Outgoing University of Ibadan Vice Chancellor, Prof. Idowu Olayinka has provided insights into the face off between his administration and the unions on campus, saying the unions do not hate him as a person, but because the economic situation in the country is too harsh.
Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Bovas and Company Limited at the second gate of the University of Ibadan, Ajibode junction where the oil company plans to open a station, the outgoing VC stressed that with the poor economy in the country, everyone was tensed up, adding, “workers are agitating, students are impatient if we fail to pay for Internet”
According to him, “these unions that are agitating do not hate me because I am ugly. I am not ugly. At least my wife told me that I am handsome. But the real reason why these unionists are shouting my name everywhere is because of the paucity of fund in the system. There is no money. Federal government does not allow us to charge appropriate school fees, yet the money coming from the federal government is like a drop in the ocean.
“Currently, UI is owning Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company N49million. We don’t have that money. We have to plead with the electricity company to give us time. If they disconnect us now, pressmen will go to town with screaming headlines that UI is bankrupt. We should please appeal to the unions to see reasons with us. The money is not just there”.
The VC continued, “we are one family in UI. I know that the unions don’t hate me. The major problem is nothing but money. Money is the problem causing the sleepless nights. But I believe with time, this hard time shall pass away ”
