*Asks Minister to rescind order on VC, Registrar
Emma Amaize
16 November 2011, Sweetcrude, WARRI – THE people of Ugbomro community, host to the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE), Effurun in Delta State, Wednesday, called on the Minister of Education to cancel the purported recall of the Vice Chancellor, Prof Babatunde Alabi from terminal leave, a development that had thrown the university into avoidable crisis.
Traditional prime minister of Ugbomro community, High Chief Ambrose Olughor made the call when the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and Non Academic Staff Union (NASU), FUPRE branches, visited his palace to apprise the community of the happenings in the university.
High Chief Olughor said the community had been monitoring development in the school and asked the Minister to allow the Acting Vice Chancellor, Prof Isaac Osazuwa, who was mandated to oversee the university by the Governing Council, to continue with his job.
He lamented that the reinstatement of Prof Alabi by the Minister was another plot to further frustrate the development of the university, adding that from information available to the community, it seemed that some persons bent on the relocation of the university to Kaduna by the Federal Government were using the minister.
“What is happening in the University today is very clear, some persons in the North are still working underground to ensure the federal government relocates the University from Delta State to Kaduna and it is time President Jonathan put an end to all this nonsense” , he asserted.
His words, “The people of Ugbomro community hereby disown Prof Alabi, and warn the Minister of Education to withdraw her controversial letter, otherwise she should be hold responsible for complicity”.
“The community completely rejects the purported letter from the Minister of Education, reinstating Professor Alabi who committed so much blunder in the university, and we expect that the proper thing the minister ought to do was to investigate all corrupt allegations leveled against Prof Alabi”
The ASUU and NASU leaders, comprising Dr. Akpofure Rim Rukeh, Dr. Duke Okoro, Comrade Adidi Daniel and Comrade Yusu Ibrahim had told the community why the workers saw the decision of the Minister as a contravention of rules and regulations guiding the university’
According to them, the decision by the Governing Council in appointing an acting vice chancellor was taken in in the best interest of the institution.
