Lecturers of the University of Lagos rejoiced over the resignation of Dr Wale Babalakin (SAN) as the Chairman of the Governing Council and Pro-Chancellor of the institution.
Speaking through the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, UNILAG branch, Dr Dele Ashiru, the lecturers described Babalakin’s exit as “a welcome development”.
Ashiru, in an interview with The Punch, said, “It (Babalakin’s resignation) is a welcome development. We thank the visitor to our university, through the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, for putting an end to tyranny, authoritarianism, and dictatorship in UNILAG.
“It is now obvious that no individual can be greater than a society. We want to advise that in the future, the government should be more cautious when looking for people to appoint to head educational institutions. It is our prayer that may the type of Babalakin never come our way again.
“This resignation should not be a cover-up for all the recklessness, maladministration, and oppression which visited our university.”
When asked about the mood of the lecturers, the ASUU chairman replied, “We are jubilating and happy that we now have a university that is not the extension of Babalakin’s chambers. We now have a university where freedom, respect for fundamental human rights, the dignity of academia can prevail.”
Babalakin’s resignation came a few hours after a Presidential Visitation Panel set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to look into the crisis that led to the removal of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, submitted its report.
