Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina, has lauded the Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, for supporting the university even as he sought support for welfare packages for staff members and students.
A statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday and signed by the Special Adviser on Media Matters to the VC, Wole Balogun, disclosed that Fasina made the remarks during a meeting with the governor on Tuesday.
The state government was urged to assist FUOYE with more shuttle buses in addition to the 50-seater bus currently in use for subsidized transportation scheme for staff members.
The VC said, “The visitation panel came with us to pay homage to the governor. Governor Fayemi has been extremely good to the university for the past years. He tarred the road in our campus and has done several other things to assist us.
“I have introduced some welfare packages for the staff and students, one of which was a bus for subsidized transport system. The staff members are very happy about this and all of them want to enjoy it. So we need your assistance for more buses. I have brought a letter of appeal in this respect. The campus is stabilized now and there is peace.”
The statement further disclosed that a team of the Federal Government visitation panel to FUOYE, led by Prof. Chukwunonso Ejike , were also part of the VC’s entourage.
In his address, Prof. Ejike said, “The visitor to all the Federal Universities, President Mohammed Buhari, has constituted the visitation panels. Our task is to visit all the universities and find out how well they are faring in administration and other areas, and get the feedback to the President so that he would know in which areas he should assist.
”FUOYE is very dear to the President. We are happy to be here and grateful for the warm reception from His Excellency. We are almost through with the assignment and will soon submit report.”
In his remarks, Fayemi stated that Ekiti is a peaceful state with passion for education, hence the intellectual capital of Nigeria which had lived up to its reputation.
“We were delighted when the then President Goodluck Jonathan decided to create more federal universities. I was the the governor of this state when FUOYE came and I was instrumental to the location of the university.
“The University has done so well since inception. It has grown in leaps and bounds, a kind of growth that has been meteoric. It is the Federal Ministry of Education and the NASS that is delaying its renaming to the Adeyinka Adebayo University. The presidency has done its part in that regard.
He commended the visitation panel’s visit while tasking the university to pay its dues to Ekiti and Nigeria at large.
The governor added, “The policy of not having indigenes holding very key positions in the Federal University has since changed. We regard Prof. Fasina as our local man because he married from Ekiti. Our people still want more, they want their son or daughter to be the VC of the institution or be one of the very key principal officers.
“This is not to subvert merit or to promote nepotism. We have very many qualified sons and daughters for the key university positions in the state. There is a very strong current that the University is not really localized in this regard.
While appealing to the university’s authority to make haste slowly and learn from the past, he assured them of assistance for growth and development.
On the team of the Governor were the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Biodun Oyebamiji, Commissioner for Education, Dr. (Mrs.) Aderiye, among others.
Also on the entourage of the university were Mrs Mercy Foluso Kolego, Prof. Ezenwa N, Dr Mohammed Jawal, Malam Ibrahim Dangiya, Engr Adamu Yakassai and the FUOYE Management team comprising Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Adminstration, Prof. Olusola Omotola, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics, Prof. Olusola Ojo, Acting Registrar, Mr Mufutau Ibrahim, University Librarian, Dr. Isaac Busayo, Deputy Director, Corporate Affairs, Mr. Adeyinka Ademuyiwa and other officials at the VC’s office were on the team of the VC for the visitation.