A civil society organisation on Thursday condemned the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for calling for the resignation of Is-haq Oloyede, the registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
According to the organization, the conduct of ASUU was fast becoming a national embarrassment to the nation’s academia because it was not sincere.
Following hitches experienced by candidates in the ongoing registration for the forthcoming UTME examination, the chairman of ASUU, University of Ibadan Chapter, Deji Omole, had called on Mr. Oloyede, a professor, to voluntarily resign from office.
In an interview with PREMIUM TIMES, Mr. Omole argued that JAMB had outlived its usefulness.
“… It is time that we scrapped it,” the professor said. “The body is a problem to the Nigerian educational sector and also a problem to the university system”
Mr. Omole then attacked Mr. Oloyede on the rescheduling of the mock examination planned to hold before this year’s UTME examination.
While calling on Adamu Adamu, the minister of education, to prevail on Mr. Oloyede not to make life difficult for children eager for higher education, he said the registration procedure introduced by JAMB was cumbersome.
But the civic group, Nigerian Patriotic Advocates (NPA), in a statement by its President, Emmanuel Goza said from its persistent attack on JAMB, it was obvious that ASUU had a mission to discredit Mr. Oloyede’s good intentions.
The NPA said while intellectuals in saner climes are known for their sound judgment built on unbiased analysis of issues, the case had been different with ASUU which had so far written four petitions against Mr. Oloyede.
The NPA said, “Although Nigerians have tremendous respect for ASUU, recent events from Ibadan branch are worrisome, more so that the same group purporting to be representing ASUU has shortly after the Registrar was appointed, written over four petition against Oloyede, his son and the University of Ilorin. And in all cases, situations and circumstances, they were proven wrong. Now, they have found another past time in the registration process of JAMB to ventilate their personal vendetta.
“This same group has virtually called for the resignation of everybody that has anything to do with education including the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan. The attitude of ASUU in UI is fast becoming a joke. Even in comedy, when you keep repeating a joke over and over, your audience will get bored. The attitude of the Ibadan branch of ASUU is fast becoming a national embarrassment to the academia.
“Intellectuals anywhere in the world are known for sound judgment built on unbiased and selfish mind. However, the opposite is the case with our comrades in Ibadan. The kind of press releases being churned out from Ibadan speaks to the contrary. Transformation is always a product that undergoes many stages of refinement and what is happening in JAMB should be seen as one. Great leaders take steps and directions that are mostly not familiar to all. But they end up producing glorious and profound results.”
The organization described Mr. Oloyede as having the pedigree to deliver on the mandate given to him by the Federal Government.
JAMB has faced criticism over the postponement of mock examination as well as the hitches in registration for the 2017 UTME exams.
The board extended the deadline for sale of forms and registration for the exams from the earlier announced April 19 to May 5.
Consequently, the exam body also postponed the 2017 UMTE from May 13 to May 20.
The Mock Examination earlier slated for April 8 was rescheduled for this Saturday. Mr. Oloyede said arrangements had been concluded for a hitch-free exercise.