President, Ife Development Board, Lawrence Awowoyin, has appealed to youths to suspend their planned protest scheduled to hold Tuesday.

Some youths had threatened to protest against the inauguration of Adebayo Bamire, as the 12th vice-chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, on Tuesday.

Mr Awowoyin, in a statement on Monday, appealed to the youths to shelve their plans, maintaining that peaceful coexistence would allow transparency devoid of prejudice in any form, and would sustain the institution’s reputation.

He commended the youths for heeding the board’s intervention, which led to the suspension of the previous protest against Mr Bamire’s appointment.

“For giving peace a chance, the youths had shown clearly that the protest was not meant to bring down the high reputation of OAU, but to ensure that things are done rightly.”

Mr Bamire’s appointment had sparked off protest by indigenes, who accused the institution of manipulating the selection process against a candidate backed by the Ife community.

“Therefore, efforts to correct areas of marginalisation, manipulation and injustice shall continue even after the inauguration of the VC,” he stated.

While welcoming invited personalities to the inauguration, Mr Awowoyin assured them of a peaceful environment before, during and after the ceremony.

“There are ongoing meetings and consultations to get all issues relating to the symbolic relationship of the Ife community, and OAU resolved holistically,” he added. 

(NAN)