Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Special Visitation Panel dispatched to University of Lagos (UNILAG) by the Federal Government to unearth the root cause of the management crisis that rocked the school which led to the untimely dissolution of the Governing Council led by Dr Wale Babalakin and the sack of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, has submitted its report.
The Chairman of the panel, Prof Tukur Sa’ad, alongside six other members of the panel namely; Barrister Victor Onuoha, Prof Ikenna Onyido, Prof Ekanem Braide, Prof. Adamu K Usman, Chief Jimoh Bankole, and Barrister Grace Ekanem, who served as Secretary, submitted the report to the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu in Abuja, on Thursday.
The panel Chairman, Prof Sa’ad, told the Minister during his remarks, that opportunity was provided for all stakeholders in the crisis to say a thing or two regarding the matter, and that was the reason for the timely conclusion of the task, even though he refused to divulge the content of the report.
He said that terms of reference which included a review of the report of the Governing Council’s sub-committee on the expenditure of UNILAG management since May 2017, as well as appropriate recommendations were properly done.
He assured the Minister that recommendations therein would help the Visitor to the University, President Muhammadu Buhari, to take right decisions that would, expectedly, herald durable industrial peace and harmony in the institution.
The Minister in his response thanked the panel for the speed of the task and assured them that President Buhari who is Visitor of the University will carefully study the report and take appropriate decision on the matter for the good of everybody.
He said: ‘This report will be subjected to proper scrutiny. We are for justice for all. I can assure you that nobody will be favoured or otherwise. We have a responsibility to right the wrong of decades of maladministration in our institutions.
‘We know what we are looking for in the report and we hope to find them in there. But in the event that we didn’t see what we expect in the report, we will reject the report and reinvite you back to the Ministry for additional work.’