EACOED Lecturers Rejects Tenure Elongation For Provost, Call On Governor To Intervene

The College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) of Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo, on Friday protested against what they described as an abberation orchestrated by an overtly ambitious individual in the institution over an alleged planned move by the school Provost to extend his tenure having served successfully for eight uninterrupted years.

The angry lecturers, who registered their displeasure via peaceful protest within the school premises with different placards carrying different inscriptions to include “provostship is tenured! Dr R. A. Adefabi you can’t overstay, please leave, Not even a day longer! tenure extension is alien to us, Never! You can’t lord extension of tenure over us, crisis is looming, Dr R. A. Adefabi be wary of illegal extension of tenure,” also called on the state Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde to save the institution from imminent crisis as a result of proposed tenure elongation of the Provost, Dr. Rasak Adefabi.

The Union disclosed that the call on the state governor became imperative and very important because the move was to safeguard the smooth running of academic activities in the institution from being truncated by few individuals who they alleged are backing the provost on the planned act of illegality.
Speaking with journalists during the peaceful protest which they said was targeted at immediately calling the attention of the state government and general public to the proposed move by the school provost, the COEASU Chairman of the college, Comrade Olusegun, disclosed that the protest is to stop the planned tenure extension of the Provost, Dr. Rasaq Adefabi, whose tenure will officially expire and terminate on 15th May, 2022.

Comrade Olusegun explained that the Union, through credible intelligence gathered, alleged that the Provost had compromised the institution’s Governing Council to have his tenure extended by a year in a fresh acting capacity after successfully serving two terms of four years each in substantive capacity as the Provost.

In his words, “the agitation is all about the inordinate ambition of our Provost, whose tenure will lapse by 15th of May, 2022. He has compromised the Council to extend his tenure and the extension of his tenure is immoral and it is not known to any law of the institution. So, we are saying that the law stipulates that the Provost and other management team can spend four years in the first term and another four years in the second term and nothing more.

“Dr. Rasak Adefabi’s eight years of two terms will be completed on 15th May, 2022 and he is now seeking an extension of a year. We are saying that it is immoral, it is illegal and it is an aberration. It is a plot by a few members of the Council who our intelligent report showed that have been bribed to have his way.

“Therefore, we are beckoning to the Governor of Oyo State, our beloved Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, we are calling his attention to this, that these few people should not disrupt the peace of the college. Academic staff union of this college is about 400 and we are saying that enough is enough, that Provost, Dr Rasak Adefabi has spent eight years in office and he should be allowed to go home and rest.”

Comrade Olusegun maintained that the Union will meet any attempt from any quarter to force the elongation of Dr. Rasak Adefabi on the staff of the college with fierce resistance stressing that the planned move is capable of truncating academic activities of the institution if not immediately addressed before May 15.

Speaking further, comrade Olusegun added that the Union has over 100 members who are qualified and can be appointed by the Governor in acting capacity to allow for the democratic process of choosing the next Provost to begin.

“The Union has over 100 members that are qualified and any of these members can be chosen in acting capacity while the process of appointing a successive Provost will commence immediately. So, we are saying that enough is enough; we don’t want Dr. Rasak Adefabi beyond his tenure on the 15th May, 2022 and any attempt by any individual or group to enforce him on us will be melted with stiff and serious reaction.

“We are saying that beyond his tenure we can no longer cooperate with him as a Provost and we can no longer work with him and we can not even guarantee his safety beyond on 15th of May, 2022.

“By implication, we are telling the state government to do the needful by allowing this man to home and rest. He has run his bid, his extension is immoral, it is unlawful and it can not be justified.”

Comrade Olusegun, who is also the Chairman of Joint Action Committee of all Trade Unions in Oyo State owned Tertiary Institutions, also appealed to the state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Barr Rahman Abdul-Raheem to act in line of his promise not to support any act of illegality.

“I want to call on the Honourable Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, when we met with him, he said he is a lawyer and that he can not support something that is unlawful. The Commissioner knows that it is unlawful, it is illegal but we are now amazed what has changed him, what has now made him to shift his position in favour of illegality?

“We want to believe that what we are hearing about the Commissioner shifting position is rumour, we want to believe that they are blackmailing him, but we want to tell him to do the needful and call the Council to order and not to do illegality. We are saying that there is no law that supports the position of the Council and any attempt from the Council to extend his tenure is illegal and will be resisted by the body of academia.

However, the Provost, Dr Adefabi, in his reaction after calls were put through to his phone by journalists who duly introduced themselves, hurriedly said he was in a meeting and immediately hung up the call. All further efforts to reach the him for comments proved abortive as calls put across to his direct line were ignored and is yet to revert back as of press time.