• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

Don’t wait until Nigeria is COVID-19 free before reopening of universities, FUOYE VC tells FG

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Kayode Soremekun, Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), has joined many Nigerians agitating and calling for the reopening of schools and universities by the Federal Government, saying Nigeria should not wait until all towns and villages are free from Coronavirus pandemic before reopening of schools and universities.

Soremekun, a professor, made the appeal at the weekend in Akure, the Ondo state capital during a book launch entitled; “Campus Security Management: Insights from the frontlines”, which was written by Paul B. Ogidi, the Chief Security Officer of the institution.

The FUOYE VC, who spoke with journalists shortly after the book launch said, “there are several dynamics to it, in the sense that we have the COVID-19 phenomenon and if you look carefully we are yet to fully be in post COVID era and when you look at the comparative dynamics you will discover that in some institutions, country where they open doors, there was a resurgence.

“In view of this, I’m in support of schools and universities resumption, with the caveat that we have to think in terms of safety, and we have to think in terms of what the union are asking for. Particularly, ASUU.

“As far as we concerned, FUOYE is fully ready for resumption, what we need is to put some protocols in place, we know the cost so we are already preparing.”

Soremekun, who was also the Chairman of the occasion, said the institution, FUOYE, had already put protocols in place to ensure that he get a successor after his tenure as VC saying there was no problem on that.

While commending the author of the book, Soremekun said the important of the book launched, the cerebral domain has re-accerted its self again in the sense that anything must have its intellectual component and that was what the author has demonstrated.

“And that extent, we are hoping that other individual will come first and deposed the way the writer has deposed,” he said.

On his own part, the book reviewer, Dosu Malomo said that security was the totality of measures put in place to enforce compliance to university rules and regulations without breaching the law of the land.