University of Guyana (UG) Vice-Chancellor Jacob Opadeyi is confident of his ability to perform his duties at the university as well as the IDB-funded contract he was recently awarded to provide services to the Deeds Registry.
News that the Vice-Chancellor was awarded the US$193,000 ($40,530,000) consultancy contract broke on Monday. A barrage of criticism ensued, and Stabroek News understands that Opadeyi himself has been directly criticised for applying for the contract.
Despite the negative comments directed at him, he opted not to respond until yesterday. Asked whether he could efficiently execute both tasks simultaneously, Opadeyi, in a telephone interview with Stabroek News, said that the answer quite simply was “yes”.
The Vice Chancellor, extensively qualified in the area of land management, said that he would not have applied for the contract – “Consultancy (services) for the Digitization of Immovable Property Records and the Establishment of an Electronic Database with Linkage to the Sub-Registries-Deeds Registry” – if he was not confident in his ability to do both jobs effectively.
He also said that the persons who awarded him the contract are aware of his obligations at the university and would not have picked him if they did not believe that he could properly offer the consultancy services they require.
The particulars of the contract require Opadeyi to “deliver to the Deeds Registry a fully functional, operational, secured, user friendly, responsive, useful and easy to use Land Management Information System for optimal use by staff across the Registry, within the duration (three months) set for this project.”
Opadeyi was deemed the most qualified of all applicants. He holds a PhD in Land Management and a Masters of Engineering in Geomatics from the University of New Brunswick, Canada. He also holds an Executive MBA degree from the University of the West Indies, as well as a MSc and BSc (First Class) in Surveying from the University of Lagos, Nigeria. Despite his qualifications though, many are concerned that taking on the contract might impede the VC from giving UG the attention it requires, particularly in the light of the cocktail of hardships currently facing the institution.
UG Senior Staff Asso-ciation (UGSSA) President Patsy Francis expressed her concerns over the matter to Stabroek News earlier this week. Francis, like many others, is skeptical about Opadeyi being able to satisfy the contract and give UG “value for money.”
She reiterated the myriad issues which continue to plague UG and lamented that much more needs to be done to improve the conditions under which students, lecturers and other staff members operate. Francis says she is also critical of the development because Opadeyi is known to come down hard on lecturers who take on work outside of the university, but refuse to take up administrative roles. She said many lecturers have complained about this, and one even opted to resign.
Opadeyi though, says that he currently gives the university about 18 hours each day, and explained that the contract mainly requires him to manage the process needed to facilitate the creation of the facilities to the Deeds Registry. Furthermore, he expressed confidence that the system will be functional and ready for use within the contractual time period.
