The politicisation of the office of the vice-chancellors is attracting the concern of many stakeholders, CHARLES ABAH writesAs a former Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, is not a stranger to the education sector. No wonder, stakeholders listen to him with keen interest whenever he talks about education. So did it happen at a public lecture organised by the Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates’ Association on Sunday.
At the event held at the Lagoon Restaurant, VI, Lagos, Oloyede, a former University of Ilorin VC, dissected the nature of conflicts and multiculturalism in the nation’s university system. Speaking on the theme, ‘The Journey to Excellence: Making Nigeria a Tertiary Education Hub for Africa, he frowned on the localisation of student admission, staff recruitment and, above all, the politicisation of the headship of the universities in Nigeria.
The programme attended by dignitaries that included the Chairman, Board of Trustee, Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates’ Association, Alhaji Rafiu Ebiti; its National President, Prof. Wahab Egbewole and veteran lawyer, Mr. Yusuf Alli (SAN), who was chairman of the occasion, discussed issues of peaceful co-existence on campuses and the nation in general. It was, however, the question of merit in university appointments that bordered Oloyede most. According to him, the era of having VCs outside of their places of origin has given way, with ethnicity and religious fundamentalism playing a critical factor in such appointments.
Oloyede said, “Most of the vice-chancellors that were appointed before this period served outside their states of origin and they did well. The list include Prof. Akinkugbe, a Yoruba man, who served as the VC of the Ahmadu Bello University, a Hausa-Fulani enclave; Prof. Adamu Baikie, a Hausa-Fulani, who served successfully as the VC of the University of Benin and even got a second term; Prof. J. Ezeilo, an Igbo and Christian, who served as the VC of the Bayero University in Kano, a centre of Islamic civilisation.
“Others were Prof. Essien-Udom, an Ibibio, who was at the University of Maiduguri, the Kanuri heartland; Prof. Tekena Tamuno, an Ijaw, who served as the VC of the University of Ibadan; Prof. Onwuemechili, an Igbo, who was at the University of Ife as the VC; and Prof. Ayandele, a Yoruba, who served as the VC of the University of Calabar.”
In fact, his observation is not far-fetched. The sector watchers say that of the 79 public universities in the country, the majority of their VCs are from within the locality of the institutions. For instance, apart from the newly established institutions, such as the federal universities at Ndufu-Alike, Otuoke, and Oye-Ekiti, many others have their helmsmen from within the locality of the institutions.
The former National Universities Commission Executive Secretary, Prof. Peter Okebukola, agrees with this view. Okebukola, who called it the “the-son-of-the-soil” syndrome, said that it had lately distorted the good governance in the Nigerian university system, just as it had extended to the private universities.
He explained, “The phenomenon of “son-of-the-soil” VC is a blight, which is defacing good governance for which the Nigerian university system was noted for between 1948 and the early 1980s. My reading of the aetiology of the malaise is the entrance of state universities into the university education space with state governments insisting that vice-chancellors should be indigenes of the state and other principal officers shared among senatorial districts.
“Before the close of the decade, the bug of the son-of-the-soil VC had started to bite the federal university system and today, the sore has festered widely. Only in a handful of the 138 universities that currently make up the Nigerian university system do you find non-indigene vice-chancellors of the geopolitical zone in which the university is located. Even the first-generation universities are not an exemption.”
Beyond recognising this anomaly, Oloyede noted that the development had contributed to the conflict in the sector. Nowadays, by his reckoning, the appointment of VC has become very controversial, resulting in ethnic groups coming together to “fight” one another once there is the need for a new VC. Of course, stakeholders at the University of Benin, University of Abuja, among many others, know that the controversies surrounding the appointment of VCs have becoming a recurring decimal.
Besides, Oloyede noted that the issue had put VCs under pressure, especially during recruitment of members of staff and admission of students to schools.
A retired professor of Political Science, Kayode Soremekun, in an interview with our correspondent, said the development was promoting mediocrity in the system. The former lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Osun State, described it as the “ghettorisation” of the office of the VC
He added, “It reflects the insularity that is evident in the nation’s politics in which there is the biblical tendency of ‘To your tents O Israel’. What happens in the process is that the mediocre person might end up becoming a VC to which priority is not given to excellence. It is however not a general thing because some VCs can hold their own at the level of competence, merit and intellectual savvy. But when you ensure that the son-of-the-soil gets the job, what it means is that the post will go to the lowest intra-factional consensus. It also lowers the quality of governance and academic delivery in such a university.”
However, if the son-of-the-soil is competent to handle the office, is there anything wrong with that? To this, Okebukola argues in the affirmative.
He noted, “Ordinarily, there is nothing wrong in having an indigene of the location of the university appointed as vice-chancellor if his/her selection is purely on academic and managerial merit and not because it is now ‘the turn of an indigene’.
“Unfortunately, the latter criterion currently holds sway in many of our universities with the local communities, especially the natural rulers pressurising university councils to appoint indigenes or face their wrath. Council buckles under the pressure and appoints the indigene. The indigene vice-chancellor, in turn, shares academic and other appointments among members of staff from local governments in the state and the university is turned into a shamefully parochial institution with merit compromised in governance.
“Of course, patronage of the community leaders, who pressed for the appointment, is a necessary payback through dubious contracts and admission of less-qualified candidates from the community. If we are looking for one of the factors negatively affecting good governance in the Nigerian university system and depressing quality of the delivery system, it is this vexed issue of indigene vice-chancellor.”
The VC of the Caleb University, Imota, Lagos State, Prof. Ayodeji Olokoju, also admitted that the pattern was inimical to the growth of excellence, which the ivory towers represent. According to him, reducing the loftier academic cum administrative position to ethno-religious and municipal enclaves is akin to sacrificing merit on the altar of mediocrity.
He advised, “What is appropriate is for the appointment into the office of the vice-chancellor to be advertised and for anybody coming from anywhere whether in Nigeria or overseas to apply. Again, there is the need for the contestants to have a level playing field. But my worry is that the way the system is structured now, I doubt whether we can achieve this in the actual sense.
“For me, a VC must be primarily a man or woman of integrity – intellectual and moral integrity. The person must be of good standing. But a situation where schemers are allowed into the office would not be good for the system. If a mediocre person is there, he will end up reproducing himself and this will affect academic excellence in such a university.”
On redressing the phenomenon of “son-of-the-soil” vice-chancellor in the nation’s university system, Okebukola argued, “We can go from the dramatic to the sublime. The dramatic is to insist, through the appropriate regulation, that councils should not appoint indigenes into the post of the vice-chancellor if such a person is outclassed by non-indigenes in the appointment process. The advertisement for such posts should be made in local and international media so that an Ibo scholar from Harvard can apply and be appointed vice-chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and a Hausa professor from MIT can apply and be eligible for appointment as vice-chancellor of the University of Ibadan.
“Finding a place for the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities and the National Universities Commission in the appointment process can serve a moderating and oversight role. Penalty for transgressing the regulation can be as dramatic as relieving the council chairman of his or her job. The sublime approach is to keep a counselling watch through regular governance inspection visits by NUC over “son-of-the-soil” vice-chancellors who have been appointed on merit to ensure that they do not kill the university with the perpetration of the indigeneship syndrome.”
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