By Tijani Abdulkabeer
The Premier University was thrown into happiness during the previous week after the chairman of the Governing Council, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, announced Professor Kayode Adebowale as the 13th substantive Vice-Chancellor of the institution.
Following this euphoria, Prof. idowu Olayinka in a release titled, “Succession crisis in the Academy: And the vice-chancellor wept” and made available on his Facebook page addressed the ‘controversial issues’ that surrounds his tenure as the 12th vice-chancellor.
The outgoing vice-chancellor explained the ordeals that characterized his last days in office as the crisis of choosing his successor deepened. He said he wept “profusely before a high-ranking government official in Abuja” to protect his career.
“In the heat of the 2020 crisis of succession for their Vice-Chancellorship of the University of Ibadan I still remember one (in)famous day in November of that year when I was on my knees weeping profusely before a high-ranking government official in Abuja to save my career. I have never suffered any comparable level of indignity and humiliation in my life before then. This was happening 32 years after I earned a Ph.D from the University of Birmingham (a Russel Group University) in the United Kingdom and 21 years after becoming a full Professor at the University of Ibadan!” Olayinka revealed in a statement.
“The opposition and their sponsors were hell bent on getting me out of office by all means possible. It was that same month that four members of the Council walked out of a Council meeting, a great affront to the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council. Till today no one has been issued a query for bringing the university into disrepute!”
“Indeed when by acts of omission or commission the Federal Government had to dissolve the Governing Council one of the members of that Council was quoted as saying that his major achievement was to have contributed to the impasse which prevented the emergence of a substantive Vice-Chancellor. So much for his commitment to the progress of what some of us consider a national heritage. We have just come out of the 17-month protracted VC’s succession crisis when a well-funded mob under the influence of hard drugs attacked the front runner. Their object was to intimidate, maim or even completely eliminate him. Practising politicians from the Postmodern School of Violence cannot do worse than this.”
“In the immortal words of the first Nigerian Professor of Mathematics, Prof Adegoke Olubunnmo, in his 1985 Valedictory Lecture at the University of Ibadan What does it all add up to? Someday I will have the strength to put together my memoirs. One is never interested in opening old wounds but experience teaches man that man does not learn from experience. With the way some of our colleagues trade in rumours and lies, and unable to accept defeat graciously you wonder what they teach our students. All is well that ends well.” He concluded.
