Minister Inaugurates Presidential Visitation Panel On UNILAG Crisis
The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, has said the President Muhammadu Buhari has no interest in the ongoing crisis which is currently rocking the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
The minister disclosed this at the inauguration ceremony of the special Presidential Visitation Panel to the University of Lagos, as constituted and approved by President Buhari.
He maintained that due process was alleged not to have been followed in the removal and appointment of the vice-chancellor and acting vice-chancellor respectively.
“It is instructive to note that the decision of the council, instead of stabilizing the university of Lagos, only managed to open up a plethora of accusations and counter-accusation,” Adamu said.
He explained that the crisis in Unilag has lingered unabated, in spite of the interventions by the leadership of the ministry of education.
Adamu said “over the past one year, the ministry has been inundated with complaints and correspondence from the management and the governing council of the University of Lagos as well as the National Assembly, on lingering governance issues in the institution, including allegations of financial infractions and breach of responsibilities.
“Many stakeholders and the National Universities Commission, eventually leading to the removal of professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe as vice-chancellor by the university governing council during its meeting of Wednesday, 12fh August 2020.
Adamu noted that chairmen and members of the council had been advised not to interfere with the day-to-day administrative activities of their respective university managements.
According to him, councils are to lay down policies while managements are to implement them.
The minister explained that the panel is expected to look into the crisis in the university and submit recommendations towards repositioning the institution to its pride of place in the Nigerian university system.
Adamu said members the panel which is led by Professor Tukur Sa’ad, were carefully selected in recognition of their integrity, track records and antecedents in university management and leadership.
On his part, chairman of the panel, Professor Tukur Sa’ad, assured the minister that the panel is going to work assiduously to make recommendations that will assist the government in making decisions that will ensure peaceful and effective administration of the university.
Sa’ad explained that the panel may require more than the two weeks to submit it’s reported to the ministry.
He noted that the panel will afford all those indicted an opportunity to defend themselves.
Sa’ad noted that as the highest authority in federal universities, President Mohammadu Buhari has the power to appoint a substantive vice-chancellor for the university as a result of the crises.
