Headline

Unilag Crisis: Remo Foundation Writes Council “Your Purported Removal Of VC Illegal”

Published

4 years ago

August 14, 2020

Editor

A group known as the Remo Growth and Development Foundation has called on the University of Lagos Council to stop its purported removal of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe

In a statement joinly signed by Aare Kola Oyefeso and Wole Awe, Esq, the Foundation frowned at the fact due process was not followed by the Council in the matter at hand.

The Full Statement:

We write as Remo Growth and Development Foundation which responsibly,influence and operations cover all the 44 towns of Remoland- being one of the integral Divisions of Ogun State, and as the the kith and kin of the incumbent and bonafide Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, to register our consternation on the abracadabra that attended the purported removal of Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, FAS from his position as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos.

Remo is known to have produced the very best in almost everything in Nigeria and to mention a few,Chief Obafemi Awolowo of blessed memory,the first Professor Emeritus in Medicine- Prof T Ogunlesi, The only Nigeria Nobel Laureate-Prof Wole Soyinka,the Nigerian making wave Internationally-Dr Bayo Ogunlesi who owns five (5) International Airports among which is Gatwick Airport and has in his employment,a former World Bank President. Unarguably,the best among intellectual that ever occupies the seat of the Vice Presidency of this Country is also from Remo,not to talk of past and current State Governors.

With this kind of unsullied profile, our indigenes go out with Remo pristine and unblemished pedigree hence; they dilligently prove their mettle in their various callings.

Ergo; We don’t and will never throw our weight behind any of our indigenes on the basis of sheer ethnic sentiment. We do so,because all our indigenes are under obligation to do us proud anywhere they find themselves. With such disposition, we wouldn’t allow any of our indigenes to be rubbished at the altar of impetuousity. We are therefore demanding nothing but due process as set out in the University’s regulations under an unbiased panel.

For crying out loud the procedure for disengaging holder of such exalted position of the Vice Chancellor in Government Universities is clearly spelt out and for emphasis we culled the conditions to be met infra;

Procedures for removal of Vice Chancellor are clearly spelt out in The University (Ammendement) Acts 2003 as follows:

(9) When the proposal for the removal of the Vice-Chancellor is made, the Council shall

constitute a joint committee of Council and Senate consisting of-

(i) three members of the Council one of whom shall be the Chairman of the committee, and

(ii) two members of the Senate,

provided that where the ground for removal is infirmity of the body or mind, the Council shall seek appropriate medical opinion.

(10) The Committee shall conduct investigation into the allegations made against the Vice-Chancellor and shall report its findings to the Council.

(11) The Council may where the allegations are proved remove the Vice-Chancellor or apply any other disciplinary action it may deem fit and notify the Visitor accordingly provided that a Vice- Chancellor who is removed shall have right of appeal to the Visitor.

(12) There shall be no sole administration in any Nigerian University.

The purpose of the conditions stated supra is to strictly fullfill the principle of Audi Utream Partem otherwise known as Fair Hearing. This is a maxim initiated by God Himself, who gave Adam a hearing when the all-knowing Lord still asked Adam why he ate the forbidden fruit.

To do anything contrary to the laid down procedure is to bring the Country back to the arbitrariness of the dark era of the Military Rule, which must be consigned to our ugly past.Ditto any act that is irrational, tyrannical and altogether draconian as the purported removal of Prof Ogundipe depicts,

We may put authoritarian behaviors past Institutions that are headed by barely educated personalities, but certainly not the citadel of learning among which, University of Lagos ranks among the very best in Africa.

Against the foregoing, we condemn this apparent subversion of set procedure on the subject in issue in the strongest term and to save the image of the Institution of Universities in Nigeria, we demand immediate reinstatement of the Vice Chancellor, while we are not averse to an investigation embracing neutral and fair panelists.

Above all, we humbly call on the Federal Government to rise to the exigency of this situation, by ordering a return to status quo ante belum forthwith.

The Maxim is Verbum Sapienti Satis Est..

Endorsed By;
Wole Awe Esq.

Aare Dr Kola Oyefeso
For & On Behalf of Remo Growth and Development Foundation.

Headline

Breaking: Wike Plans to Attend Thursday’s PDP NEC Meeting

Published

1 day ago

April 17, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NECeeting on Thursday is not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

Political stakeholders have concluded that the outcome of Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan.

Headline

Bribery, Corruption: APC Suspends National Chairman, Ganduje

Published

3 days ago

April 15, 2024

Eric

The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.

Headline

Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

Published

7 days ago

April 12, 2024

Admin

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated his commitment to working closely with Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor Umo Eno to ensure the delivery of democratic benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Akpabio stated this in his country home, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, while briefing his constituents on the journey so far as their representative in the red chamber.

He assured the people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District of his commitment to their welfare in appreciation of their total support for him, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s election.

The Highpoint of the constituency briefing was the distribution of over 10,000 bags of rice and other essentials for his constituents from the wards, to the local governments.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying, “I am here once again, to thank you for standing by me, our President and the party, before, during and even after last year’s elections. I have come to say thank you and also bring Renewed Hope to you all.

“As the President is doing his own, the Senate President is also doing his bit and being complemented by the state governor, Akwa Ibom would be the better for it. We have finished elections and politics, we are now into governance. The governor of the state must touch you, because he is the governor of all the people in the state irrespective of political affiliation.

” As I am touching you now from the political angle, I will also touch the state without any political party affiliation. Most of the projects we are putting in place would be used by people resident in the state. Relax, things are getting better.”

The former Governor of the state, assured his constituents that his current position as the Senate President would be used for the development of the state in collaboration with the President and the Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Hear him: This Senate President is not the one that would be fighting the state government. I will collaborate with , I will collaborate with , to make the state better for us all. We cannot be out of government for a long time. You have to go to a government that carries you along”

Akpabio promised to work for his constituents and Nigeria with all his strength, noting that, “as the President of the Senate, I am for the Southern region and the entire country. I may not come here regularly to tell you what I have been doing for you, but you will be feeling the impact on way or the other. Our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. I will construct a mini stadium in all the local governments in the district, for our youths to develop their sporting potentials. ”