OAU Students have accused their vice-chancellor
of looting public funds meant for development of
their school. The students' union President
Omotayo Akande accused the vice chancellor of
increasing tuition fee but failing to improve
standards of the school. Omotayo accused the
vice chancellor of constructing a swimming pool
to the tune of 500 million.
The students have expressed their readiness to
take up the case at the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, saying the Vice Chancellor
must be probed. News outfits earlier reported the
case of OAU students demanding probe of their
Vice Chancellor over alleged financial
misappropriation after increase of the institution's
school fee in 2014.
Also in the same year Senior Special Assistant to
the then President Goodluck Jonathan , Comrade
Jude Image accused the OAU management of
having little to show for the fund given to the
University by the federal government, he wrote on
his twitter handle
" it is only when schools want to increase tuition
fee that they remember independence"
Non Academic Staff Union of Universities also
made similar allegations against the University
Management led by the outgoing Vice Chancellor
- Professor Bamitale Omole, it was revealed and
alledged by NASU that OAU has been battling
with lack of internal financial records with a query
from the Director of audit in 2014 - the year of
school fee increase. The query with reference
number Ref.Int.audit/bur/007 read in part "It is
necessary to state that excuses tendered by the
scheduled officers such as inability to obtain bank
statements, staff being unavailable is
unnaceptable and will not be accepted if the
school is defrauded"
The allegations of misappropriation ranged from
issues between 2011 and September 2015. It was
also gathered that the Director Of Audit stated
that Out of the 41 accounts operated by OAU, 34
of the accounts were last audited in June
2012 ,with 7 of the accounts last audited in
December 2013.
In the letter the Director of Audit Mr J.A Adeshoba
stated that efforts to reconcile the accounts has
alarmingly failed. The internal audit memorandum
was directed to the University Bursar. The
University Bursar in a letter dated 14th of
September 2015 tried to change the name of one
of the accounts of the school in Wema Bank PLC ,
the account is with the name MBA executive
Tution Fee and with bank account number
0121241638 , in a letter directed to the Managing
Director Wema bank PLC Obafemi Awolowo
University to change the name of the account,
sources close to the University said this move
was made to ensure the University keep some
accounts in disguise while the single account
policy of President Buhari goes on.
Non-Academic Staff Union Of University (NASUU)
also confirmed that this move was made possibly
to avoid issues of single account policy of
President Buhari. It was also gathered that in
2008, the National Universities Commission gave
an order to all public universities with ref number
Fame/DA/SD/c.124/1/15, with the NUC reference
NUC/ES/138/ volume.xlv1/215, with the title,
'Withdrawal of Official Vehicles From Part-Time,
Non-Pensionable Members Of Statutory Boards Of
Government Owned Companies And Parastatals'.
NUC in the letter, instructed that universities
should stop purchase of vehicles for board
members of institutions . Non-Academic Staff
Union of Universities OAU branch hinted that, as
against this order, which is still operating till
date, OAU has bought vehicles worth millions of
naira for members of statutory boards violating
the federal ministry directive.
The public relations officer of OAU has however
denied all these allegations. He said,
"if anybody has anything against OAU, he or she
should tell the vice chancellor". On the issues of
the students union petitioning EFCC, Olanrewaju
said, " We run a plain and transparent
administration".
Sam Adegbola wrote for Nigerian voice an article
against increase in school fee in 2014. Sam
Adegbola was a former NANS leader in Nigeria.
"Aside donations from OAU Alumni Associations,
both at home and in Diaspora, the Nigerian
Universities Commission (NUC) also made a
promise of Five Hundred Million Naira (N500, 000,
000) to support the anniversary. Surprisingly, OAU
also received a donation of five hundred thousand
naira from the pupils of Sunshine Primary School,
Ile-Ife, Osun State as part of their contribution to
the 50th anniversary of the institution. Other
funds also came in and some individuals, bodies,
and companies offered free, or subsidized
services.
Moreover, the NUGA games also got financial
boost from the Nigerian University Games
Association, Osun State Government, and several
companies like Zenith Bank, MTN, Airtel, and
Diamond Bank made huge contribution's. The
Olympic-size swimming pool was funded by the
Federal Government, while Zenith Bank supported
the construction of the IAAF Standard Tartan
Track of the University main Bowl with
N70million.
Despite the huge fund gathered for the event, OAU
contingents were poorly treated, while some are
yet to receive their entitlement. For instance,
Bayero University, Kano paid a whooping sum of
N100, 000 each to its contingents while OAU, the
host university, paid about N30, 000 each.
To convince you further that most of the things
done in OAU are financed outside the fees paid by
students, you need to be aware that Syke Bank,
in 2013, donated N600million well-equipped Ultra
Modern ICT Centre to OAU; the Federal
Government earmarked the whooping sum of
N3.05 billion for the construction and renovation
of infrastructures in university. Furthermore, OAU
benefited from the World Bank STEP-B Project
and at the same time, the school received another
grant of $8 million (N1.3 billion) from the World
Bank in January, 2014. Oil producing giant,
ExxonMobil also donated two buses and
geological equipment worth more than N35
million to the university.
Aside that, the company also dropped a cheque of
N4.55million. The donations were received on
behalf of the school by Prof. Adejinmi Adesanya.
Not everyone forgets that in June, 2012, Pastor
Enoch Adeboye gave the Vice Chancellor, Prof.
Bamitale Omole a UBA cheque of N50 million
donation to OAU. On campus too, a 500-capacity
lecture theatre was donated by First Bank Plc.
A Post Graduate College Building was single-
handedly built, furnished, and donated by an
alumnus, Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, OFR, while the
Natural History Museum Building was donated by
Leventis Foundation of London. Also, in Nov 2011,
Prof. Bamitale Omole received laboratory
microscopes worth N10 million naira from
Nigerian Breweries. The wife of Ekiti State
governor, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi also donated a
buliding and NCC supported OAU with N50million
worth of equipments to boost internet services in
the university. The 1000-Seater-Lecture Theatre,
behind Moremi Hall was also a project of the
Petroleum Trust Fund.
So, what else has not been supported? What else
do OAU need such 'dangerous' money for?
Research? That has been financed too. What is
obviously left out now is students and staff
welfare only. In the interim, the tap water
supplied to all Halls of residence is actually below
the PH level of 7, very acidic, colourful, odourful,
and highly cancerous.
Angola Hall and Awo Hall Annex have turned
another 'Sambisa forest': bushy and dangerous
to stay at night. There is no water supply in
bathrooms and toilets in virtually all halls of
residence.
The fund for welfare shouldn't be drawn from
parents' accounts alone. Thank goodness, the
university has investments. They have the bread
and water factories, the Bookshop, OAU Press
LTD, Pre-Degree Centre, Transport services, OAU
Staff Schools and Halls for rentage which are
charged at prices beyond normal.
Everything in OAU has been olivertwistically
commercialized. Even the shuttle buses, sorry,
shuttle cars charge high fares. No wonder, the
Vice Chancellor of the school was quoted as
saying that his children school fees while in
'secondary school' were far higher than what OAU
students are paying. The questions that beg for
answer are; "were his children admitted into a
private or public school?" "What social status did
he hold during those periods - rich or poor? Prof.
Bamitale Omole also compared OAU with other
tertiary institutions abroad where they pay
exorbitant fees. Hmm, Mr. Vice Chancellor should
be reminded that schools that charge high fees in
US, Canada, and UK, etc provide loans,
scholarship, and job opportunities for students in
order to aid their payment. In institutions abroad,
registered student organizations, for example,
have the privilege to use university's facilities free
of charge, but in OAU, no matter how legitimate
and recognized your organization is, the school
will still drill your account till you go bankrupt and
this is the singular reason why students have
appeared not to be as creative as they were in
the past, when they drew up with innovative
programs and activities.
Event venues were available for use free or at a
highly subsidized rate unlike what it is today.
Then, organizations like JCI, Redcross, ANUNSA,
Kegite, Rotaract put up interesting programs for
the benefit of all; none of them. would dare stage
a public lecture without having about N200, 000
to fork out, especially if they want to use a venue
like Oduduwa Hall. Ordinarily, public higher
education should be free. Not means-tested, not
cheap, not subsidized, but free. If it isn't free, it
isn't public education. This should not be a
controversial assertion. This should be common
sense. But OAU management has forgotten what
the "public" in "public education" actually means
(or used to mean). What the management wants
to turn Great Ife to is nothing but a federal-
controlled private university, a corporate body
that thinks and behaves like business venture.
Why would the institution make education
available only to those who can afford it? If Prof.
Omole's administration turns OAU to a
marketplace where education would be bought at
a fantastically outrageous price, in what sense
can it really be called "Obafemi
Awolowo" University? I could feel latest
developments will make Awolowo fume in his
grave".
http://www.2gedatalk..com/2015/12/oau-students-accuse-vice-chancellor-of.html