On Tuesday, the management of Wesley University, Ondo town, Ondo State, clarified that the present administration of the institution had complied with a garnishee order, directing it to pay about N80 million in outstanding salaries of its former staff.
The Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Samuel Obeka, who disclosed this during a press conference, said all the outstandings were paid through internally generated revenue (IGR) and payments made from the Conference of Methodist Church Nigeria.
According to the VC, the clarification became imperative to guide against recent misleading information circulating on social media about the institution, saying there is no outstanding debt in respect of the garnishee order.
Obeka also disclosed that the N500 million loan granted to the institution through the Board of Trustee was judiciously utilised while the welfare of the school staff was given priority through promotion, confirmation, and regularisation of appointments.
He said the N500 million was expended on arrears of 2013, 2014, and 2017 salaries and the payment of part of 2018 and 2019 salaries, amounting to over N398 million.
Responding to a paper circulating on social media written by Owei Lakemfa, entitled “Labourer deserves his wages except in Methodist Church Nigeria,” Obeka maintained that there is a separation of powers between the Methodist Church and Wesley University.
He said, “Methodist Church Nigeria has its own board of trustees, while Wesley University has its own separate board of trustees and governing council in line with NUC policy.
“The Church organogram and Wesley University organogram are separate entities, with each performing unique roles. While the church focuses on driving the spiritual growth of its members, the university is ecumenical in nature and focuses on academic development.”
He explained that part-time lecturers have been disengaged from the school and replaced with substantive lecturers, contrary to the allegation in the said social media report.
He said, “On assumption of office, it was found that some of the part-time lecturers employed to serve on semester arrangements do disengage abruptly, thereby affecting academic programmes, the computation of results, and subsequently the accumulation of convocation exercises over the years.
“Consequently, they were paid off and some of the committed ones were re-engaged as visiting lecturers. The Senate therefore resolved to abolish part-time lecturers’ engagement and opted for visiting, sabbatical, and full-time lecturers only. This did not go down well with some part-time lecturers.”
“On pension and tax collection from workers and non-remittance to state authorities, university education is structured by NUC in such a way that it is governed by her separate Board of Trustees, Governing Council, and Senate.
” The Incorporated Board of Trustees of the Church do not interfere with University matters. Therefore, the issue of pension collection from workers of Wesley University by M.C.N. and non-remittance did not arise at all.
“Besides, the university accounts bursary and audit departments deal with the finances of the university and staff with the Senate and Council as regulatory bodies, and pensions with taxes are paid.”
He, however, said the school has witnessed unprecedented development in the last few years, saying the NUC has recently accredited both the existing academic programmes and new ones in the 2022–2023 academic year.
“The university did a re-accreditation of all her old academic programmes and resource verification of 23 new programmes in the 2023–2024 academic session. Currently, the university houses a total of 45 academic programmes, all fully accredited by NUC.
In the year 2024, we had an NUC visitation panel to assess our distance and e-learning programmes, and the university was rated very highly in terms of the availability of resources, equipment, and capacity to drive the programme.
“The School of Postgraduate Studies of Wesley University, Ondo, also got NUC accreditation in 2023, which attests to our academic growth, excellence, and viability.
“We intend to host NUC for additional medical courses in 2024, which is expected to commence in September 2024.”
He disclosed that the school has reduced the tuition fees of its students, saying, “The University Senate and Governing Council reduced the school fees of some programmes by 50 per cent when other universities were increasing their school fees. This is a kind gesture to reduce hardship for households in Nigeria and is part of our social corporate responsibilities.
“In order to expand the visibility and frontier of the University, Wesley University is currently embarking on some National and International Collaborations. We have signed an MoU with Gallaudet University Washington, DC; Girne University, North Cyprus; and Mersin 10-Turkey.
Other collaborations include Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), the National Council for Special Needs Education, Presidential Amnesty International, and Data Foundation/FinStudiez Ltd., Inc., Lagos, amongst others. This is to beef up our relationship with national and international organisations.”
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