Professor Ishaq Olanrewaju Oloyede, the immediate past Vice Chancellor of University of Ilorin, is in the news again. Despite his monumental achievements in office as VC, Oloyede, among others, has been accused of granting undue favour to his child and a relative. Tracking down Prof. Oloyede was difficult because he is so busy. Apart from his sabbatical at the National Open University, he is also preoccupied with many national and international commitments. His role as a global player in the African education sector makes him hop from one airport to the other. He spoke with newsmen in Ilorin on the barrage of allegations and criticisms against him.

THE Unilorin Stakeholders Group accused you of manipulations in the appointment of your successor, Professor Abdul Ganiyu Ambali. What is your response to this allegation?

The issue of succession remains contentious in many Nigerian universities with protests now well known to be the norm whenever any Vice-Chancellor is appointed by groups and interests that believe they lost out in the race. The hoopla about the appointment of Prof. Abdul Ganiyu Ambali, the current Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, is even insignificant compared with what obtains in some other universities.

Therefore, the issue of succession and appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor is considered undeserving of serious attention. This is because an outgoing Vice Chancellor is not a member of the Selection Board. I did not participate at any level in the selection process. I will only urge those who lost out to take solace in the fact that there is another day.

But that was not the only point raised by this group, how about the issue of the pension deduction leveled against you, which your successor seemed to have refunded?

What I did was what the law of the land and ICPC directed all universities to do. That is 7½ per cent of the gross pay to be deducted from staff salary and credited to the PFA’s account. We were deducting 7½ per cent of basic salary before the clarification and we met with the unions and ensured that the PFAs credited the pension account of every staff member with full 7½ per cent.

It was this under-deduction that is being spread for repayment in a 24-month installment. Some people want their accounts to be credited in full and yet not pay. I did what was required of me and the new VC is in the position to defend the action credited to him, which the university has refuted.

What is your response to the allegation that you gave a multi-million naira scholarship to your son, Ayopo Oloyede, even before he became a staff of the University?

It is not true. Isn’t that even absurd to you? Let me state that there is no iota of truth in it as no University scholarship was given to Mr. Abdulkarim Ayopo Oloyede, the alleged beneficiary.

The Governing Council of the University, in May 2007 before I became Vice-Chancellor, decided to suspend the requirement that a newly recruited academic staff should spend a minimum of two years before he could go on study leave. Consequently, lecturers of the University were released on Staff Development Awards (SDA) scheme, which only consisted of paying their salaries, to pursue their PhDs anywhere in the world. About 100 staff have benefitted from this initiative with many of them having returned to the University with their PhD from Nigerian and foreign Universities. This initiative was instrumental to the high ranking the University of Ilorin enjoyed in the recent assessment of human capacity of Nigerian universities with over 60 per cent of its staff having the highest academic qualification and the University being best staffed in Nigeria.

Right now, there are over 140 staff on such SDA and there is no academic staff member of the University that applies for Salary Supplementation SDA that is not given because it is automatic. The University also publishes its income and expenditure every week.

The various editions of the newsletter, Unilorin Bulletin, which are also on our website, reveal the names of lecturers awarded scholarships and how much each is receiving. You can’t find Mr. Oloyede’s name there. The gentleman is enjoying a competitive scholarship, which has nothing to do with the University. PTDF scholarship is awarded independent of whether or not the beneficiary is a University worker. In other words, the University has no role in the PTDF scholarship, which is open to all Nigerians.

Besides, he designed, developed, donated and installed the transmitter for the University radio station (Unilorin 89.3 FM) when the test transmission began in 2009. It was this same transmitter that was being used before the University commissioned the bigger one two years later.  The young man did not request and was not offered anything as a result of my well-known strict posture as his father.

What I am saying is that the University did not pay a kobo for the supply and installation of the transmitter, which the NBC applauded on visit.  It was the Department of Telecommunication Science of the University that sought him to join the system because of his acknowledged expertise. He was ranked second out of the four candidates that were recommended and subsequently appointed as lecturers. The issue of applying for an award before employment is a figment of someone’s imagination, which could not even be countenanced as remotely possible.

The University attracts scholarships such as that of TET Fund for other academic staff of the University irrespective of the length of service of such academic staff. In his own case, this is not even applicable since he did not apply for any University scholarship and none was given. He is on SDA, which is given to every member of academic staff who applies.

I think the accusation by a group of mischief-makers hiding under anonymity to commit slander is a miscalculated attempt to tarnish my image. It fails because facts are sacred. This faceless group (though I know them) are jesters.

Let me add more, it was even rumoured that I have a school in Ghana and a mistress. The truth is that I have never taken a bribe or committed any fraud in my public career. Where would I get the money from? I have only one house (my residence) in Ilorin, but the rumour is that I have houses in Ilorin. It is a product of sick minds. I have no pin outside Nigeria and I have never committed adultery in my life. I choose to have a wife when I am permitted to have up to four.        What then do I need a mistress for? It is a mischievous campaign of a group destined for perdition. I must however admit that I enjoy the pseudo-drama. I expect an intelligent attack not this joke. In Nigeria, any public officer who is upright must be ready for a fight with corrupt elements, unless you compromise with them. I never did and I have no regret. Mischievous spectators deserve the sympathy of upright actors.

But there was the case of one Dr (Mrs) Odumosu, claimed to be your daughter who was allegedly employed on your influence rather than on merit?

You see, when the lady was being interviewed, I asked to be excused of the interview session because I shared a distant relationship with her mother. As ignorance is a misfortune, this faceless group said the lady is my daughter. She is instead a daughter of a prominent Oloyede in the banking industry in Ilorin. His own Oloyede is not from Abeokuta, but just because I opted to go out of the interview panel and the “discovery” that the lady’s maiden name is “Oloyede”, it was assumed by those who cry wolf, where there is none that she is my daughter. The Oloyede she bears is a sheer coincidence as her father is not even from the same state as myself. The second Oloyede is the son of a former Vice-Chancellor from Offa in Kwara State (Prof. O. B. Oloyede) who is not in any way related to my own Oloyede from Abeokuta.