Protest rocks Adeyemi University of Education, Ondo

But there were mixed feelings about the new status. While some members of staff were happy with the host communities, others were not. And those not favourably disposed to the new status allegedly worked against it. Although their identities are not known and some workers have refused to disclose those allegedly behind the move, investigations revealed that some lecturers, who had spent many years in the system, worked with some prominent people in the society to reverse the schools’ status. It was further learnt that the alleged sponsors have refused to improve themselves, especially in attaining their Ph.D degrees, and were afraid the new status of their institutions might either choke them, or make them inferior. The Nation reporters gathered that the ‘anti-university’ promoters secretly formed a group in the four affected colleges of education, using the platform to push their demands. The group was alleged to have been in touch with some highly connected people in government to get their message to the Presidency. Their agitation was anchored on the fact that majority of the teachers in the four institutions have no Ph.D degrees, raising the fear that they might be sent back to the labour market that is replete with unemployed. However, their argument was at variance with that of the non-teaching staff of the institutions. The non-teaching staff, through their unions – Non- Academic Staff Union (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), also formed a joint union called ‘Joint Non-Teaching Staff Action Committee’ (JNTSAC) to work against the planned reversal. The President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Comrade Femi Lademikan, was made their chairman at an emergency congress at an occassion which held at the institution’s premises in Ondo State. Some of the aggrieved workers, who stormed the congress venue, were armed with canes, ostensibly to go straight to the offices of those pushing for the reversal to flog them. Nonetheless, they were prevailed upon by leaders of the unions, who admonished them not to be violent in pressing for their demands. Addressing the workers at the congress, Lademikan said union leaders had not gone to bed, adding that they had been seeking assistance, particularly from prominent indigenes of the Ondo kingdom. “Immediately we heard about this (reversal to old status), we rushed to Osemawe of Ondo, Oba Victor Kiladejo, but, unfortunately, the monarch was not in the country. That took us to his second in command; the Lisa of Ondo, Chief, Simeon Oguntimehin. “He expressed sadness on the issue and immediately called the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, his wife, Dolapo and President Muhammadu Buhari’s media aide, Mr. Femi Adesina on the issue.They all said the news was strange to them and that there was no such plan in the Presidency. “We told him of our plan to stage a protest to the Osemawe’s palace and also the Governor’s Office, but Chief Oguntimehin appealed against the idea, fearing that some unscrupulous elements might hijack the process,” he said. But the aggrieved workers insisted that, despite Oguntimehin’s appeal, they must march to the gate of their institution on Ondo-Ore-Lagos Expressway. They displayed placards with various inscriptions, such as “Mr President take away corruption, not our university”; “University status, no going back”; “Forward ever, backward never”. Their action caused a gridlock on the route for about an hour. Addressing reporters, Lademikan said: “We want our university to remain, and we are appealing to the government through this peaceful demonstration. “We are telling President Muhammadu Buhari that we have everything- manpower, people, structures and resources that it will take to maintain the new status of this institution. We are peaceful and cooperative. Mr. President must not listen to people, who don’t love him, sycophants and those enemies of progress. “There are so many publications in the media that the institution should be returned to college, but because of this forum, we won’t mention names. We know them and we are waiting for them.” Teachers in the institution, under the umbrella of Lecturers’ Union of Adeyemi University, had quickly aligned with JNTSAC, describing the upgrade to university as a step in the right direction. A statement signed by its Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Olaolu Olaniyan, said: “The union notes with utter dismay and outright displeasure, the rumour making the rounds about the purported reversal of the hard-earned university status of Adeyemi Federal University of Education and three other newly upgraded universities of education. “We want to emphatically express our rejection of such a reversal which is only capable of creating avoidable tension in the new university community and the host community by extension. “The upgrading of the institution into a full fledged university was premised on several factors, chiefly, the high quality of academic staff, who have worked assiduously over the years to produce an array of trained teachers for the primary and secondary school components. The institution also runs Post-Graduate Diploma in Education programme. ” It is, therefore, in the light of the foregoing that the union rejects in absolute terms any attempt whatsoever to truncate the upgrading of the institution to a full fledged university status. It is an ill wind that blows nobody no good, and capable of precipitating crisis in the immediate university community and the host community.” Also, the President, Students’ Union Government of Adeyemi Federal University of Education. Isiaka Kamarudeen, lent his voice. “We have celebrated this and that is how it should be. Nobody should reverse our status. It will look so bad on the side of workers and students of the institution if such negative decision is taken. Government must not take any decision that can cause students’ unrest,” Kamarudeen said. But a member of the management, who preferred anonymity, expressed shock over the development. He said “I was surprised that some of our lecturers were fingered in this plot and I don’t know why people will be against good thing? I still remember the efforts of the former ACE Provost, Prof. Idowu Adeyemi, the Osemawe of Ondo and other prominent people in the state in this drive. How come some few people will now be planning to scuttle what a large number of people had laboured for? “The former Provost gave room for lecturers to develop themselves and through that many of them got their Ph.D, and I don’t know why some people will now complain that we have fewer Ph.D holders?