Protest Rocks Osun Poly over Suspension of Rector

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

Protest engulfed the Osun State Polytechnic, Iree, yesterday, over the suspension of the institution’s Rector, Dr. Tajudeen Odetayo, and his replacement with an alleged kinsman of Governor Ademola Adeleke.

It would be recalled that the state government through a letter dated July 11, 2023, which was signed by the Permanent Secretary, Osun Ministry of Education, M.K. Jimoh, suspended Odetayo for alleged corruption, misappropriation of funds, and abuse of office and replaced him with one Mr. Kehinde Alabi.

The protesters, who were led by the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) and joined by some students, shut the gates of Osun Poly and were chanting anti-government songs.

The protesters carried placards with several inscriptions to press home their demands against the appointment of the new acting rector, accusing the governor of nepotism.

While addressing the mammoth crowd who had gathered at the entrance of the institution as early as 7:00 a.m. to protest the suspension of Odetayo, the Chairman of ASUP, Dr. Fatai Afolabi, expressed discontentment over the action of the governor.

Afolabi described the suspension of the former rector as an aberration. 

He stated that all the allegations are weighty allegations that should not just be leveled against anybody without substantive evidence, adding that the institution will be shut until the needful was done.

According to him, “the governor appointed someone who is not qualified as the acting rector of the institution. The person that the governor appointed contested for the post of deputy rector and he lost out.

“We have a deputy rector on the ground who should replace him if the rector is removed, that is what the guidelines say, and in the absence of the deputy rector, the most senior chief lecturer will be appointed as acting rector.

“The person that was appointed in ranking among the chief lecturer, he is not ranked from one to fifty. The only thing that qualified him is that he is from Ede. The governor is nepotistic with appointments and dealings in Iree Poly.

“The governor wants to put Ede indigenes everywhere in the school, which is not possible. Is it only Ede that voted for him? Everybody voted for him.”

He continued: “Dr. Odetayo, who was removed, was alleged of corruption among others, he was never made to face any panel or inquiry, he was never issued query. The main reason for his removal was that he was invited by the chief of staff to the governor who instructed him to make the person they appointed as acting rector now the deputy rector.

“The order given to the rector goes beyond the capacity of the rector because it is by election, when they voted the anointed candidate of the chief of staff got 19 votes while the winner got 51 votes who is the most senior chief lecturer on campus.

“The state of things in Iree now is that all academic activities including the ongoing exam stands suspended until the governor do the otherwise which is doing the right thing.

“We want to make it known to the governor that it is not only Ede people that voted for him, they could be the one that financed the governor’s election but not the only one that voted him to power.

“Mr. Alabi loss the election for the position of deputy rector; why was he appointed?

Also speaking, the ASUP Deputy Chairman, Dr. Alabi Ezekiel, described Odetayo’s suspension as a clear illegality.

Ezekiel further explained that if the Rector would be removed there should be a proper procedure before he could be removed.

He said: “You cannot appoint someone who is not qualified, if the rector is not in office, we have the deputy rector who can be the acting rector even if there is no deputy-rector to act in acting capacity the procedure is that the most senior will take charge.

“The man now put in place is not even in number 50th in the academic system.

Speaking with reporters, the Commissioner for Education, Osun State, Hon. Victor Oluwole, said that the suspension of the Rector was as a result of the allegations leveled against him.

Oluwole said: “We received a letter in this office about the financial recklessness of the rector, so the next thing for us is to investigate.

“The government is yet to set up the panel because we just got a letter recently and when we know this will generate issues in the institution the government have to take step to suspend the Rector pending the outcome of the investigation of the panel that will be set up.

“The position cannot be in a vacuum. We have to appoint an acting rector to act pending the outcome of the investigation of the panel.