Chief Afe Babalola, Chancellor, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), has frowned at the closure of universities as part of the measures to forestall the spread of Coronavirus in the country.
According to him, students of ABUAD would be safer remaining on the campus, than being sent home where the risk would be higher.
Babalola spoke at the university campus as four milestone projects were commissioned at the ABUAD Multi-System Hospital on Saturday.
He said he received a circular with number NUC/ES/138/Vol.63/91 that granted approval to the National Universities Commission (NUC) to close all schools for a period of one month commencing from Monday March 23, 2020.
Aare Babalola said an emergency Senate meeting that was immediately constituted after deliberations with the Students Representative Council heeded to the instruction contained in the letter signed by the Deputy Executive Secretary of NUC, Dr. Suleiman Rahmon-Yusuf, on behalf of the NUC ES, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed.
However, Babalola puts it on record that apart from the Students Representative Council frowning at the decision of the tertiary education regulatory bodies, “the Ministry of Education said that it has no right to close university, saying that was why it routed the letter through the NUC to close down universities in the country.
“The NUC too knows that the power to close down universities under Section 22 of the Education (National Minimum Standards Act) provides that it must afford the proprietor of the institution an opportunity to make representation for considerations within 60 days before it can close down a university.”
He said what NUC ought to have done to the letter from the Ministry of Education was to summon proprietors to an emergency meeting, saying such platform would afford individual universities to offer suggestions on the delicate issue.
According to him, over 50% of the students who were in the middle of examination, believed the decision would in the end be counter-productive as it would have adverse effect on the predictable academic calendar of private universities.
He added: “The students as well as teachers believe, and I also believe that our residential campus is safer and healthier than any residential house in any part of this country.
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“The Senate is of the view that education is a delicate issue. Universities are not parastatals of the government… Even the Visitor, i.e, the president to public universities, has no right to dissolve council, remove Registrar or dabble into academic work in the university.”
In the same vein, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi, the Alaafin of Oyo also, carpeted the Federal Government over the closure of schools across the country.
According to the monarch, the government has usurped the responsibilities of the Senate of universities.
“The different universities laws state expressly the duties and functions of the Visitor, the Council and the Senate. Like it is under the dictate of Separation of Powers, none of these bodies has the right or powers to assume the functions and duties of the other two.”
The highlight of the event was the commissioning of four projects at the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
Among the projects commissioned at the university and ABUAD Multi-System Hospital are 16 new modern Dialysis Machines; State- of-the-art Blood Bank and transfusion services centre; Ministry of Aviation-certified modern helipad and a building to aid military security in the state.
Besides, two books titled, ‘The Elusive Search for Nation Nigeria’ and ‘ABUAD: Pioneering Educational Renaissance’, were also unveiled at the event.
The ceremonies were witnessed by scores of personalities like Prof. Abah Waziri, Chairman, Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (CMCN); Yeye Aare Modupe Babalola, the chief Executive of ABUAD Ventures, among others.
In her welcome address, Professor Smaranda Olarinde, Vice-Chancellor of the university, lauded the Chancellor, Chief Babalola, for contributing positively to the development of the education sector and learning for the general public.
