Protest For Indigenous VCs: Nigerian Varsities No Longer Universal – ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has described the agitations by some individuals and groups that indigenes of towns where universities are sited be made the vice chancellors of such universities as reducing the institutions to local entities.

Reacting to the recent action by some people in Ile Ife who protested against the choice of a non-indigene as the VC of Obafemi  Awolowo University,  the union, through the National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke,  also said universities are universal in nature and that appointments there should be devoid of ethnic and other sentiments.

“Is VC not about being competent? So, the VCs in all universities in the South-West must be Yoruba, those in the North must be Hausa/Fulani and those in the South-East must be Igbo? The university is universal and a Russian can be heading a university in America and vice versa.”

Osodeke also wondered if the funds used in setting up these universities were sourced from their host communities only.  The ASUU boss also blamed the government for not putting the right persons in the Governing Councils of the universities, saying some council members lacked the knowledge of how to run the universities.

In recent times, the choice of who become the VCs of some universities has been turned into what some people have labelled ‘a show of shame.’ Recently, some people took over the main gate of OAU to protest the non-recommendation of an Ife man as the next OAU VC.