Date: 2017-02-20

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali, on Sunday, said the National Universities Commission had accorded full accreditation to Unilorin's Veterinary Medicine.

Ambali stated that the NUC accredited the course because of the university's new veterinary complex at Sabo-Oke in Ilorin and the improved training of the institution's veterinary doctors.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, the VC said, "We have injected some money there (veterinary complex at Sabo-Oke) through NEEDS assessment that we got in order to improve the training of our veterinary doctors. We just got a letter from the NUC, giving us full accreditation for that programme.

"This is also as a result of the facilities at Sabo-Oke that we presented to the team that visited."

That place was made to take veterinary services to the people rather than having the facilities on campus and allow the Fulani herdsmen, small animal owners and others who are interested in veterinary services, to come to the campus with their animals.

"We thought it would be better if such facility is within the community so that access to the facility will be easier and simpler."

The VC added that the allegations that he accorded undue promotion and favourtism to his wife, Dr. Taiwo Ambali, was baseless, untrue and lacked substance.

He said he was not directly involved in the promotion of his wife, stressing that the wife was promoted on merit.

Unilorin's factional Chairman of the suspended Academic Staff Union of Universities, Dr. Kayode Afolayan, had alleged that the appointment of Taiwo and her promotion to senior lecturer on September 30, 2016, was illegal.

Kayode said, "Mrs. Ambali was appointed temporarily and without prior advertisement as required by law. Even more, the VC placed her on Lecturer 1 step 7 when she was a fresh PhD holder and at the time when many PhD holding staff with years of service in the university were still Lecturer 2."

Ambali, however, said, "The VC comes at end of the equation. When it comes to committee's deliberation and it concerns those who are close to the VC, the VC usually steps aside during the deliberation so that people within the committee can feel free to deliberate on it. That is exactly what happened.

"She (Taiwo) started her university teaching career at University of Maiduguri. She has almost 10 years of university teaching experience.