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From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos, Prof. Tanko Ishaya, has said that the absence of a governing council for the university is stalling the smooth running of the institution.
The vice chancellor, who spoke in Jos on Thursday as part of activities marking his two years in office, said that so many things that required council intervention have been left unattended to.
He enumerated such challenges as promotion of deserving members of the university and recruitment of staff, adding that when workers receive their dues regularly and promptly it has a way of motivating them to be committed to their duties and responsibilities.
Prof. Tanko said, “The instrument that governs the university clearly states that there should be a body that’s saddled with the responsibility of of handling our policy matters. The autonomy of the university is domiciled within the operations of the governing council. The absence of this all-important organ of the University greatly affects our operations.
“So many things that require council to preside over have been left in limbo. A typical example is the promotion cases of some members of our workforce.”
The vice chancellor said that the university is also suffering from paucity of funds, stressing that the autonomy granted to universities is misunderstood as based on experience from other countries no university can survive without government funding.
He added that the university budgets N13 million monthly, but spends close to N100 million with elctricity gulping close to N30 million in a month.
Tanko said that internally generated revenue is also given another interpretation as money collected for services cannot be said to be IGR.
He said that coupled with this is the lack of budgetary allocation for recruitment, adding that the university staff have been depleted by retirement, deaths and the JAPA syndrome but for the past five years have not been able to replace them.
Tanko enumerated other challenges to include precarious security situation around the university and the porosity of the border, adding that the university is in close consultation with host community.
The vice chancellor said within two years of appointment, he has completed over 30 projects while a good many of them are in various stages of completion.
He added that the university has also been able to attract many grants infrastructure and research activities, the latest being N250 grant for the hosting of the Nigerian University Games, adding that part of the funds will be used to build a sports complex.
