The Management of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, has responded to a publication in the media space insinuating a rift between it and the Special Intervention Team (SIT), following the presentation a fortnight ago of an Interim Report by the SIT to the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, on its activities since coming on board. In the report, the SIT had revealed a number of challenges bedevilling the University, which it had been tackling.
Judging from the issues addressed by the report, which was presented by one of its members, Comrade Austin Osakue, to the Visitor to the University at Government House, Benin City, a number of people have hinted at a frosty relationship between the Management of the University and the Special Intervention Team. In what appears to be a pointed attempt to personally cause a rift between Comrade Austin Osakue and the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Asomwan Sonnie Adagbonyin, an online platform, Trojan News, had on Sunday, May 14th, 2023, released a publication captioned “ANTICS OF AUSTIN OSAKUE EXPOSED AS THE REASON BEHIND THE WIDE ALLEGATION OF MASSIVE CORRUPT PRACTICES BY SIT IN AAU, EKPOMA EMERGES.” In this publication, the unnamed mischievous writer ascribed to an equally anonymous “dependable source in the University” an allegation of an imaginary “struggle and fight for control of the University’s Exams and Records Division” and goes on to reel out a fabulous tale of a “cold war” between the two men arising from this struggle for power.

Reacting to the publication, the Management of Ambrose Alli University flays in unequivocal terms the insinuations contained in the news report and ascribes the report to the machinations of elements within and outside the University who are not pleased with the progress being made by the University and the healthy relationship that exits between the Management of the University and the SIT, on the one hand, and the Acting Vice-Chancellor and Comrade Osakue, on the other.Management stated that there had never been a time when there was a conflict of interest in appointments and posting between the Acting Vice-Chancellor and Comrade Osakue or the SIT, because everyone had always been on the same page in so far as the progress of the University was concerned.

According to it, “At this stage of the life of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, anyone who is put in the position to direct the affairs of the institution knows that the key issue is not for them to raise egos or bicker but to make great sacrifices to take the University to the next level. This much the SIT and Management are doing. So much damage has been done to the psyche of the university by the actions and inactions of the past. So much is still not right with the University at the moment, as the SIT has pointed out in its Interim Report, but the time to right the wrongs is now.

”Management condemned the report for alleging that Comrade Osakue tries “to hide under the cover of the allegation of massive corrupt practices to blackmail the Management and staff of the University into submission,” and wondered the purpose of the submission and the staff that were being referred to. It stated that the attempt by the conjurers of the story to veil their intentions while mounting their hobby horse of attacks against the SIT and Comrade Osakue and at the same time creating the impression that they loved the University Management and the Acting Vice Chancellor was a see-through and a poor strategy. These known detractors have always come straight, but this time, apparently tired of that approach, have decided to engage in the strategy of circumlocution and hideousness in attempting to create a rift between these parties. Management advised the anonymous reporter to work harder next time if it sought to sway the hearts and minds of people into believing that its intentions were altruistic. “Your style is familiar: you rake up falsehoods, brew a storm in a tea cup, engage in drivel and libel, bring up false witnesses in the name of “reliable sources”, “dependable sources”, blackmail, create acrimony, cause division, create images of “serious disagreements” between brothers; then you go and have a drink. However, people can read between the lines.

”Management insisted that it appreciates its efforts and the efforts of the SIT and the Edo State Government in repositioning the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma and noted that they are all partners in progress. “Management is not a parallel administration nor is the SIT. The relationship between all the members is cordial and result-oriented. It is good to know that the issues itemised in the Interim Report of the SIT presented to the Visitor are outcomes of shared knowledge and cooperation. Many of the problems met by the SIT and the University administration have been addressed; others which still rear their ugly heads, like the issue of transcripts and certificates, are being confronted frontally. Incidentally, the past has not been too good for AAU, but with the SIT and the present Management, there is a renewed hope in the future,” it said.

Management encouraged all stakeholders who truly love Ambrose Alli University to ignore publications like the one in Trojan News that seek to divide those who are working tirelessly to reposition the University and urged them to pray for the team to make the University great again.