Rectorship: Esa-Oke Poly Governing Council Chairman Accuses APC Of Engaging In Emotional Blackmail

The Governing Council of Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke, has cautioned the state APC against campaign of calumny in respect of the appointment of a new Rector for the institution.

The Council has also promised to strictly adhere to merit in the selection process that would lead to the appointment of a new Rector.

Chairman of the Governing Council, Prince Diran Odeyemi in a statement made available to Team@orientactualmags.com  on Friday noted that this was done in reaction to the allegations of favouritism levelled against Governor Ademola Adeleke by the state APC cautioning the opposition party against politicizing an issue that is purely academic with its specific guidelines and process. 

‘The governor, who is the visitor to the Institution, in his usual character, instructed me to follow the rules and due process with no favouritism or bias on the basis of gender, religion or ethnicity. 

If this is what the APC alleges as interference, I want to advise them to look elsewhere for their uninformed criticism and unreasonable accusations against the governor’ Prince Odeyemi said.

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The statement also noted that the vacant position was advertised to attract best brains from any part of the world to manage the affairs of the college.

‘When we wanted to kick-start the process to appoint a new Rector for the College, the leadership of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, criticized me as the chairman of the Governing Council, insisting that the Rectorship position should not be advertised externally insisting that it should be done internally because they wanted one of them to be selected.

I rejected that idea and the governor , agreed with me because he wants the best candidate to be appointed insisting that he does not mind wherever such person comes from. 

With his approval, we advertised the position in The PUNCH newspaper . We want the best from anywhere in Nigeria and even beyond to run the school. In all parts of the globe we have visited, we have seen old students of the College doing well as good ambassadors of the institution, this good image I want to improve upon. 

For that reason alone, we can’t afford to lower the quality of management the institution has enjoyed over the years, more so now that we have a governor that has almost an insatiable appetite for quality. 

Candidates who are sure of themselves will not rely on emotional blackmail and sentiment as a means of arm- twisting the process. Anyone using media to call out the governor or the management over the process is obviously afraid of going through the normal process.

Also, everything we are doing to select the Rector will be guided by NBTE regulations and our internal demands of the College as contained in the edict. 

The selection is the business of the Governing Board and the Visitor. Bringing Governor Adeleke’s name into it at this stage is nothing but a cheap emotional blackmail.

No sentiment or favouritism in the selection process. Capacity to deliver, good projection for the College, academic qualifications and experience are going to play major role in choosing the next Rector for the institution’ Odeyemi added-Team@orientactualmags.com  Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08035023079, 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com.  Thank you