They did not mince or mix words. The ultimate was to destroy and devour. There was no ambiguity, no pretensions. And they actually went for the kill.
But they erred all the way. Their very first move was a misstep. A big goof. They got it wrong from the beginning. They lost the race before it got started.
So? There was no need blowing the whistle. It was obvious they were heading to a dead end. A discerning heart would know they had a cursed cause at hand. Heavily rested on nothingness.
A bad case, dead on arrival. It couldn’t have stood the tough test of these our times. It couldn’t have been otherwise. We are faced with more serious challenges. They are fiercely competing for our scarce attention. Evidently, this one is not one of them.
It’s a mere distraction and should be treated as such. We needed not dispense energy on frivolities, trivialities and emptiness. All would amount to a colossal waste. And we were damn right.
It broke out like a thunderbolt. And took on the toga of a whirlwind instantly. Unkind courtesy of social media. They went agog and feasted on it. It became easy prey. In the process, they displayed gross mistrust and blatant bias. Do you blame them?
Adenike Temidayo Oladiji is professor of Biochemistry. First female vice-chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Ondo State. She is in the eye of the storm.
She literally stirred the hornet’s nest the other day. How? She innocently nursed the ambition to be FUTA VC. And she promptly applied on March 8, 2022. She dared to make a genuine and honest expression.
But that was her undoing. Unknown to her, she has gored and brutally bruised some oxen. They would have none of that.
Her empty detractors didn’t like her uncommon guts a bit. And they displayed it. It was a show of shame. They cared less. They waited with bated breath for their time to come.
They opted to ambush her and cut her joy short. They were to strike when the iron was hot. Never in a haste. They resolved to wait the period. Time is of no essence to them.
They saw it as a sport. Because they had no visible and/or feasible ambition. So, they could afford the wait. For them, it was not a waste but a game.
Oladiji successfully went through the rigorous due process. They kept an eye on her. Watching over her day and night. They never slept nor slumbered, with unending nightmares. Yet, they would not keep their preying eyes off her.
Immediately she made it on May 12, 2022, they too made good their promise. They struck with all their might. They brought out a highly flawed joker. They were ferocious and deadly at the same time.
Two members of the FUTA Senate, Prof. P.A. Aborisade and Prof. M.B. Oyun, wrongly stood up to be counted. It was equally at a wrong time. They were proud to be the arrowheads.
They arrogantly christened themselves “Concerned Members of FUTA Senate.” Whatever that was supposed to mean to them. The truth is, they missed the point blindly. They alleged that the selection process of Oladiji was fraught with fraud. Not only that, it also lacked transparency.
Their grouse? The new VC emerged through election rather than selection. But the duo agreed: “By the law, any of the three candidates presented is good enough for the position of VC.”
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) stoutly rose to Oladiji’s defence.
They came when it mattered most and did the needful. It was heartwarming. They intervened in the nick of time. They appropriately righted the glaring wrong.
The duo went beyond their borders. It was given. They carried their tiny luck too far. They claimed to speak the inner mind of ASUU-FUTA. That was punctured even before it landed.
Its chairman, Prof. O.O. Awopetu, and secretary, Dr. O.E. Rasaki, strongly put a big lie to that. They insisted Aborisade and Oyun were not members of the executive committee of ASUU-FUTA: “The two have no rights, neither were they authourised and are in no capacity to speak for and on behalf of ASUU-FUTA.”
Following suit, the workers, coming under the Joint Action Committee (JAC), gave their verdict: “From available records, Prof. Oladiji is the most qualified and came top in the process.”
Chairman, SSANU-FUTA, Felix Adunbi, who is also JAC chairman, affirmed: “There is no law that says FUTA vice-chancellor, should be a product of the institution.”
Oladiji was unjustly put under stress. She was vilified for no reason. They did strive hard to take her to the cleaners but tragically ended up in the laundry themselves. Allegations against her were decorated with levity and sumptuously celebrated.
The intention was never in doubt. It was clear. She was to be rubbished, battered, cajoled and cowed. But they failed woefully in all the departments.
They could not sustain the false tempo initially generated. It couldn’t have been possible to sustain falsehood and its likes. Their dummy was a hard sell.
It speedily came crashing. It collapsed and evaporated just as it surfaced. It emerged from the blues. Yes, it went with the wind almost immediately. It has no place here. A deceit of such magnitude can’t survive. It won’t be harboured and tolerated either.
It remained a manipulation for the short moment it lasted. That was the farthest it could go. It stood truth on its head. An abhorred abnormality.
Take the most cursory look at the duo’s reason. What do you perceive? It easily gives them away. One is forced to ask: Where do they actually stand? They never doubted her intimidating credentials. Nor did they query her outstanding achievements spanning over three decades.
Neither did her integrity ever come under scrutiny. Everything about her is simply compelling. Then, what really is their stress? I unconsciously wonder aloud.
They were at a great loss. How to hang their case became a huge issue. They could not comprehend what their actions were negatively throwing up. They had no viable alternative. They were forced to opt for this laughable advice:
“We, ‘Concerned Members of FUTA Senate’, call on our respected colleague, Professor Adenike Temidayo Oladiji, of the University of Ilorin, to remain steadfast at her duty post at UNILORIN and not attempt to come to FUTA as vice-chancellor.”
If she does? They did not tell us how they would handle the precarious situation or even deal with the stubborn Oladiji. They left it open, unattended.
Then they slipped into more confusion. Yet, they would not give up: “We, ‘Concerned Members of FUTA Senate’, equally advise our respected colleague, Professor Adenike Temidayo Oladiji, not to advertise herself as the vice-chancellor-elect of our university, FUTA.”
Very indicative. These ones were not cut for long distance race. They never prepared for one anyway. The reason the windstorm against Oladiji vanished at infancy. It faded in the very manner it sprang up.
The storm is over for Oladiji. And we are forever glad it ended the way it ended. Never again will it rear its vile and hideous head. Never!