The College of Medicine of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Ila-Orangun (FUHSI), Osun State, is currently in a state of academic tension over unconfirmed resignation of senior medical lecturers.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), investigation revealed that the alleged resignation of the senior medical teachers was due to what they described as alleged maltreatment of one of their colleagues, Prof. Tijani Adekilekun, by the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the university, Prof. Akeem Lasisi.
The medical teachers said that if something was not done urgently to correct the anomaly, the university’s college of medicine might cease to exist.
One of the affected lecturers, who spoke with NAN under the condition of animosity, said that the crisis started when the VC allegedly issued a letter sacking Adekilekun, who is the Dean of Basic Medical Sciences, without a fair hearing.
“At first, the VC, through the Registrar of the university, on February 14, 2024 issued a query to Adekilekun, alleging that he instructed students of other programmes in the university to move to MBBS programme.
“Although the allegation was false because the Dean in question does not have such power, however, he was asked to reply to the query within 48 hours,” the lecturer said.
Another senior medical teacher, who also does not want his name in print, explained that after the Dean replied to the query, the VC, through the registrar, in another letter dated February 27, 2024 allegedly terminated the appointment of the Dean without due process and this did not go down well with other senior academic staff in the university.
The NAN also learnt that all efforts by the traditional ruler of Ila-Orangun, Oba AbdulwahabOyedotun, and other major stakeholders to resolve the issue had not yielded positive results.
But Adekilekun said he could not comment on the matter because it is being handled by the management and prominent stakeholders, such as the Orangun of Ila and his chiefs-in-council, as well as religious leaders.
A former senior management staff of the college in a telephone interview with NAN said that the issue causing crisis in the university was inconsequential.
She said that since there was no official communication on the allegation against a lecturer directing students to move from one department to another, then it should not be discussed.
On what the effect of the crisis will be on the medical sciences students, she said that the VC is in the best position to determine the fate of the students.
When contacted, the Registrar of the university, KassimBabamale, said he did not want to speak on the matter because it is under investigation. Meanwhile, when the VC of the university was contacted, he did not respond to several calls put through to him, while text and WhatsApp messages sent to him were not replied.
