that the peace and stability that we so much need and desire at this time be restored very quickly so that the University of Lagos can continue to march on as the University of First Choice and the Nation’s Pride.”
He, therefore, urged all members of staff and students to continue to go about their lawful activities in a peaceful manner.
Meanwhile, reactions have continued to trail the Federal Government’s suspension of Chairman of Governing and the embattled Vice-Chancellor, as stakeholders in the university project, especially the various staff unions, as well as the Parents’ Forum of the university, have hailed the government for taken the bold step geared towards resolving the lingering crisis in the institution.
In its reaction, the National body of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) expressed delight that President Buhari exercised his powers as Visitor to stop the drift in the governance of UNILAG.
The National President of the union, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, however, regretted that by ignoring the Senate of the university, the Babalakin-led Council assumed the dual role of the prosecutor and the judge in the unfortunate events that culminated in the removal of the Vice-Chancellor and imposition of an Acting Vice-Chancellor.
He noted: “The setting up of a Special Visitation Panel to look into the immediate and remote causes of the problem will help UNILAG and the entire Nigerian University System in several ways.
For instance, it will avail both Dr. Wale Babalakin and Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe the opportunity to state their respective cases before an independent body in line with the principle of fair hearing.
“Also, we believe that the investigation activities of the panel are likely to throw up university governance issues at the base of the crisis, especially with respect to the powers and limits of the Pro-Chancellor and the Vice- Chancellor, in the interest of the university.”
Similarly, Ogunyemi added that the decisive intervention of the Federal Government must have sent the right signal to other Governing Councils that the government would no longer tolerate any act of impunity in the system.
On its part, the university chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, which has since pitted its tents against the Chairman of Council, and condemned his action, had earlier passed a vote of no confidence in Babalakin and declared him persona non-grata.
The union, which lauded and described the government’s action as a welcome development, had also threatened the Council Chairman not to come to the university. The Chairman, Dr. Dele Ashiru said the Federal Government’s action was a right step in the right direction, and the best thing that could happen to the university under the present situation.
Also the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), as well as the Parents’ forum said the Federal Government position was not only a welcome development but also a bold and courageous step.
SSANU’s Chairman, Mr. Olusola Sowunmi, however, added that he was still studying the development. To the Chairman of ASUU, his NASU counterpart, Mr. Kehinde Ajibade, and the Parents’ Forum, Mr. Babatunde Majekodunmi, the Federal Government in this regards, had done well as it is on the side of the rule of law.
According to them, the government’s action would definitely give room for all parties in the crisis to present their cases before the independent panel constituted to investigate all the issues in contention and bring lasting peace to the university.
They, however, explained that UNILAG needed to be guided by extant laws in all its activities so as to live up to its mandates of producing total students, engage in quality research and community services. ASUU, therefore, added that the union on this issue appreciates the Federal Government for this courageous step to halt Babalakin’s shenanigan at UNILAG.
Ashiru, who insisted that the appointment of Soyombo was not recognised by law, in the first place, noted that with the visitation panel, all accused in the crisis would be given fair hearing, saying: “It is a right step in the right direction.
And, worth gratifying is the recognition of the position of the Senate as a critical organ in the governance structure of the university and that the President allowed due process to follow by respecting the legal role of the Senate.”
