The Acting Vice-Chancellor of University of Ibadan, Prof. Adebola Babatunde Ekanola, is convening a stakeholders’ meeting in Ibadan on Tuesday, December 22 to find a way out for the appointment of a substantive Vice chancellor for the 72- year old institution.
Ekanola, who succeeded Prof. Idowu Olayinka, on December 1, as acting Vice Chancellor, mooted the idea of the meeting to have a road map before the expiration of his six months tenure.
Those invited for the meeting were all past Vice Chancellors, internal members of UI Council, internal applicants for the post of Vice Chancellor and religious leaders.
It is however not clear if Olayinka will be there since he is a past VC, but the root cause of the imbroglio.
Even the acting VC, who is the convener, may not be neutral except he wants to be now as he had spoken and acted in support of a particular candidate before.
Virtually all the past VCs have written one recommendations or the other for the applicants .
There are insinuations in some quarters that the meeting is coming too early just three weeks after the VC election imbroglio and that such parley ought to be convened by a neutral body or person.
“However, if the acting VC can be true to his intentions, we hope stakeholders will consider the larger interest of the University of Ibadan and put in place a process that will be open and credible.
“It should be devoid of any ethnic or religious divisions, and aspire to mend all differences and gulfs created by the outgone VC”, a concerned academic elder said.
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