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Renowned professor of History and African Studies and alumnus of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, shares his thoughts withon the crisis rocking the institution over the appointment of a new vice chancellorspent some time as a scholar at several universities in the country and abroad, what would you say is the challenge facing the university system in Nigeria?
In your formative years, you studied at the University of Ife. What nostalgic moments do you hold dear? Nigeria’s present reality is far more than fiction. Amos Tutuola could not have come up with the story of the Egungun and Ifa devotees that invaded the Ife campus, using incantations and sacrifices to produce a favourable outcome. A Nollywood story has emerged! I cannot wait for Odunlade Adekola to play the main character running for office , Simi to provide the soundtrack, Kunle Afolayan to play the Babalawo, and Tunde Kelani to act as the masquerade. Davido will then perform the closing song.
We must understand that if every university community begins to demand that their indigene becomes the vice chancellor, particularly those with federal ownership status, then we will have an even greater problem in our hands as a nation.
If this trend continues across the country, then I am afraid that the bar for merit will be lowered. It happened at the University of Ibadan during the last election that brought in the current VC. Then we saw indigenes complain that an Ibadan man had never been a VC. Now, we have the case of the Obafemi Awolowo University.