A tense situation is playing out at the Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria as one of the school’s professors, Abimbola Adesoji, who is the Head of the Department of History, has remained unflinching in his stance that his colleague, Dr. A. A. Olayiwola, should not be promoted to the rank of a professor for failure to meet certain requirements.
To further cement his position, the professor has petitioned the Vice Chancellor and Chairman, Appointments and Promotions Committee.
Adesoji did this through the Registrar and Secretary, Appointments and Promotions Committee.
In the petition, the professor complained about the violation of due process in the handling of Olayiwola’s case for promotion to the post of professor by the Dean of Arts, Professor Oyeniyi Okunoye.
Our reporter reached out to Adesoji to verify the authenticity of the petition, asking if it truly emanated from him.
He responded thus: “I wrote the petition and to the best of my knowledge the university is actively responding to it.
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“May I know how you got to know about this?”
Adesoji’s response sharply contradicted fears expressed by some staff of the institution that the matter would likely be swept under the carpet and that the committee would still go ahead with the promotion of Olayiwola to the rank of a professor without due diligence.
When contacted on the issue, the University’s Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olanrewaju, said it would never be swept under the carpet, stressing that the academic sanctity of the university will not be compromised for anything or anyone.
Olanrewaju, however, stressed that it was important for those alleging that Olayiwola was not qualified to be promoted to the rank of a professor to bring concrete evidence.
His words: “After some consultation with the Dean and another Principal Officer of the University about the above matter, I can authoritatively inform you that the matter is not being swept under the carpet.
“The Vice-Chancellor is aware and has given express instructions on what to do so that the academic sanctity of the University will not be compromised.
“In other words, the investigation is ongoing and those involved have been contacted to make available any evidence, Concrete Evidence, that can justify their respective positions.”
The petition by Adesoji states in part: “I write to bring to your notice a case of gross violation of due process and utter disregard for merit being perpetrated by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Professor Oyeniyi Okunoye in the course of handling the promotion (to the rank of Professor) case of Dr. A.A. Olayiwola of the Department of Dramatic Arts.
“Dr. Olayiwola’s recommendation to the rank of Professor was first presented at the Faculty of Arts Review Panel meeting on Tuesday, May 30, 2024. The first anomaly with the case is that the relevant papers for it were not circulated beforehand, but instead distributed on the floor of the meeting that very day.
“With the benefit of hindsight, it has become clear that this was done deliberately to prevent members of the panel from having time to closely scrutinize the papers. This notwithstanding, it was decided to allow the case to be taken after observations concerning the lateness had been duly made.
“Dr. Olayiwola presented a total of 25 papers for the promotion. Out of this, only 10 were offshore, the implication being that the candidate barely had enough international publications to make the minimum requirement of 40 per cent of total publications.
“As at the time the case was being taken, I was the Faculty of Arts representative on the University’s Central Accreditation Committee and consequently had with me the list of predatory journals and publishers which at the time served to guide considerations and decisions of the Accreditation Committee.
“Using the list as a guide in scrutinizing Dr. Olayiwola’s publications, I noticed that the publishers of at least three of the offshore papers were predatory publishers, and immediately brought this to the notice of the Faculty Review Panel.”
According to the Professor, he still went further to present the list to the Dean, who, on seeing it, confirmed to the meeting that the journals were indeed on the list.
Adesoji recalled that the meeting then went into an extensive discussion of the issue, following which another Professor, Gbenga Fasiku of the Department of Philosophy, stood up to propose that the case be stepped down pending further investigations.
Fasku’s motion was unanimously adopted by the house.
Adesoji recounted in his petition: “I learned that after the meeting, the Dean went personally to inquire further on the issue from the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) and that the latter advised that he, the Dean, should send her a memo on the matter, adding that once the Dean did so, she too would respond formally and with alacrity to him. To the best of my knowledge, the Dean never did this.
“I further learned that the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics, later convened a meeting of an enlarged Central Accreditation Committee, comprising the Deans and their representatives in her capacity as the standing chairperson of the Committee.
“There, it was confirmed that the list indeed had been in use after it was introduced by the former University Librarian, Dr Zaccheaus Oguntuase. Some of the minutes of the meetings of the Central Accreditation Committee for the brief period I was a member, duly signed by the Chairperson, bear testimony to my claim.
“The incumbent University Librarian, Dr Olukemi Fadehan however expressed some reservations against its continued use and instead advised that the original criteria for accrediting publications be reverted to.
“Details of these criteria were discussed and agreed upon by the meeting, and it was further decided that the agreed upon criteria be presented to the Appointments and Promotions Committee (A&PC) as recommendations Once approved, they would then become binding.”
Adesoji maintained that following the meeting convened by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics), one would have expected the Dean of Arts to do three things: “Report back to the Faculty Review Panel on the outcome of the meeting, defer further decisions on Dr. Olayiwola’s case till after the Appointments and Promotions Committee has considered the recommendations of the Central Accreditation Committee and allow members of the Faculty Review Panel freedom to take final decision on the case.
“Rather than do this, and surprisingly, what Professor Okunoye did at the next meeting of the Faculty of Arts Review Panel held on 3rd September 2024, was to simply present two internal assessors’ reports on Dr. Olayiwola’s case, trying to go ahead to read them. I along with a few other members of the Review Panel raised vehement objections against this. This was based on the three reasons raised at the beginning of this paragraph.
“Rather than consider our protestations, however, the Dean insisted on going ahead to read the reports, presenting it for endorsement by the cognate Deans and Professors after doing so. Again, I and several other Professors at the meeting refused to endorse the reports, the basis being the anomalies/aberrations that have been pointed out.
“I would like to make it clear that I have no personal motive in adopting the course I have followed on this matter. Rather, my only motivation is for the integrity and reputation of Obafemi Awolowo University as an institution. I believe strongly that the kind of precedent that Professor Okunoye has tried to set in this matter is quite dangerous. I will therefore be glad if the University administration can consider this petition with the seriousness it deserves.”
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