Lilian Salami, the outgoing Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), has denied allegations that she sponsored a non-indigene of Benin as her successor.
Salami denied the allegation at the weekend in Benin City at the thanksgiving and book launch to mark the end of her tenure as the Vice Chancellor of the University.
Salami, who was appointed the 10th substantive Vice Chancellor of the institution in December 2, 2019, succeeded by Edoba Omoregie, Professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, on Monday December 2, 2924.
BusinessDay recalls that a group under the aegis of the Benin United Front, BUF, had in October accused the outgoing Vice Chancellor of plotting to manipulate the process so that a candidate of Benin extraction did not emerge as her successor.
The outgoing VC in the book – “So Much to Say: A Memoir”, which chronicled her early and family lives, detailed all her experiences and encountered as a university lecturer, within and outside UNIBEN as well as her five years period as the top public officer of the school.
She said, she took the decision not to be drawn into the arena by way of aligning, anointing or sponsoring any candidate as a result of counsel and the dictates of wisdom among others experiences of the past.
She also said that the decision not to sponsor or support the candidacy of any aspirants for the position of Vice Chancellor was against the background of her personal sentiments and belief as a person.
Salami added that her slogan had always been that, “The best candidate should emerge.”
“I was never a major player in the selection process but played a role of an onlooker. I was never present in the interview process, so why was I victim of mischief seekers?
“I was, therefore, astonished at the malicious publications sponsored by some mischievous minds, alleging all sorts. The race for my successor rather started on a very peaceful note with some level of cordiality and harmony saturating the atmosphere.
“Little did I know that this peaceful ecosystem was going to be short-lived, giving rise to political vituperation, emotional blackmail, character assassination, falsehood and intellectual lies of Machiavelli dimensions. Sadly, the machinations, collusion and connivance increasingly gathered momentum till the very end of the exercise.
“Going by counsel and the dictates of wisdom among others, the experience of the past, I took the decision not to be drawn into the arena by way of aligning, anointing or sponsorship of any candidate. This was against the background of my personal sentiments and belief as a person.
“There were barrages of articles, personal messages laced with curses and insults that gave me cause to worry. I considered such dubious and diabolical media strategies vitriolic and completely uncharitable to an innocent soul”, she said.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
