By favor Nnabugwu
National Universities Commission, NUC, has expressed worry over the crisis rocking the University of Benin, UNIBEN, blaming the situation on the absence of a Governing Council in the institution.
NUC Executive Secretary, Prof Julius Okojie spoke during his monthly media briefing in Abuja yesterday, but added that the NUC would not dabble into the matter because, apart from the fact that the matter had not been officially reported to it by the management of the institution, the issue was also not about education policies.
Okojie clarified that in the absence of a Governing Council at UNIBEN, the Minister of Education would normally intervene if formally briefed about the crisis in the institution.
''I am aware that UNIBEN does not have a council at present and in the absence of council, it is the Minister that can step into the position of the council but as far as I know, we have not received any report about UNIBEN crisis at NUC".
'' The council of any university is the employer of all categories of staff on campus though and we do not have the details yet on the crisis between the Vice-Chancellor and the Bursar. If the crisis between them has to do with policy matters, that, we can handle but if is it something that has to do with staff, the council will handle that when it receives a formal report from the University. We will only react when we gate a formal report from UNIBEN," he said
The Vice Chancellor of UNIBEN, Prof. Osayuki Oshodin and the University Bursar, Dr May Nwoye had been embroiled in crisis of confidence with both parties making allegations and counter allegations against one another.
Prof Oshodin accused the Bursar of poor supervision of her department just as Dr Nwoye who said she had worked for 27 years in the university, countered saying that Oshodin, his wife and cousin were signatories to the university accounts. She also alleged that unknown persons deposited two coffins in her compound recently saying that the whole palavar statrted because some people did not want her to serve a second term as Bursar.
The Visitation Panel's report on the university and the subsequent views of President Goodluck Jonathan were among the issues which deepened the crisis between supporters of the former Bursar and those of the VC.
Vanguard Nigeria
I always feel like laughing anytime i read of such minor adult crises. when people are fighting for presidency, others are fighting for university bursery position. haha, thats funny. But waht exactly did GEJ say that deepend the crises? Favour, u did not furnish us with the entirety of the details, pre and ongoing of this bursary war. make una stop this child play o