UNIBEN VC crisis: ASUU leader forced to step aside

THE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) University of Benin branch, has been torn apart as its chairman, Dr. Kashetu Ilevbare has been forced to step aside.

This is one of the fall- outs of the selection process of a substantive vice-chancellor of the university, which has assumed an ethnic colouration.

The crisis in ASUU boiled over on Thursday when a congress of the university teachers degenerated into hot exchanges among lecturers following a deluge of allegations leveled at the ASUU chairman by a splinter group said to be loyal to the chairman of the Governing Council of the University, Prof. Mvedaga Jibo.

Dr. Ilevbare was asked by his fellow teachers to step aside and a seven man committee was set up by the congress to look into the allegations against him following the motion. A counter-motion against the first one failed.

The panel was directed to present its report and findings to congress within 30 days. It was, however, gathered the selection of a substantive vice-chancellor for the university which ought to have commenced on the seventh of this month, but which was aborted by the Governing Council became a dominant factor in the crisis within the UNIBEN ASUU that for some time has become polarized.