The establishment of the Federal University of Agriculture and Technology, Okeho (FUNATO), and the subsequent constitution of its management team and Governing Council were widely welcomed across Oke-Ogun and Oyo State at large. For the people of the region, the university represented the fulfilment of a long-standing aspiration and a critical step toward educational and socio-economic development. The appointment of Professor Olaniyi Jacob Babayemi, an indigene of the area, as the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of the newly established federal university was also received with admiration and goodwill.
However, recent actions under his leadership have begun to raise grave concerns among key stakeholders regarding the direction, values, and foundational principles upon which FUNATO is being built.
Rather than inspiring confidence in fairness, inclusiveness, and transparency, some early decisions appear to suggest the pursuit of a narrow and sectional agenda that risk undermining the credibility of the institution at inception and planting the seeds of deep institutional division.
Shortly after assuming office, the Vice-Chancellor called for voluntary academic support from scholars across Oke-Ogun to assist with the National Universities Commission (NUC) resource verification exercise. While commendable in principle, the process was marred by questionable design and execution.
Volunteers were required to complete a Google form offering multiple availability options, Monday to Friday (morning and afternoon sessions) as well as Saturdays and Sundays, yet the verification exercise reportedly took place on a single day, a Monday.
No shortlist was published, no formal communication was issued to volunteers regarding any change in schedule, and participation on the verification day appeared conspicuously skewed. Credible reports indicate that over 70 per cent of those in attendance were Christians, raising legitimate concerns about inclusiveness and process integrity.
At the conclusion of the exercise, the Vice-Chancellor announced the appointment of Deans, a process that was neither advertised nor communicated to stakeholders, including qualified volunteers. Predictably, the outcome further reinforced earlier fears, as the Deans appointed were almost 90 per cent Christians.
More troubling is the pattern that has followed this initial exercise. Subsequent appointments and engagements appear to have been largely drawn from those who attended the single verification session, effectively transforming a flawed and opaque process into a gatekeeping mechanism.
Qualified academics who indicated availability on other approved days were sidelined, even when efforts were made to change their personal schedules to meet up with the new plan of the University, they were ignored and later dropped for not participating in an exercise whose structure appeared deliberately exclusionary.
The Vice-Chancellor’s public disclosure regarding the appointment of Deans further deepened these concerns. With five out of six Deans reportedly being Christians, representing roughly 83%, questions naturally arise about how the shortlist was compiled and whether merit, balance, federal character, and religious inclusiveness were duly considered.
Similar concerns trail credible reports of the appointment of about 30 Heads of Department, allegedly drawn largely from the same initial pool and following the same discernible pattern. Collectively, these developments point to a dangerous concentration of institutional power within a homogenous and faith-based leadership structure.
Deans and Heads of Department are critical actors in recruitment, nomination, and shortlisting processes. When such offices are products of a compromised process, assurances of competence alone are insufficient. In academic governance, it is well understood that outcomes are often determined at the nomination and shortlisting stages, long before merit is publicly assessed.
A particularly troubling example, out of many, is the alleged dropping of two senior and more experienced professors in favour of a preferred candidate, a serving Head of Department from another federal university in Ogun State, for the position of Dean of the Faculty of Livestock Development and Environmental Sciences.
Predictably, attention may be diverted to the qualifications of the preferred candidate. However, the more critical question remains: why were the more senior and arguably more qualified professors excluded? Many fear that their perceived offence was their religious affiliation.
This development, among others that will be examined in Part II of this series, reinforces growing fears of cronyism and sectarian bias.
Even more disturbing are claims that appointments are being filtered through informal priority groupings defined by faith, denomination, locality, and personal networks, to the exclusion of others.
This intervention does not argue for favouritism toward any group, nor is it intended to disparage the person of the Vice-Chancellor. Muslims, especially and other concerned stakeholders, specifically, are not asking for special treatment. What is being demanded is a level playing field, transparency, and equal opportunity for all qualified Nigerians, consistent with the spirit and letter of the federal university system.
We therefore call on the Governing Council, the National Universities Commission, the Federal Ministry of Education, and all relevant oversight bodies, as well as critical stakeholders in Oke-Ogun and Oyo State, to urgently intervene. A thorough and transparent review of all appointments and processes undertaken so far is imperative to ensure that FUNATO does not begin its journey on a foundation of division, mistrust, and perceived bias.
The noble intentions of the Federal Government and the aspirations of the people of Oke-Ogun must not be bastardised by the implementation of any personal, sectional, and religious agenda, particularly one perceived to favour specific religious groups, denominations, or personal networks at the expense of equity, diversity, and institutional integrity.
A word, indeed, is enough for the wise.
Fasasi Kolawole writes from Abeokuta, he can be reached on 08153545555 (WhatsApp Only)