Professor Mimiko lied in his book ―Senator Bode Olajumoke

A former member of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akoko Akungba, governing Council, Senator Bode Olajumoke, at the weekend dismissed claim by the former Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof Femi Mimiko, that the refusal of the Council to consider him for the appointment in 2006 was scuttled for political reasons.

Mimiko, in his book ” Getting our Universities back on track” had alleged that he was dropped for the VC position in 2006 despite topping the list of 13 Professors for the job.

Speaking on the development, Senator Olajumoke in a Press Release issued in Akure said “It is sad and most unfortunate that Professor Mimiko decided to denigrate the integrity of members of the Governing Council in the manner he did in his book.”

Olajumoke said” although Professor Mimiko came first in the interview, he was not found appointable because his score was far below the minimum score of 70 percent that a candidate required to be appointable. Minimum score of appoint ability is a norm in selecting Vice-Chancellors. In my tenure, it was 70 percent while during Dr Bisi Ogunjobi, it was 75 percent in AAUA.

“It is a common knowledge that a candidate must at lease obtain the minimum score set for appoint ability in an interview before the candidate can be recommended for appointment. It is not enough to have the best score below the set pass mark.

He explained that “under the parameter “Number of years as Professor” Prof Mimiko got the least mark of 2 out of 10, while another candidate scored 10 out of 10. It could not have been higher because as at 2006 when he was interviewed, he was only two years as a Professor.”

Olajumoke said ” l was the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council Adekunle Ajasin University during the 2006 selection exercise for the appointment.

The former senator said further “the allegation by Professor Femi Mimiko that the Governing Council of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) refused to put him up for the Visitor’s consideration for appointment as Vice-Chancellor in 2006, even when he topped the list of 13 Professors for the job is patently false, as well as the claim that the exercise was “scuttled” by the Governing Council for political reasons.

The first 2006 exercise for the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor for AAUA was conducted in April 2006 after placement of advertisements for the position in three national newspapers. Eleven candidates including Professor Mimiko applied for the position while two candidates were searched by the Search team giving a total of 13 candidates.

“In line with the normal practice for the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor, members of the AAUA Governing Council interacted with all the 13 candidates on Friday and Saturday, 7th and 8th April, 2006 for the purposes of short listing.”

He explained that two of the candidates who were over 60 years were not shortlisted but said the best six candidates out of 11 were selected for the interview by the Joint Council/Senate Selection Committee.

“It was in this Joint Council / Senate exercise that Professor Femi Mimiko scored 66.4%.  This to me and other members of the Committee was clearly understandable being a member of the University.

“Five candidates turned up for the next round of interview for which Professor Ayo Banjo, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan and an eminently seasoned University administrator served as a Consultant on the Selection Committee.

“No candidate was found appointable at the end of the interview because the highest score which was obtained by Professor Mimiko was just 54 percent and Council therefore decided that the process of appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor should be repeated.

He however said no candidates including Professor Mimiko was found appointable again because none of the candidates scored up to 70 percent required for recommendation for appointment.

The former lawmaker also disclosed that Mimiko failed to secure the job because the Board noted that in spite of his publications in his area of specialisation, he had not (at the time he appeared before the Board in 2006) supervised any Ph.D candidate, while his efforts at attracting funds were found to be inadequate.

“It is sad and most unfortunate that Professor Mimiko decided to denigrate the integrity of members of the Governing Council in the manner he did in his book.

“It was the same Governing Council that insisted that Professor Femi Mimiko should be appointed as the Acting Vice-Chancellor after the expiration of the tenure of the then Vice-Chancellor despite the protests of his colleagues to the Visitor.

“The Visitor accepted the recommendation of the Council and Professor Mimiko was appointed as the Acting Vice-Chancellor since he was the incumbent Deputy Vice-Chancellor.

Olajumoke however said that Mimiko could not of course have alleged any political consideration into the Council’s decision because it was in his favour.