Tension in Delsu over The Appointment of The Next Vice Chancellor

 
There is growing tension among the Urhobo ethnic stock in Delta Central Senatorial of Delta State over who occupies the position of Vice Chancellor of the Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka after the tenure of the incumbent, Prof Eric Arubaye.

Urhobo groups that have drawn a battle line over the matter are Coalition of Urhobo Youth Organisation (CUYO) and Urhobo Progressive and Unified Front (UPUF), even as the deadline for submission of applications for the position was August 8.

While CUYO is planning a protest over an alleged zoning of the position to Delta South Senatorial District, UPUF has condemned the action, disassociating itsels from the move.

It insisted CUYO did not have the blessing of Urhobo youths and Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU) to speak on their behalf.

According to a statement signed by Edirin Ererevwo and Okpako Eshareve, and two others on behalf of UPUF, CUYO does not know the working of a university, let alone a University Council, saying members of the Governing Council of the institution are men of integrity, who would get the best VC for the institution.

They noted that the university is not for the Urhobos alone despite the fact that the Urhobo people, since the inception of the institution in 1992, had occupied the position of VC.

The group claimed that Delta State belongs to all Deltans and that there is no man or woman in the state that does not have the paternal or maternal and marital relationship with the Urhobos of Delta Central, maintaining that due process have been set in motion by the university council and that there is no need for CUYO to cry wolf where there is none.

The body pleaded with CUYO members to desist from the wrong path, retrace their steps due to the fact that 80 per cent of DELSU Council members are Urhobos, and that four out of the five Selection Committee members are also Urhobos.

They stressed that if a person from Delta North or South Senatorial District is found competent, he or she should not be dropped for an incompetent Urhobo person.