My Nomination As OAU Acting Vice-Chancellor Is God’s Will – Prof. Elujoba

Prof. Elujoba kneels to appreciate God at the Freedom Park

Prof. Anthony Elujoba, the newly elected Acting Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, says he is on rescue mission to complete the appointment of the substantive Vice-Chancellor.

Elujoba made this known in his maiden address to staff and students of the institution at NASU, SSANU Freedom Park on Friday in Ile-Ife.

He said that he did not wish to spend a day extra after the expiration of his acting tenure in the office, while expressing hope that there would be solution to the problems before then.

“I will by God’s grace support of all workers within the six months of his tenure, rewrite the story and correct the abnormalities of the past administrations,’’ he promised.

Elujoba pledged not work contrary to the will of God who made it possible for him to witness this day and assured that staff welfare would be given priority.

“My nomination as the acting Vice-Chancellor is the will of God and it is marvelous in my sight.

“It remains just two years for me to retire as a professor and if not because of the crisis on campus, my letter to proceed on sabbatical leave on Aug. 1, would have been signed,’’ he said.

He commended all the workers for their courage and steadfastness during the struggle and promised to be transparent and accountable in his administration.

The acting Vice-Chancellor solicited the cooperation of all and urged them to return to their duty posts without fear of any molestation as a new era had began in the history of OAU.



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The Prophecy: Elú Becomes King

He must have come before.
Why else would mother call him 'Tale?
Even now we feel the pains from the sore;
The ones he caused when he came as Wale

Maybe this is what the elders saw
When Odewumi and his comrades were singing.
As they rose to solidarity's call,
Not knowing where the road was leading.

Finally the August Visitor has sent orders
To cancel the sinless Council's wrong.
Tor'àgbà kìí wà lójà,
Kórí omo titún wó.

Now it is the turn of the Village Chemist.
The one who must help us find some order.
This chosen one must justify the Visitor's visit.
As Elú's prophecy comes to pass; I welcome you to Ìjoba Elújoba.

Pope Jay

Cartoon illustration by Pelumi Ponmile

I Will Meet With Students When The University Reopens – OAU Acting VC

The newly voted acting Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Professor Anthony Elujoba, has said he will meet the students, once the University reopens.

According to reports, the acting VC, while addressing the public today in front of the University Senate Building, said he is ready to ensure the problem currently experienced by the institution does not happen again.

Following the decision of the University Senate to present him as the acting VC yesterday, the formerly aggrieved members of the Non Academic Staff of Universities (NASU) and that of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) have expressed satisfaction at Elujoba’s candidature.

Elujoba, 68, is the first indigene of Ile-Ife, Osun state – where the school is located – to become the institution’s Vice Chancellor. He was supposed to proceed on a sabbatical starting August before he was voted to take up his current position. Any moment from now, President Buhari is expected to make the official announcement of Elujoba as the acting Vice-Chancellor of the institution.

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ACJ OAU Officially Close #ReOpenOAU Campaign With A Thank You Message

The Executive President of Association of Campus Journalists OAU, Oyedeji Olanrewaju, officially beat the drum announcing the end of #ReopenOAU campaign which had lasted for over a week.

This development is not unconnected to the emergence of the newly recommended acting Vice chancellor of the University which  conceivably will bring normalcy back to the ivory tower after 100days of logjam.

Below is the complementary ACJ president's Thank you message;

"As resumption date will be announced anytime from now, it is important to write this thank you message especially as #ReopenOAU Campaign ends today.

We are not winners when we refuse to try the impossible and make it possible, not as a person but as a united body, this may not be the best way to introduce a thank you message but it to some extent summarizes how we have won a struggle via the Social media as OAU Students, an occurrence that has not taken place in recent years especially as Students and in Nigeria.

We have together and collectively achieved a feat we never deemed possible without protesting on the streets and we did that with intellectualism and coordination. Today, we can look back and say it was worth it after all,the prayers, the tweets, the criticisms didn't go in vain.

Definitely, we have had low points during the Campaign, we have had cause to disagree but at the end of it all we have achieved our common goal. The situation we found ourselves was a very tricky one, if not the trickiest in recent times but the power of determination made it one that we can be proud to have raised our voice as a token to the #ReopenOAU agitations.

We have succeeded in breaking another history of recent times without protests, the agitations received attention from His Imperial Majesty Ooni of Ife,The Presidency, Ministry of Education, Nigerian Senate(Through the Senate President himself),Ministers of Health,Justice(just to mention a Few), House of Representatives members, NUC, Activists, Stakeholders in the Education Sector, Staff Unions, Students from other Federal Universities and got attention even outside the country.

The agitations for #ReopenOAU was reported by well over thirty media houses, some which include: Punch Newspaper, The Nation Newspaper, DailyTimes Newspaper, Nigerian Television Authority,Channels Television, Splash FM, Adaba FM,Radio Nigeria,Orisun FM,Newspic in Ghana, Premium Times Nigeria and so many other top media houses in Nigeria. Media outlets on Campus also reported this issue from time to time.

We have achieved all this through a social media struggle, even as Students, it is worthy of note that we didn't attack any personality during the course of the struggle, which is another feat in Students' Struggle.

Great Ife Students deserve an applaud for their polite agitations.

We have also set a trend for all other schools to follow, we have made it visible to all that we can achieve bigger aims as Students in struggle even when we do not go on the streets, our voice and collectivity is what we need.
Words will not be enough to appreciate all Great Ife Students, Students across all other Nigerian Universities and even beyond Nigeria for the unity of purpose.

Through the #ReopenOAU Open letter, we have succeeded in getting attention of all quarters to the welfare conditions on campus and the unstable calendar disease, as was highlighted even in our Open Letter.

If we believe we can achieve, we believed from Day one till the last and never did a day pass through without people Tweeting and Trending the #ReopenOAU.We had numerous display pictures that we lost count at some point, we also had a Jingle by Charlie Toxin, all this pushed the Campaign further.

A big thank you goes to all other stakeholders that played roles in ensuring that the University is reopened, God will definitely reward us all. We appreciate His Imperial Majesty Ooni of Ife Oba Enitan Adeyeye, President Buhari, The Nigerian Senate President and Nigerian Senate, Ministry of Education, Senator Babajide Omoworare, Minister of Health,Mrs Remi Sonaiya,Senate Committee on Education, Members of House of Representatives,Alumni of OAU and other key Stakeholders that helped actualize the #ReopenOAU Agitations.

We also appreciate all National and International media houses that supported the cry of OAU Students.

Special thanks to Press Club University of Lagos, Union of Campus Journalists University of Ibadan, Union of Campus Journalists Utman Danfodiyo University Sokoto,Union of Campus Journalists University of Ilorin,Pressmen from Mapoly,FUNAAB and other institutions we may not have mentioned.

A Great Thank you goes to National Association of Nigerian campus Editors' may God bless our pen.

If words would be right, then we have to type beyond quantification, but the words in our heart appreciates us all bigger than we have expressed.

Accept this little thank You message. God bless Great Ife,God bless us all.

©ACJOAU
©Alliance of OAU Presidents
©ANUNSA"

A Cynical Prescription For An Otherwise Intractable Crises In OAU

Following the directive of the Visitor that the university senate convenes a meeting to nominate an acting vice chancellor, I have found myself in a deep moral quandary as I reflect on the probable evolution of scenarios and their implications for the sanity of an environment otherwise consecrated for learning. It is a dilemma between my idealistic love of democracy and the practicality of deliberate gerontocracy as we rummage through this mud; it is a huge shame that theuniversity finds itself dancing shoki naked in the village square.

The unprecedented nature of this challenge in the annals of university administration in Nigeria and the particularities of Obafemi Awolowo University senate incite fear and anxiety that the whole exercise could turn out to be the beginning of another journey through a labyrinth. It offends one’s republican ideal.

That most of the decisions that have almost brought the university to its knees are democratically taken in avowedly democratic institution constituted by men of highest learning. The senate of the university as I know it takes many of her decisions through a democratic process of nomination and voting, presided over by the chairman(The VC) who has the prerogative to recognize members on the floor as he deems fit. The narratives about how this inevitable democratic prerogative has been deployed by the chairman are preserved in many campus myths and legends. One version believes that he holds a caucus meeting with motley of mediocre academics who seek refuge in a vertical patron- clientelistic relationship with him to settle some narrow agenda. Such academic clients obligingly attend the senate assured of recognition by their sponsor. Permanently, the chairman has his way no matter how reactionary or nasty his agenda. The senate of the university has not demonstrated reliable resilience and sublime courage; it has proven vulnerable to dark machinations by determined reactionary forces and abuse of “administrative powers”. Given that the senate is an institution with such an abysmal record in genuine democratic performance, the responsibility to nominate a vice chancellor democratically in its purest form might be a costly gamble that could over-stretch and otherwise compromised institution.

The crude power and disturbing privileges of the office of the vice chancellor, its many leverages and several incentives to bleed the university treasury unencumbered, the numerous opportunities to dole out patronage to mediocre academics who are ever willing to seek refuge in a vertical patron - clientelistic relationship, and the newly granted power to act like an emperor unchallenged, make the stake really volatile and combustible. Voting to grant anyone such opportunity will be voting like no other. Besides, given the naked ambition of the so organized reactionary forces, the aimlessness and formlessness that has plagued the progressive for so long, the less than idealistic motivations of most academics tainted with aims so sordid and passions so petty ,allowing such process play out purely democratically might be really combustible. I suspect the order that brought us here will make attempt to perpetuate itself democratically. After all, they have been democratically lording their evil machination on the campus community.

More so, coming up with a modality that is carefully shielded from opportunisticmanoeuvring and eventual litigious acrimony might be prohibitively expensive in time. Given that so many precious lives are placed on hold, the senate had better leverage on a solution that relies on fast and frugal heuristic to make this urgently needed adaptive decisions like we all do in real life with a limitation of time, knowledge and permutation. The senate must not at this time be tempted to assume the role of classical demons that are boundless in their rationality. To perfect the collapse of the bankrupt moral order that brought us this low, gerontocracy might be a good option. It will be time effective for the senate to throw their weight behind the most senior academic in their ranks by years of service. This impersonal alternative forecloses the door for any dirty political jockeying in the interim; stabilize the tensed atmosphere on campus. Such a candidate uses his remaining years of service to coordinate a seamless transition. Hopefully, by then the arrow head of the reactionary camp will have politically bled to death, while their ranks are systematically decimated.

It is very likely that the visitor redirected autonomy as a detour from his earlier decision with a probable intention of using the full might of his office should the university proves hopelessly irresponsible and utterly incapable of internal self steering. The senate could go ahead stage a genuinely democratic nomination process, and wake up the following day to realize that she has made a self sabotaging error. This kind of momentary gerontocracy might be our only hope to usher in new administrative order - with a morality that arises from a deeper well than religion, and once again remind the nation who we truly are.

Awoyemi Olumide writes as an Intern from the Faculty of Pharmacy, OAU Ife.
awoyemiolumide@yahoo.com
07065249682

More On Professor Anthony Elujoba; ‘The Village Chemist’

Professor Anthony Elujoba (in grey suit) after the Senate meeting today

Some moments ago, the emergency Senate meeting which was called to elect and recommend an acting Vice-Chancellor for the Obafemi Awolowo University has presented Professor Anthony Elujoba of the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy as its nominee. According to reports, Prof. Elujoba won the in-house election with 201 votes ahead of Prof. Lamikanra, also from the Faculty of Pharmacy, who had 5 votes.

Prof. Anthony Adebolu Elujoba is a professor of Pharmacognosy at the Obafemi Awolowo University, a Royal Society of UK Research Fellow looking into Nigerian Medicinal plants, a Public Analyst (FDA) and recipient of numerous professional awards. He has served as acting head of Dept of Pharmacognosy, Dean; Faculty of Pharmacy, Chairman Committee of Deans, Chairman Faculty PG Committee/ Board of studies, Research and selection committee, member Faculty review panel, Senate Representative on OAU Teaching Hospital Management board, Member Management board of natural history museum and PG board and Dean's representative, Faculty of Technology. He is an external examiner at numerous university examinations.

Elujoba's involvement in research into medicinal plants has brought him into close association with persons living with HIV/AIDS who fondly refer to him as the 'village chemist'. He is also a strong advocate of the incorporation of medicinal herbal therapies into the national health care system. He is the President of the African AIDS Research Network, Nigerian Chapter and a Member, Board of Trustees of the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN). Earlier this year, he asserted his will for young people to take interest in exploring the unending benefits of nature. Elujoba chaired the the Seminar of the National Association of Botany Students, a part of events that marked the NABOS Week 2016.

Following the resolve of the school Senate to have Professor Elujoba as the acting Vice Chancellor, students and staff have been showing satisfaction as regards the progress made so far. Any moment from now, President Buhari is expected to make the official announcement of Elujoba as the acting Vice-Chancellor of the institution.

Breaking: Professor Elujoba Emerges OAU Acting Vice Chancellor

Professor Anthony Elujoba of the Department of Pharmacognosy, has just been voted by the Senate of Obafemi Awolowo University as the acting Vice Chancellor.

Read More On Professor Anthony Elujoba; ‘The Village Chemist’