UNIOSUN Students Interact With Outgoing VC As Council Appoints Acting VC

On Thursday the 4th of November, Osun State University Students’ Union organised a valedictory interactive session with the outgoing Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Professor Labode Popoola. The program took place at the Olagunsoye Oyinlola auditorium at the main campus of the university.

The program, which featured a question and answers session between students and Professor Popoola, was attended by other principal officers of the university including the registrar, Mr Gafar Shittu, the bursar, Mr Bolarinwa Feruke, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Research Innovation and Partnership, Professor Kola Anthony-Olusanya and the incoming acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Adefemi Afeez Bello.

The Vice-Chancellor, however, received praises from the Students’ Union President, who lauded him for his support for the union and being student-friendly.

During the interactive session, a student from Ikire Campus asked about policies of the outgoing VC, which were perceived to be management-centric and not student-centric, as well as the exorbitant school fees. The outgoing VC, in his reply, said tertiary education is not compulsory anywhere in the world and that anyone who wished to go to a university must be ready to pay. 

When asked about any mistake of the past that he would have corrected if he had the chance, he said: “I don’t know. I don’t know because [as] I said, I came here with a vision boldly written and I am following the vision. No human being is perfect, perfection lies with God but we should know that universities are run in laws and statutes, I don’t think I have breached any of them.”

The president of the Faculty of Humanities Students Association, Ajao, decried the inconveniences caused to students in the course of implementing some policies of the university which were claimed to be aimed at raising the standard of the university.

The outgoing VC said a document of the account of his stewardship would be given to the students’ union so the students can see his achievements. The Students’ Union President, Muideen Olanrewaju, at the program conferred the patronship of the Union on the outgoing Vice-Chancellor.

On Wednesday evening, Pro-Chancellor Mallam Yusuf Ali announced Professor Adefemi Bello as the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the university. Professor Bello was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration and Development, prior to his appointment as Acting Vice-Chancellor. 

The appointment comes on the heels of a lawsuit against the university over the requirements in the advertisement of the vacancy for the office. The Osun State branch of the Nigerian Medical Association dragged the university to court for excluding professors without a PhD. Medical professors are known to possess medical fellowship instead of PhD to attain professorship.