By Wole Balogun
Yesterday, September 2, 2024 shortly after the progressively minded Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina, performed the foundation laying ceremony of the proposed ultra-modern Fasina Conference Centre (FCC) to the admiration of all in attendance at the August occasion, an online report crept into the social media spreading bile and falsehood.
The report says a certain Prof. Ishaq Akintola, Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), alleged that the amiable Prof. Fasina has been muzzling the Muslim community in the University and preventing them from attending their Friday Jummat prayers by allegedly fixing important programmes such as lnaugural lecture and Congregation meeting on such days!
For a member of the FUOYE Community who has been around before the emergence of Prof. Fasina’s administration as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the University and equally a media aide to the VC, l was shocked that anyone could descend so low as to spread falsehood publicly just to cheaply blackmail a fellow academic like himself. And l am pretty sure many staff of the upwardly mobile University including the Muslim community, would feel same way.
With all due respect to Prof. Akintola, the MURIC leader, one expects a certified researcher like him to investigate rumour brought to him by sycophants and campaigners of calumny properly to ascertain their authenticity before publicly commenting on such and even spewing verbal invectives at the innocent target of the ill-fated rumours.
Had Prof. Akintola hesitated to thoroughly investigate his claims against the FUOYE VC, he would definitely not have goofed so pitiably and so openly the way the media has reported him. This is so because given the reality of what happens to the very friendly Muslim community in FUOYE, the vituperations by the respected clergyman, academic and leader of MURIC, was not only uncalled for, but also misdirected and unfortunate.
For the records, there is, and shall continue to be, a very cordial and beautiful relationship between the FUOYE Muslim community and the Prof. Fasina, the VC. It is something akin to that of blood brothers and sisters! This rapport is so beautiful and fruitful that the VC has appointed many Muslim brothers and sisters as top functionaries of his administration. A great development that is unprecedented in the history of the almost 20-year old university. It is pertinent here to mention just a few of these appointments and here is a list:
1.The VC, Prof. Fasina, appointed two muslim brothers as Principal Officers of the University, and they are Prof. Tajudeen Bolanle Opoola, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC), Administration and Mr Mufutau lbrahim, the Registrar.
2. The same Prof. Fasina appointed many Muslim brothers as Directors of Directorates without discrimination. They include: Dr. Olawale Musibau, Chief Medical Officer, FUOYE Medical Centre; Prof. Abiodun A. Ajiboye, Director of Newly established FUOYE’s Directorate of Trado medical Products; Dr Modinat, Female Gender Desk Officer of the University; Dr (Mrs) Ashiyanbi Serifat, Head of Department, History and International Studies; Dr Waheed Olaide Oladimeji, Head Linguistics Dept; Prof. Olaide Hammed, Director of the Directorate of Affiliation programmes; Prof Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, Dean Students Affairs; Prof. Taofiq Olaide Nasir, Head of Department, Religious Studies; and Mr. Salahudeen Teslim, a young and fresh graduate of the University was not only appointed recently as Graduate Assistant of his Department but also as Special Adviser (SA) on students Affairs to the VC.
3. The same Prof. Fasina spent his personal money profusely to complete FUOYE temporary mosque for the Muslim community at the time his own Christian community are yet to have theirs on the campus.
Given these level of involvement of the Muslim community in the management of the University, is it right to claim that the VC is muzzling the Muslim community of the University?
Now, let us also clarify certain misconceptions the statement credited to the MURIC leader against the FUOYE VC has heinously created. The facts regarding the mentioned dates when inaugural lectures and congregation meetings fell on Fridays are that, first, the scheduled time were not fixed by the VC, rather, committees in charge of such programmes, headed by the University Registrar, (incidentally a Muslim) did so long before the events happened and it was obvious that the dates and time of the events were never envisaged to deliberately disrupt Jummat prayers rather, a usual prolonged running of the programmes extended beyond the Muslim prayer hours, but even at that, Muslim brothers and sisters went for their prayers and also returned to continue with the programmes. This is attested to by the dutiful Registrar himself in his reaction to Prof. Akintola’s allegations against the VC, which reads thus: “On the issue of Inaugural lecture, we delayed the lecture to allow Muslim staff, including me to pray before we started that day.
“On that day of Congregation, there was no restriction that day. Some people went to the mosque and return to join us. I didn’t go because of necessity occasioned by my position as Secretary. This is allowed in Islam, once in a while,” Mr. lbrahim, FUOYE Registrar, said.
Finally, it may interest the rumour mongers and unsuspecting members of the public who may fall for their lies that the VC, at virtually every public fora, is always showing acts of gratitude to the Islamic community in the University for standing firmly behind him more than any other communities of other religions during the vcship race that brought him in as the fourth substantive Vice-Chancellor of the University on February 11th, 2021.
So, the allegations that the VC is taking decisions meant to muzzle the Muslim community is baseless, unfounded and must have been In the imagination of those peddling such rumour. Rather, what has been happening to the Muslim community in FUOYE is an awesome experience of eldorado in form of due recognition, enjoyment of exciting career prospects, and welfare packages which they hitherto, didn’t enjoy.
* Dr Wole Balogun is Special Adviser, Media to Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Fasina
