FUTA VC Says Labour Crisis Won’t Affect Convocation

The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Prof. Adebiyi Daramola, has said the ongoing crisis between him and labour unions in the institution will not affect the forthcoming convocation ceremony of the institution.

The school is scheduled to hold its 48th convocation on Saturday.

The VC, who spoke with journalists through the chairman of the convocation ceremony, Prof. Olaniyi Akinola, on the events lined up for the ceremony, stated that there was no more crisis on the campus.

He added that all the labour unions and all other stakeholders in the institution were ready for the convocation.

Giving the statistics of the graduating students, the VC disclosed that a total of 2,889 students would bag first degree.

He said 85 of them made First Class, 1,044 made Second Class Upper, 1,274 made Second Class Lower, 453 made Third Class, while 33 graduated with Pass.

At the postgraduate level, he explained, 105 students would bag Ph.D and 731 would bag Master’s Degree while 40 would bag the postgraduate diploma certificate of the university.

“The President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, and a German scholar, Prof. Rainer Horn, will be conferred with the university’s honorary doctorate degree,” he said.

However, workers in the school have vowed to disrupt the forthcoming convocation ceremony of the institution if the VC attends and presides over the ceremony.

The workers, under the auspices of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and National Association of Academic Technologists, said the VC was on trial and should not attend the ceremony.

Daramola was recently arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission at the state High Court, Akure, over some allegations of financial misappropriation.

Speaking with journalists, the chairman of the SSANU, Mr. Dele Durojaye, said the VC was not meant to attend any official function or perform any official duty on the campus while facing trial.

He said, “We want the security agents to know that if Daramola attends the Saturday convocation, there will be crisis on the campus because he is supposed to be on suspension by now because he is still on trial.”

[Dada/Punch]