The Lagos State University has dismissed from service 15 academic staff and two non-academic staff members, while two others were demoted, for alleged acts of misconduct. The dismissal and demotion take immediate effect.
While an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Kinetics, Sports and Health Education, Dr. John Adeogun, was demoted to the rank of a senior lecturer for acts of dishonesty, which was tantamount to misconduct, other lecturers were dismissed, including PhD holders and the acting Head, History and International Studies Department, Dr. Adebowale Adeyemi-Suenu, who was said to have unilaterally altered the results of 12 students already advised to withdraw by the senate of the institution.
A statement on Friday by the institution’s Acting Head, Centre for Information, Press and Public Relations, Ademola Adekoya, said the decision was arrived at on Thursday during the 115th meeting of the institution’s Governing Council, which considered, among others, the report of its Joint Council/Senate (Academic) Disciplinary Committee and the Joint Council (Administrative and Technical Staff) Disciplinary Committee.
It added that the committees heard the cases against the affected persons, strictly followed all laid down procedures and gave opportunity to individuals involved to defend themselves.
The statement said apart from changing the status of the students from “withdrawn” to “good standing”, Adeyemi-Suenu also awarded 2.0 grade point to two students in an examination from which they were absent, among other offences. His actions were said to amount to manipulation of students’ results in contravention of relevant laws and was therefore dismissed from the service of the university.
Also, Dr. Isaac Oyewunmi of the Department of Human Kinetics, Sports and Health Education, was dismissed for demanding for N50,000 from students on sandwich programme to process their results, while Dr. Olufemi Soyeju of the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law was dismissed for defaulting on conditions of his training leave bond and abandoning his duty post. Soyeju is also to refund over N7.9m to LASU within 30 days.
Also dismissed for defaulting on conditions of their training leave bond and abandoning their duty posts, Dr. Olawale Raimi of the Department of Biochemistry, was directed to refund over N1.6m; Dr. Christiana Obagbuwa of the Department of Computer Science is to refund over N8.6m; Dr. Shamisudeen Badmus of the Department of Accounting is to refund over N11.1m, while Dr. Fatimat Bakare of the Department of Chemical and Polymer Engineering is to refund over N9.1m, all within 30 days.
Similarly dismissed for the same offence were Dr. Emmanuel Asapo of the Department of Chemical and Polymer Engineering, and was directed to refund over N2.6m; Olubukola Oyeniya, an Assistant Research Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Sciences and Sustainable Development, also to refund N6.1m; Ademola Adesina of the Department of Computer Science, also to refund N6.6m, all within 30 days, while Mr. Lateef Salami of the Department of Microbiology was only dismissed.
Also, Dr. Adebowale Ademeso of the Department of Theatre Arts and Music was dismissed for altering grades in 16 courses, Dr. Olugbenro Odofin of the Department of Education Foundation and Counselling Psychology was also dismissed for altering 118 students’ results and awarding scores to students who did not sit for the examination in a certain course.
Furthermore, Dr. Scholastica Udegbe of the Department of Marketing was dismissed for effecting corrections on 1995 results of students during her tenure as the Acting head of the department between August 2012 and July 2016, in breach of laid down procedure, while Mr. Olatoye Raji of the Department of Religions (Islamic Studies Unit) was dismissed for falsifying his O’level certificate.
Also, Mr. Ernest Odili, an Assistant Security Officer, was dismissed for illegally collecting N1.2m with the intention of upgrading the result of a student in 2012, while Mr. Ramon Alli, former Head Machine Operator, was dismissed for collecting N20,000, from one Achilike Kingsley to assist the latter substitute the falsified result in his personal file with another result.
Meanwhile, a Senior Security officer, Mr. Emmanuel Babatunde was demoted for engaging in “deliberate sabotage” of the university’s security operations, effectively from February 13, 2015 to the next applicable level below his substantive post.”
When our correspondent contacted one of the sacked lecturers, Oyewunmi, of the Department of Human Kinetics, Sports and Health Education, he declined commenting on the sacking.
Meanwhile, our correspondent gathered that there had been some issues between the school management and the LASU branch of ASUU, which some described as the cause of the sanction. But the institution’s PRO, Adekoya, said there was not truth in such.
He said, “The decision was made by the Governing Council, which is the highest body in the school, and ASUU also has representation in that council. The issues were against individuals, and as you would have seen, some non-academic staff were also affected.
“ASUU itself is a credible union, it’s just unfortunate that those people are there at that time and some of these cases had been ongoing for some time, even before the present administration. If they feel aggrieved, they should go to court.”
Culled from The Punch