Contrary to suggestions in some quarters that the vice chancellor of the University of Benin may have become incapacitated due to ill health, Professor Osayuki Oshodin was in the university environment yesterday to the jubilation of management staff and other members of the university community.
There had been calls that he should be replaced with an acting vice chancellor to complete the remaining months of his tenure which ends in November this year.
However, dressed in a grey shirt and jacket on black trousers, Oshodin presided over the meeting of Appointment and Promotion Board of the university where management staff were all seen singing songs of praise to God for his return after he was flown abroad for medical attention in May.
Addressing a press conference, members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) described the call for the vice chancellor’s removal as selfish and driven by greed, saying it “smacks of mischief for anybody to claim that the tension created by the absence of the vice chancellor has slowed down activities within the university”.
Chairman of SSANU, Comrade John Alile, who spoke in company of the acting chairman of NASU, Comrade Joel Idonije, and NASU chairman, Comrade Sunday Momoh, said even in the absence of Oshodin, the school had completed its first semester and had already resumed for the second semester, students were mobilised for NYSC, while the 11th Edition of Nigerian Universities Staff Sports Association Games was successfully hosted among others.
He said, “It is sad to note how the pursuit of selfish interest could drive some persons to the point of losing sight of the uniqueness of the university system whose operations are largely guided by the rule of law. We advise those calling for the appointment of an acting vice chancellor to check the statutes for their own good.”
Anyway, we are delighted to make it known that Professor O. G. Oshodin is hale and hearty; he resumed duty today.”
He said the appointment of two acting deputy vice chancellors was done in strict compliance with due process.
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