Kampala International University-KIU has dismissed allegations made by their former Director of Research and Innovation Prof. Ogunniran Kehinde Olurotimi.
According to a letter from Prof. Kehinde, he resigned from KIU over no pay in addition to the poor working environment.
Kehinde also decried the poor welfare of the university’s academic staff. According to him, the university relies on cheap labour to get the work done.
KIU has replied to the claims by the former lecturer and below is the full response;
Our attention has been drawn to the letter that has extensively circulated on social media platforms and is attributed to Prof. Ogunniran Kehinde Olurotimi regarding his resignation from Kampala International University. We note that the Prof, to whom the letter is attributed has not denied authoring and causing the same to be circulated.
Ordinarily, resignation of any member of staff and the reasons thereof, is an internal matter that should have been raised and settled within the structures of the University. However, now that the matter has been placed into the public domain, albeit with incorrect or inaccurate facts, we have deemed it necessary to make an appropriate response, so as to provide clarity on the matter and set the record straight
It is rather quite unfortunate that a person of the status of Prof. Ogunniran Kehinde Olurotimi, who had been recently appointed as the Director Research and Innovation, in April 2021, decided to resign and also make and externalize seriously damaging allegations that are intended to damage the good name and reputation of the University. We are even more concerned that there appears to be a deliberate concealment of material facts by the good Prof, possibly aimed at eliciting public sympathy. It is on record that Prof. Ogunniran, was enrolled into University service primarily on probation, subject to authentication of his original academic documents. He was unable to complete the probationary period. He then absconded from duty, having failed to satisfy the condition requiring him to authenticate his original academic documents. This is a disciplinary matter which was to be handled through the available channels, within the University and it is possible that the resignation could have been intended to pre-empt the same.
Ogunniran’s castigation of the TAC (Technical Aid Corp) Volunteer Programme supported by the Federal Government of Nigeria under a subsisting agreement between Uganda and Nigeria, that, “… the University rely on Cheap labours to get the work done…” (excuse the grammatical errors as it’s a direct quote), is a misrepresentation of the facts and is false. The TAC Volunteers are very senior and highly sought for staff who are seconded to KIU and other universities (both public and private) in Uganda. For anyone to refer to them as “Cheap labour” is not only unfortunate, but is telling of the character and professionalism of the author. KIU distances itself from such language against the TAC Volunteers, and particularly for a Nigerian citizen, who would be the best ambassador of the programme, to de-campaign a bilaterally approved government programme.
The existence of research laboratories for sciences and workshops for Engineering at Kampala International University has never been disputed by any professional body. KIU has one of the best state-of-the Art- Engineering School and related facilities. This is verifiable by anyone, by visiting the facilities and checking with the Engineering Registration Board and other professional programme regulators. Prof. Ogunniran’s allegations are a sign that he indeed was not in touch with what takes place and exists at KIU.
KIU is ranked highly on the basis of its proven research output, and individual academics are at liberty to conduct research and publish and indeed, most serious academicians have. Anyone who understands how a University operates would know that the process of conducting research can never be controlled by any one person, even if such a person wanted to, because of the research structure that is rooted in the academic departments. It appears Prof Ogunniran may not have had a proper grasp of his defined duties, as head of the Directorate of Research and Innovation.
KIU operates one of the most structured and robust systems of administration and management, in which he himself has been a member and has attended meetings at Directorate, Management, and Senate levels. Evidence to that effect is available in the University records.
The University operates an internet structure that allows one to enjoy internet access in all buildings, when one is challenged with access, there are numerous other points where they can ably access.
The University management wishes to assure the members of the public and all stakeholders that it has in place the required facilities to render the requisite academic and professional services to staff and the students and therefore calls upon the general public to disregard the misinformation going round as alleged and attributed to Mr. Ogunniran and further confirms that its doors are open in case there is need for a visit to verify the information provided herein.
