The National Industrial Court sitting in Ibadan on Monday nullified the sack of a lecturer in the Department of English and Linguistics at the Ikire campus of the Osun State university (Uniosun) Dr. Wale Ojoniyi, whose video went viral in 2016 that he engaged one of his students, Mercy Ikwue, in sex for marks.
The court presided over by Justice John Dele Peters declared that the whole episode was a ruse and a frame-up to cover the real culprit of examination malpractice in the university, pinpointing one Dr. Amao Temitope Ayanbisi, as the real culprit and ordered the immediate reinstatement of the plaintiff with all rights and privileges.
The judgement noted that Dr. Ojoniyi’s problem with the University started following his role on a panel where he insisted that Dr. Amao who was discovered to have manipulated students’ results should be investigated as he provided evidences against her.
A video had gone viral through a national newspaper in 2016 showing Dr. Ojoniyi who is also a pastor and theatrist naked in a hotel with a student identified as Mercy Ikwue.
She was said to have surreptitiously used her laptop to record the sex escapade of the lecturer after she was lured to the hotel but herself and any sexual intercourse were not shown in the video. Dr. Ojoniyi was first suspended for six months to allow investigation into the matter and later dismissed.
He then protested to ASUU, the University Management and Council, Osun State House of Assembly, the State Governor and the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Osun State Council but all to no avail. He then decided to go to court.
The court held that the Fact Finding Committee that investigated the allegation of manipulation of results through which one Prof Olukoya Ogen introduced a purported audio visual evidence that he was the one changing results was illegal, null and void.
“From all evidences before me, Dr. Amao Temitayo Ayanbisi was responsible for the manipulations of the results for she confessed to doing so before the panel, and she did not appear before the court to plead her case otherwise throughout the sittings.”
The court then wondered what really could be the relationship and interest of another member of the College, Prof Olukoya Ogen in Dr Amao that made him to go to the extent of blackmailing Dr. Ojoniyi to negotiate the dropping of the evidences in the possession of the plaintiff that indicted Amao as the one who is responsible for results manipulation being the only one who was in charge of the results that were manipulated.
The court dismissed the video evidence of Ogen on the grounds that: [1] He is not the maker of the said video. [2]. Whoever the maker is did not present it to the University and did not make any claim on it [3]. That how the video was sourced by Ogen is shrouded in mystery.
The court cited at least 6 authorities to state that Ogen did not have any locus standi to present the video as he cannot give a true witness on its content being that he is not its maker.
The video was dismissed as ‘a busybody material”.
The court held that Dr. Ojoniyi’s six months indefinite suspension without investigation on a busybody material was illegal, null and void and declared the processes leading to his dismissal as illegal, null and void for being based on false premises and for not following the University rules and procedure for such.
It averred that Prof Ogen by his conducts and actions was not worthy to be called a Professor
The court also held that Dr Amao Temitayo Ayanbisi was not fit to be a lecturer in any university
Justice Peters ordered the payment of all salaries and arrears from the date of the plaintiff’s illegal dismissal to date and for the six months illegal suspension.
The court frowned at and condemned the Management of Osun State University for attempting to cover gross manipulation of students’ results and called on the Visitor to the University to look into the rots in the institution.
Dr. Ojoniyi has written not less that three plays on his travails including ‘For the Love of Sisyphus’.