Ife Indigenes Protest OAU VC Origin

 By Adeolu Adegbaju 

Ile-Ife, Osun State

The indigenes of Ile-Ife are protesting the origin of the incoming Vice-Chancellor, Professor Adebayo Simeon Bamire of Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University, a native of Oyan, Osun State, Monday, 21st March 2022.

Women of Osun Osogbo worshippers were seen on OAU Campus chanting and praying. The protest is a result of the Council's appointment of the next Vice-Chancellor of OAU. The current Vice-Chancellor, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede's tenure will end on 7th June 2022, after which Professor Bamire will take over as the new Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University.

Professor Bamire was announced as the next Vice-Chancellor of OAU on Thursday, 17th March 2022, in a press release by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of Obafemi Awolowo University. Professor Adebayo Simeon Bamire, a professor of Agricultural Science, was among the 20 applicants who expressed interest in becoming the number one person on OAU Campus by applying for the Vice-Chancellorship position as advertised by the Council which will become vacant on 7th June 2022

Ile-Ife indigenes noted that a man of Ile-Ife origin has never been the Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University despite the school being situated in Ile-Ife. They argued that it was time an Ife Indigene became OAU Vice-Chancellor.

Having announced the flagging-off processes of appointing a new Vice-Chancellor by the Council on 7th December 2021, some Ife Indigenes had expressed their desire for a Vice-Chancellor who is a native of Ile-Ife. It then became a surprise when Professor Bamire, a native of Oyan, was appointed on the 17th March 2022.