The “Oyo Heritage Group” has called on the governor of Oyo state, ‘Seyi Makinde, to intervene and rectify the apparent injustice being meted out to the collective interest of Oyo Town indigenes over appointment ofp Principal Officers of the Emmanuel Alayande University, Oyo, in order to avert any unpleasant crisis.
The group in a release signed by Alhaji Gbola Busari and made available to journalists in Ibadan, the state capital, alleged that contrary to the fair and objective directive of the governor that all the zones in the state including: Ibadan, Oyo, Ogbomoso, Ibarapa and Oke Ogun should be evenly represented in the appointment of Principal Officers of the state-owned University, the Governing Board of the Institution led by Professor Ayo Ogunkunle, has manipulated the process to the detriment of Oyo people.
According to the release titled: “Why the hatred against Oyo?”, the group said: “quite unfortunate, irritating and insulting is the way the Governing Council of the Emmanuel Alayande University, Oyo, handled the process of ongoing appointment of Bursar and Registrar which commenced on 27th March, 2024. Contrary to the goodwill and equity posture of the Governor, as stated in his speech during the inauguration of the Governing Council of the University, that apart from the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor which he had made, all other management positions should be shared according to zones of the State, the Council rubbished the good intention of the Governor, pencilled down someone who finished few days ago as Bursar of The Polytechnic, Ibadan for appointment as Bursar of the University.
“Interestingly, the person is currently under the investigation of the ICPC for financial corruption to the tune of N20m.
“In the same vein, a person who has acted as Registrar of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo for almost four years and continues in same role under the University, (who is not an indigene of Oyo State, but from Osun), has also been penciled down for appointment as Registrar when an Oyo indigene came first in the interview.
This, the group said was contrary to the interview report that one candidate from Ibadan zone had the highest score for the Bursar position, while one candidate from Oyo zone had the highest score for Registrar position.
It therefore reasoned that: “the Council considered the importance of inclusivity in the appointment process and since the two candidates exhibited the highest competence level and came from different geo-political zones of the state, the two of them were recommended to the University Governing Council to be appointed as Principal officers of the University”.
However, the group noted that the Governing Council Chairman was bent on putting Ibadan at an advantage over other zones, disclosing that “Ibadan zone had already taken up two seats in the Management when the Council appointed one Ibadan man as Deputy Vice Chancellor and another Ibadan man as Director of Academic Planning, following the appointment of a Vice Chancellor who is from the Ibarapa zone.”
In order to avert any crisis in the University, the Oyo Town group has therefore implored Governor Makinde to investigate the manipulative tendencies being perpetrated by the Institution’s Governing Council, redress the act of nepotism and make the actors to toe the line of decency, fairness and justice.
