The management of The Polytechnic Ibadan has sacked Bamishaye Olatunji Abiodun, a junior lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication for misconduct.
Bamishaye, who taught Newspaper Editing and Production and Public Relations Media and Methods, was caught on camera in the first part of an investigative report published by The ICIR in August where he was selling handouts to students for 20marks. The management said the act contravenes the institution’s rule.
The ICIR’s student reporter in an undercover investigation witnessed how the lecturer extorted students during one of his class sessions. He would write assignment questions on the first page of the handout and instruct students to get a copy. So, any student that fails to buy the handout would neither be able to get the assignment question nor be able to submit even if such student copied questions from classmates.
In a phone interview with the public relations officer of the institution, Soladoye Adewole, he disclosed to The ICIR that the management was able to fire Bamishaye because “he is a junior lecturer, still under probation.”
The ICIR can confirm that the management of the polytechnic has constituted a panel headed by a senior lecturer of the institution to “investigate acts of misconducts leveled against some staff of the institution” exposed in the first part of the report.
The term of reference given to the panel includes investigating sales of handouts and unauthorized textbooks by lecturers, and extortion of students. The panel was also directed to verify The ICIR report and recommend sanctions for the erring lecturers in line with the rules and regulations of the institution.
A source close to the management told The ICIR that the investigation was conducted between the 8th and 19th of July, but an extension was sought and granted, and the report of the panel has been submitted to the office of the rector.
The first part of The ICIR report showed how students of The Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo state, are being extorted by their lecturers through the sales of handouts and grades and imposition of illegal charges that burden many parents of the student in the polytechnic.
The second part exposed how lecturers of the institution charge fees for supervising students’ final year projects.
Why is the panel report not implemented?
The spokesperson of the institution told The ICIR that the panel report has been submitted months ago to the rector but the institution currently does not have a governing council, hence its inability to sanction the other indicted lecturers.
But the lecturers involved already have been served queries, he said.
The governing council, according to the institution’s rule, is the only body that has the power to sanction any staff for any offence.
Adewole said the institution is waiting for the new governor of the state, Seyi Makinde to constitute the council.
What fact sheets say about Nigerian lecturers
A research conducted in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) between April and May 2016 by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in collaboration with the National Bureau Statistics (NBS), published in July 2017, shows that teachers/lecturers are one of the corrupt officials in Nigeria.
Teachers/lecturers were ranked13th out of 18 corruption marked officials in the country with a prevalence rate of 11.7 per cent.
The 2019 Global Corruption Barometer Africa in her latest release also made it clear that in 2015, 25 per cent of total bribery cases were from public schools while in 2019, the prevalence shifted higher to 32 per cent.
