Ambrose Alli University (AAU) Ekpoma Chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has urged Governor Godwin Obaseki to release the report of Special Visitation Panel to the institution, as part of efforts to reposition the university.
Rising from a meeting on Thursday, February 18, 2021, it urged Governor Obaseki to make good his promise to reposition the state-owned University by releasing the report of the Prof I.K. Omoruyi-led Special Visitation Panel.
In a statement issued in Benin City by its Chairman, Dr. Monday Igbafen and Secretary, Dr. Azebioje-Coker Anthony, the union said it was disappointed that nothing has been heard about the panel’s report, which the state government said should be submitted within six weeks, having been inaugurated in October last year.
It maintained that the union was not unaware of the two weeks extension given to the panel due the #EndSARS protests and COVID-19 lockdown, which the union said, ought not to hinder the progress of the report.
Igbafen said ASUU was worried that there had not been any report, even as the Special Visitation Panel’s deadline for its submission had since lapsed, adding that the non-release of the report was therefore, open to several interpretations.
Expressing concern over the delay in the release of the report, Igbafen recalled that the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Lagos State University (LASU) had similar experiences, adding that the AAU was almost a case of no-report, while UNILAG and LASU had since overcome their crisis with the swift release of the reports by their special visitation panels.
It, therefore, urged Governor Obaseki, who is visitor to the university to immediately resolve the challenges facing the institution.
It raised concern over imminent crisis and instability in the management of the university, as a result of delay in the appointment of principal officers for the university.
In a letter to the Governing Council, it said: “The tenure of the current Vice-Chancellor of the university expires on May 12, 2021. The Governing Council should be informed that the tenures of the Registrar, Secretary to Council and the Librarian, terminate in April and May.
“The tenure of the Bursar had since lapsed and the process of appointing a new Bursar, which started some months ago, is neither aborted, nor concluded and in fact it is in limbo.”
ASUU expressed dismay that less than three months to the expiration of the Vice-Chancellor’s tenure, there were no indications that the preliminary processes, including advertisements for the position, had commenced.
