Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has criticized the invasion of Obafemi Awolowo University’s campus in Ile-lfe, Osun state, by certain Ife indigenes and traditionalists protesting the authorities’ refusal to designate an Ife indigene as Vice-Chancellor.
Mr. Akeredolu, an alumnus of the institution, called the approach as “foreign to academics,” “shameful, reckless, and wrong.”
In a statement he personally signed in Akure, the Governor said the act should elicit the most strident condemnation from all good people.
He bemoaned the fact that the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor, which was once an uncomplicated internal process, has now become a source of not only intense politicking among academics and their non-teaching counterparts.
The statement reads that “The latest news on the invasion of the campus by some Ife indigenes and traditionalists, allegedly, to protest the failure by the authorities to appoint “an Ife indigene”, showcases the extent to which the system has sunk, almost irretrievably.
“This is, perhaps, symptomatic of the pervasive rot in the academia. This thoughtless, reckless and misguided step forebodes untoward occurrences in the future.
“A situation which seems totally extraneous elements to the university environment invade the serene ambience to offer support, presumably solicited and sponsored by those who may have lost out in the selection process, is lamentable”
