The Governing Council of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife on Thursday announced the appointment of a Professor of Agricultural Economics from the university’s Faculty of Agriculture, Adebayo Bamire, as the new Vice Chancellor.
The council’s Chairman, Osear Udoji, who made the announcement, said Bamire defeated 19 other applicants to emerge the 12th Vice Chancellor of the university.
The announcement, however, led to protest by some indigenes of Ile-Ife, who had been pushing for the appointment of an indigene as the new Vice Chancellor.
The protesters, who locked the university’s main entrance, caused gridlock as students, staffers and other people that were moving towards the gate were held up for some minutes.
Speaking before the gate was opened, the leader of the protesters, Bimbo Afolabi, expressed the displeasure of the community to the decision of the management of the university to appoint a non-native of Ife as VC despite their plea for an opportunity to produce VC for the first time in the history of the institution.
Earlier, Udoji, while announcing Bamire’s appointment, explained that the council perused the Curriculum Vitae of the 20 applicants who indicated an interest in the position, adding that at the end of the exercise, 16 of them were shortlisted, having met the advertised criteria.
He added, “The interaction with the candidates began on Monday, March 14, 2022, and ended on Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
“All the 16 candidates appeared before the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board, with 15 of them present physically and one, at his request, virtually.
“The Selection Board painstakingly examined the Curriculum Vitae and interacted with each candidate, and scored them accordingly to stipulated criteria. The three highest-scoring candidates were presented to the council for further consideration as provided by the law.
“The entire exercise of the Joint Selection Board was witnessed by the representatives of the Federal Character Commission who have confirmed that the exercise was fair and transparent and carried out in full compliance with the provisions of the Federal Character Commission Act.
“In line with the provisions of the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Act as amended, the report of the Selection Board was considered by the council which, after a careful and dispassionate review of the report, decided to appoint Prof Adebayo Bamire, Professor of Agricultural Economics from the Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, as the Vice-Chancellor of the University with effect from June 7, 2022.”
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