•Akala: Osun must return to negotiation table
Joshua Dada, Osogbo & Ademola Babalola, Ibadan
GOVERNOR Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun State has declared that the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, should remain open to normal academic activities.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Oyinlola, Lasisi Olagunju, also dismissed Oyo State Governor Adebayo Alao Akala’s claim to the visitorship of the school as a false claim that has no basis, both in law and the convention governing the institution.
“It is on record that then Governor Rasidi Ladoja of Oyo State signed the appointment letter of Prof Babatunde Adeleke as the Vice-Chancellor of the university in 2005, so if we are to assume (without conceding) that the yearly rotation argument of Oyo State is the truth, whose turn will it be in 2010? The public can calculate and judge. Even then, we say the visitorship of the school rotates on six monthly basis based on the period each state pays LAUTECH workers salaries. Oyo State government knows this. It is just being clever by half, “ the statement says.
The government noted that the Oyo State government knew that the six monthly rotational arrangement preceded the current governors of the two states and wondered why the Oyo State government would “ridicule itself telling white lies and shooting itself in the foot with that false claim.”
Oyinlola declared that Prof Olanrewaju Nassar, who purportedly ordered the university’s closure on Tuesday, does not have the power to close down the university because Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), who appointed him as the acting Vice-Chancellor by law, ceased to be chairman of the Governing Council of the university over two years ago, precisely on March 28, 2008.
“Indeed, the attention of the Governors of the two owner states was drawn to the expiration of the tenure by a letter Ref. No.: REG/CA/12 dated 18th March, 2008, signed by the Acting Registrar of LAUTECH.
“The Governing Council of LAUTECH which Chief Ayorinde was Chairman statutorily ceased to exist on 22nd March, 2008, its inaugural meeting having been held on 23rd March, 2004 for a four-year tenure.
The council was never reappointed and so, Chief Ayorinde, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria knows he lacked the power to function a day after 22nd March, 2008. This, in essence, means that Prof. Nassar never existed as acting Vice-Chancellor of the university and can therefore not close down the school.
Oyinlola said “all persons, corporate organisations and staff of the university are strongly advised not to engage in any illegal official dealings with Prof Nassar and members of the dissolved University council.”
But, Alao-Akala said the controversy was needless, blaming Oyinlola for the crisis.
A statement signed by his Special Adviser, Public Communications, Prince Dotun Oyelade and Senior Special Assistant, Public Affairs, Chief Gbade Ishola, reads: “The needless controversy over the ownership of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) between the two sister states of Osun and Oyo has remained unduly prolonged because of the failure of Osun State to allow empirical facts to determine and influence its actions and decisions on the dispute.
“Osun State should return to their negotiation table to find an acceptable formula for its disengagement and put an end to the needless disagreement between two sister states.
“The visitorship of LAUTECH by the Act setting it up is not rotated on six monthly basis, rather, it is a yearly affair which translates to Governor Adebayo Alao-akala as the visitor till January 2011, since he assumed that position in January this year.”
