The managements of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), has refuted allegations of handedness leveled against the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina against the striking members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU).
Both local chairmen of SSANU in FUOYE and Ekiti State University (EKSU) who are Benjamin Faleye and Temidayo Azeez Aguda, respectively have alleged that FUOYE VC allegedly ordered federal security agents to harass Faleye and is also working towards disallowing free association of members of unions in the University.
While addressing a press conference in Ado-Ekiti, the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Professor Abayomi Fasina, ably represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration (DVC), Professor Tajudeen Bolanle Opoola stated that, the Management of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, received a recording of an interview aired on private radio station in Ado-Ekiti on Monday, 18th March 2024, featuring Mr. Temidayo Azeez Aguda, the SSANU Chairman of Ekiti State University. In the recording, several false statements were made with an intention to mislead the public and caused disaffection against the Authorities of the University.
Mr. Aguda expressed concern that the actions of the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), may disrupt the peace in Ekiti land.
“He alleged that the Vice Chancellor created obstacles by insisting that approval must be sought from Management before a staff could join a Union of his or her choice. Mr. Aguda claimed that despite the fact that some staff members had expressed interest in joining SSANU and filling forms to that effect, the Vice Chancellor vehemently opposed their application, allegedly stating that “over his dead body” would such actions be implemented. He asserted that security agents threatened the SSANU Branch Chairman of FUOYE on the instruction of the Vice Chancellor.
According to Mr Aguda, the National President of SSANU and the Vice President (Western Zone) had instructed National Executive members of Ekiti and Ondo State to immediately OCCUPY FUOYE.
“This Press Conference has been convened in response to the inaccurate, baseless, and inflammatory statements made by Mr. T.A. Aguda. His remarks were not only erroneous but also lacked substance. They were misleading, and bereft of expected diligence in fact-checking. The statements have contributed to the misguided perception held by the National Body of SSANU, leading to the alleged directive to occupy FUOYE which the Aguda-led group carried out physically on Monday, 18th March, 2024. The illegal and provocative OCCUPATION could have led to mayhem if not for the proactive actions the Management of the University had taken ahead of time.
“However, the occupation of FUOYE is not the focal point of this gathering. FUOYE possesses capable leadership equipped to manage any discord effectively. The purpose of this conference is to set the record straight as regards the events that led to the current industrial actions embarked by SSANU and other trade unions in FUOYE. The second objective is to clarify FUOYE’s actions which were maliciously and mischievously criticized by Mr. Aguda, whose insensitive remarks implied that FUOYE was posing threat to the peace of Ekiti State which was nothing but a blantant lie concocted to cause disaffection and generate crises.
Giving a background, The VC explained that the FUOYE SSANU Chairman, Mr Ben Faleye, a Senior Assistant Registrar in the University wrote a letter to the Bursar of the University late last year directing the Bursar to process the membership forms of the new members of SSANU. The content of the letter was about two paragraphs but fraught with certain problems. Initially, the interaction remained between the SSANU Chairman and the Bursar. The Chairman wrote to give the Bursar ultimatum to process the document without fail. It was at this point, the attention of Management was invited to it and Management observed that in his second letter, the SSANU Chairman alleged that rumour had it that the Vice Chancellor was deliberately blocking staff from moving from NASU to SSANU which amounted to telling lies against the Chief Executive.
A letter was done to him asking him to substantiate his claim against the Vice Chancellor. Secondly, Management informed him that it was not the job of Bursar to process membership forms of SSANU members. The Management felt that as a Senior Assistant Registrar in the University, the Branch Chairman would use the opportunity to re-write his letter and re-state the desire of the Union which was to “request that Bursary should assist to make deduction of monthly SSANU dues from the supposed new members to the Union” which was not done. Rather than doing that, he mere engaged in grandstanding by issuing another ultimatum this time threatening to report to the National body of SSANU. There was a lull moment during which the University had to put all hands on deck to prosecute the 2024 Convocation Ceremony, which put every other matters in the background. Then, the National Strike began. He did not expressly request for deduction or check-off dues of his new members which should have been a direct demand. Instead of such demand, he requested the Bursar to help process membership forms.
Financial instrument must stated clearly and unambiguously. The letter is available for verification. Yet, Mr Ben Faleye (SSANU Chairman) gave the National Executive of SSANU the impression that the University refused to give SSANU FUOYE check off dues of the supposed new members. Below are the problems with the spurious communication of SSANU with the Bursar: SSANU did NOT request for deduction of check off dues of the supposed new members.
The documents he attached to that letter had challenges. In a University system, just like in any other public establishment, documents that are to be used for financial transactions are supposed to be authentic and belonging legitimately to the user. In this instance, one of the documents presented for each of the supposed new members was a Letter of Withdrawal from his/her erstwhile union (i.e., NASU) addressed to the NASU Chairman. Over 50 copies of such letters were attached to the correspondence sent to the Bursar. The letters and names of the writers are there for verification by journalists.
There is no evidence that the NASU Chairman saw any of these letters because he never minuted on any of them to SSANU and there was no trace of the handling of such letters by NASU. The other way was for SSANU to issue a covering letter for individual or the collectivity which was not done.
The SSANU Chairman included another form, in its bundle of documents which had SENIOR STAFF ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES as the header apparently prepared by SSANU leadership, which is meant to be the authentic document confirming the acceptance of the individuals into SSANU. The document has a column for the signature of the National Vice- Chairman of SSANU for South West, Comrade Abdussobur Salaam. Curiously, Management noted that Comrade Abdussobur Salaam did not sign any of those letters and nobody signed for him which makes the documents inconclusive. Legally, one can infer that the acceptance of membership or the registration of membership for each of the supposed new members was also inconclusive to that extent.
In all of the forms and papers, there is no place Mr. Ben Faleye (the FUOYE SSANU Chairman) signed, endorsed or minuted on any of those documents. This is to make those documents suspicious and susceptible to failure of integrity test if queried by any Auditor in the future. Mr. Faleye himself is capable of denying ever seeing or ever touching any of the documents in question.
The questions to be asked include, but are not limited to, the following:
Did the letters addressed to the NASU Chairman ever reach the NASU Chairman? If the letters did not reach the NASU Chairman, why not? Who prevented their delivery, considering that they were addressed to NASU Chairman?
How did these letters end up in the possession of the SSANU Chairman? Were the letters given to him by the NASU Chairman? If so, why did the NASU Chairman not endorse them? Alternatively, did the SSANU Chairman intercept these letters or generate them himself?
Why were over 50 letters written voluntarily by independent people working in different locations have the same style and font, the same format etc? Any of these scenarios raise concerns about transparency and could potentially involve forgery with the intention of engaging in illegal financial transactions.
These anomalies in the letters were pointed to the FUOYE SSANU Chairman when he began to grandstand. It must be stated clearly here that Mr Ben Faleye has accepted vide SSANU letter dated 14th March, 2024 that his mistakes in the initial correspondence stalled the implementation of the deduction of check off dues of the new members. He has requested to recall his earlier letter. He said inter alia on page 2 of the letter under reference that:
“In light of the identified errors in the earlier submitted memo and membership forms, we hereby request a formal recall of the documents (memo and membership forms) for necessary rectification ” (a copy of the letter of 14th March, is available for verification). The Management of the University is disturbed that FUOYE SSANU Chairman who wrote this on 14th March, 2024 would still claim to the National body of his Union that the Vice Chancellor was preventing people who want to join his union from doing so. He who comes to equity, they say, must come with clean hands. Is Mr Aguda who disparaged, on private radio station, the personality of our Vice Chancellor based on tissues of lies he was fed with, aware of the content of SSANU letter of 14th March where his man in FUOYE accepted his folly that his letter submitted earlier upon all the agitations was based was just like the Shakespearian story of the idiot “full of sound and fury signifying nothing”. One wonders why Mr Aguda did not seek the comment of the FUOYE Management before his crucifixion agenda on radio!
Any insinuation that the Vice Chancellor is obstructing staff from joining SSANU is baseless and amounts to a deliberate attempt to discredit the university. Equally, the allegation that the Vice Chancellor is assuming absolute authority on union matter and suggesting that he alone can approve SSANU membership are blatant lies. The Vice Chancellor, however, as the Accounting Officer of the University has the responsibility to ensure that financial regulations are followed before any fraction of a staff salary is deducted or applied for any purpose. Management reiterates its firm stance against such unfounded accusations and emphasizes its unwavering commitment to upholding transparency and integrity within the institution.
Debunking the fake news in the media that Mr. Ben Faleye , SSANU Chairman was attacked by security operatives Management was surprised by the allegations made by Mr Aguda on the same Radio that the SSANU Chairman was threatened by security people on the order of the Vice Chancellor. The fake information was replicated on the social media that the Branch Chairman of SSANU was being attacked by security agents. We are reliably informed that Mr Faleye himself informed the National Authorities of SSANU that he was attacked. These are the facts:
The Vice Chancellor, Prof Abayomi S. Fasina was not in Ekiti State on Monday, 18th March, 2024. As a result, he was not on ground, let allow ordering security operatives to attack Mr Faleye. The Vice Chancellor did not order that the Branch Chairman be threatened or harassed.The Branch Chairman was NOT harassed by any security operative. The University sought the help of security agents to man the gate of the University and prevented the SSANU people from shutting it. Mr Faleye had no physical interaction with any security agents.
This statement credited to Mr Aguda that Branch Chairman was attacked is untrue because no security agent harassed the FUOYE SSANU Chairman as claimed. When Mr. T.A. Aguda and his team of OCCUPIERS came to FUOYE campus, this issue was cleared by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration) who stood in for the Vice Chancellor, and who pointedly asked the SSANU Chairman if anybody harassed him; a question which he deliberately evaded with a display of arrogance and shame.The Vice Chancellor did not direct any Security Agent to harass or threaten any member of SSANU. The security operatives were only available to maintain peace, which they did beautifully.
It must be remarked here that it is the responsibility of the FUOYE Management to maintain peace on its campuses. It is the responsibility of the University to ensure the safety of lives and property. This is what the Vice Chancellor has resolved to do .
The antecedent of FUOYE SSANU is replete with evidences of violent protests some of which had resulted in unpleasant situations. The university has several unions namely; ASUU, NASU, CONUA, SSANU, NAAT and STUDENT UNION. Our appeal has always been for each of them to prosecute its grievances (if any) without infringing on the rights of other stakeholders. SSANU has not always been faithful to this tenet.
In the past (2016 and 2017) the union during industrial actions would result to harassing, assaulting and even physically beating members of other unions they see on campus. The incumbent Vice Chancellor, Prof A.S. Fasina has been manhandled by SSANU before, in his position then as the Deputy Vice Chancellor. Prof Ayodele Fajimi, the current Dean of the Faculty of Multi Disciplinary Studies was beaten to a pulp on one occasion. Dr R. B. Akindola, an Associate Professor of Sociology who joined the University from Australia was push down on a staircase. Only God saved him. On one occasion someone’s ear was cut off. The University does not want a repeat of mayhem.
The Security Chiefs in Ekiti, based on intelligence, invited the Branch Chairman of SSANU and NASU to plead with them to maintain peace in conducting their imminent strike actions. “On our part , Management held series of meetings with Executive of the Unions plus several other one on one with their leadership and the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration). The sermon in all of these was to sue for peace. Both NASU and SSANU Chairmen insisted that the strike will be total but they undertook that they will not be violent and that they will not infringe on rights of other people. The Management did not stop there. We sought the support of Federal Security agencies to enlarge our security coverage of the estates of the University in Oye and Ikole with request for additional oversight on Ifaki and Ikole road corridor. This was done to prevent clashes, brawls and of course loss of lives or property. This we will continue to do throughout the period of the strike and beyond. If doing this is what Mr Aguda called threats, FUOYE Management has no apology because we do not want dead bodies on our hands.
“On this note, it is necessary to remark that the national Warning Strike of 7 days was declared to be carried out in all Nigerian public universities. It is intriguing to note that the strike commenced yesterday and it was peaceful in many universities in Nigeria. In Ekiti here, out of the three public universities, FUOYE is the only University OCCUPIED on the directive of Mr Aguda announced on a Radio. The Strike was not observed at all in the other universities. Members of SSANU and NASU in EKSU did not join the strike. Yet a member of staff of EKSU had the temerity to orchestrate crises in ASUU, Academic Staff Union of Universities. NASU – Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions. CONUA – Congress of University Academics. SSANU – Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and NAAT – National Association of Academic Technologists
“The objective of the national was to cause the Federal Government to pay withheld 2022 salaries. Mr Aguda knows that the power to pay is not in the hands of FUOYE Management but he launched attack on our campus. For this reason, we call on the law enforcement agencies to call Mr Aguda and his cohorts to order. The Trade Dispute Act is clear on the procedure for declaring dispute between employees and employers. If SSANU has grievance against FUOYE over issue of members’ check off , they should follow the procedure which we sure does not include violence or going to the radio to mobilise hoodlums to invade our campus.
“Also, where the rights of SSANU stops is where the rights of teachers, students and other stakeholders begin. SSANU should cease and desist from preventing lecturers, students and security operatives from going about their lawful duties during the strikes. The University will not condone illegal and reckless behaviours and sheer inanities,
“Contrary to the impression given on the radio in Ado Ekiti by Mr. Temidayo Azeez Aguda, the SSANU Chairman of Ekiti State University to the effect that SSANU FUOYE is at war against FUOYE Management because of membership approval of SSANU, the communication from SSANU FUOYE to Management of the University expressly informed the University that their national Authorities had directed that a seven-day warning strike be observed over the non-payment of outstanding four (4)-month salaries of year 2022 and the Union has started this strike very early on Monday, 18th March, 2024. The national strike is NOT about FUOYE at all.
“The University appeals to the Federal Government to pay the outstanding four months salaries owed all staff of Federal Universities in order to maintain peace on the campus and to preclude avoidable compromise of the already beleaguered academic calendar.
“FUOYE Management, however, appeals to all unions involved in the national industrial actions to conduct themselves within the ambit of the law. They should in particular, restrict themselves to the limitations of the directives of their national bodies which is in the public domain. There was no where the Joint Action Committees of SSANU and NASU directed that adversity be visited on FUOYE during the Warning Strike of 7 days.
There was no communication from the National Executive of SSANU to us , for instance, saying that:
FUOYE should be occupied by men and women from other Universities, to cause breakdown of law and order. Members of SSANU should not allow non-members of SSANU to go about their lawful duties in FUOYE during the warning strike. The main gate of the University should be shut during the warning strike to prevent free flow of movement of teachers, students and other stakeholders.
“When the University received the resolution of FUOYE Congress of 11th March, 2024, the Vice Chancellor of FUOYE contacted the National President of SSANU to request him to rein on his Branch Chairman in order to maintain peaceful conduct of the strike in the University. The Vice Chancellor used the opportunity to explain the position of Management to the SSANU national leader. The Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration) made several efforts to speak with the National Vice Chairman South West for SSANU, Dr Abdussobur Salaam . His phone rang several times but he did not pick it. On one of the times, a lady picked the call and dropped it. The call logs are available on my system. We went this far to communicate and dialogue horizontally and vertically on the matter. The “Ekiti Central SSANU Leadership” never interacted with FUOYE Management before they went on Radio, where they maliciously did a campaign of calumny and attempted to impugn the integrity of the Vice Chancellor of FUOYE. The statement of Mr. T.A. Aguda, the EKSU SSANU Chairman to the effect that FUOYE VC has murdered sleep is in the least disappointing, dishonest, disgusting and provocative and capable of instigating riots and unimaginable violence on FUOYE campus.
“It must be remarked that our Management is not aware that an Ekiti State Central Committee is within the structure of SSANU, which explained why we did not contact them. One finds it difficult to imagine why Mr. Aguda, whose university in EKSU did not participate in the national total strike, went on Radio to mobilise war against FUOYE and practically brought a large number of people to the campus to acutalise his operaton OCCUPY FUOYE. Mr. Aguda was deceitful by his claim that the Vice Chancellor of FUOYE directed that he would be the one to approve the membership of SSANU. This is clearly dishonest and untrue. It was a statement concocted out of his own figments of perverse imagination. All that Management said was that due process be followed before any deduction could be made in the salary of staff in the University and his colleague Branch Chairman has admitted in writing his folly which made implementation of anything impossible.
“Membership of University is voluntary and remains voluntary in FUOYE but deduction of money has to follow financial regulations and FUOYE will not need the education of the coordinator of SSANU in Ekiti to ensure that due process is followed”.