No court convicted Prof Oloyede; media reports of his conviction are “pure fabrications”

Media reports about the purported conviction of a former Vice Chancellor of Elizade University, Professor Adekunke Oloyede, have been faulted.

Online publications in the Tribune and The Punch newspapers on Sunday, March 5, 2023, claimed that Professor Adekunle Oloyede was sentenced by an Ondo State High Court to five years in prison.

The Punch claimed that this sentence concerned a fraudulent action involving $1.2m, while the Tribune said that it was based on $720,000.

Both of these publications are pure fabrication.

Professor Oloyede has never appeared at the Ondo State High Court to defend any six charges involving the said amounts or in any court for that matter in respect of these sums.

There was a case at the Akure Magistrate court, which does not involve any such amounts of money.

Chief Michael Ade Ojo who reported a case to the State refused to appear for cross-examination and the court had used the hearsay evidence of one Stephen Ogodo to determine judgment in the Magistrate court in January 2023 leading to erroneous ruling and associated errors of judgment in the case.

This case is purely a contractual one between two parties and one in which Ade Ojo did not abide by the terms of the contract.

An appeal at the Federal Appeals court has been set in motion because the defence disagrees completely with the judgment of the court, especially where the evidence of the complainant has not been cross-examined.

Most important is that Professor Oloyede is not in jail, and neither has this Magistrate Court decision been accepted by his team.

The Australian company Guro Global PTY Ltd is also suing Ade Ojo and Elizade University for refusal to pay the contract variation due and for breach of contract in a Lagos High court according to available information.

When successful professional Nigerians hesitate to return to the country of their birth, many wonder why.

The case of Professor Oloyede, a very successful, well-established and well-known academic in his field across the world is an example and answer to the questions many have always wanted answered.

Against all attempts to dissuade him from leaving a successful career in Australia for Nigeria, this affectionate, selfless man resisted and emphasized his belief that we all owe the country some contribution to the advancement and modernization of education in Nigeria.

He argued that this, in his view, is a worthy contribution to the youth.

Many of his ex-students and other professional associates were fearful of what could befall this straightforward and upright academic in Nigeria. Their fears have proved to be correct.

Many of those who know about his situation marvel at this man’s experience in Nigeria and the wastage of a real asset.

Many feel the loss as they read about the court cases instituted by Ade Ojo against this man and his overall experience as Vice Chancellor of Elizade University.

Many in Australia knew about the contract that occurred before he left Australia and the effort Professor Oloyede put into resolving issues between the company Duro Global PTY of Australia and Chief Michael Ade Ojo.

Without gainsaying, any observer would question the logic in someone who has received money fraudulently from someone in Nigeria, leaving Australia to come and take the position of Vice Chancellor in the supposed victim’s university in Nigeria.

It defies logic.

Earlier, The Nation newspaper interviewed the owners of the Australian company, and the interview was clear that all Professor Oloyede did was to act as an intermediary and peacemaker between the contracting parties. It is evident that the Australian company supplied the major component of what was ordered and the only reason why they stopped further supply is because of a dispute on variation that they are claiming because of the breach by Ade Ojo.

Available information is that this dispute is in the high court in the case instituted by the Australian Company.

Professor Oloyede fell out with the university and its founder, Chief Ade Ojo for several reasons that are very serious and with significance to our university system.

He believes solidly that it is his courageous actions in the dispensation of his job as Vice Chancellor that had led to the determination by Ade Ojo and his cabal to humiliate and defame him.

Specifically, he was against the breaches of the Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC) laws by the university, bribery and corruption during course accreditation, bribery of at least one government parastatal, unlawful manipulations to satisfy NUC’s regulations on academic spaces such as staff offices, hiring of equipment to display for accreditation, rushing to purchase books that should have been there for students’ use before accreditation and the “renting” of academics for accreditation purposes.

The so-called witness, Ogodo, in the cases against Professor Oloyede is the same man whose wife was caught working with forged University of Lagos Bachelor’s degree certificate that the Professor was going to institute criminal action against.

This issue was part of the conspiracy that led to the move against the Vice Chancellor.

This criminal situation has since been covered up with the acquiescence of the Founder of the university.

It is the disagreement on how the university should run and be run, and the professor speaking out against these practices, that has led to the current disgraceful humiliation and defamation of this patriot.

This is the evidence of theprofessorr writing against these unlawful actions at the university in a BOT situation report that preceded his abusive arrest by the Ondo State Police at the instance of Ade Ojo.

In conclusion, Professor Oloyede did not commit any fraudulent act, but instead is being subjected to the use of destructive power that people like Ade Ojo exert on Nigeria and their ability to use the State authorities for personal matters.

He promised to tarnish the image of Professor Oloyede for calling him out on the practices at the university, and this is exactly what is playing out. It is most disheartening that he is also using the media, most of whom are writing based on one-sided account.

The incident that is of concern here did not occur in Nigeria, or while Professor Oloyede was Vice Chancellor of Elizade University; instead it preceded his coming to Nigeria to take up the position at the University and his role in the incident was purely to help Ade Ojo; he did not receive money of any in-kind gain from the contract in question.

Professor Oloyede would be seeking redress on the damaging publications as what is ongoing is a revenge for calling out the corruption at the Elizade University.