End of tenure as VC: Video as UI staff sing burial song, ‘sweep off’ Prof. Olayinka
Some staff of the University of Ibadan have sent off their Vice chancellor, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, whose tenure ended on Wednesday (today), in a unique way: they swept him off the campus.
The staff, armed with brooms, sang songs usually reserved for burials in Yoruba language, that amounted to curses for Olayinka.
The tenure of the VC had allegedly been characterised by highhandedness and dictatorship, with the last being his reported move to singlehandedly pick his own successor, a move resisted by all the unions on campus.
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Those opposed to him for the most part of his tenure were the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and Non-Academic Staff Union.
In the end, following the crisis that trailed the process for the election of a successor, Olayinka had to hand over to an acting VC, Prof. Adebola Ekanola.
This followed a directive from the National Universities Commission that since a successor could not be elected, an acting VC should be chosen.
This was achieved on November 30, 2020 after several crisis had befallen the university over the succession race.
In the video obtained by The Eagle Online, the staff were heard singing: “Olayinka re’le o, ile lo lo tarara,” a song rendered in Yoruba at funerals, which means: “Olayinka has gone home (dead).”
At some point, some chanted: “Olayinka wo’na o, ina lo lo tarara (Olayinka has entered into fire).”
