Politics

Agitations for secession persist because people feel pain, disillusionment -Tor Tiv

Agitations for secession have of recent been a major topical issue in Nigeria with calls by the South East and South West being the most vocal.

However, in the opinion of Professor James Ayatse, the Tor Tiv and newly installed Chancellor of the University of Benin, secession is not the answer.

The former Vice Chancellor of two former federal universities, in this interview with JOE APU held at the Capitol inside the UNIBEN Campus, Ugbowo, gives reasons for one united Nigeria. He also speaks on his appointment, his goals for the institution, the state of insecurity as well as the now epileptic strikes and how it is affecting the quality of education in Nigeria.

As the new Chancellor of the University of Benin, what are those things that you’re looking forward to in the office?

Let me start, as a newly installed chancellor, to appreciate the President Muhammadu Buhari for this appointment. As a foremost paramount ruler, I will do my best to impact on this university.

This appointment was announced earlier in the year and on Monday November 22, 2021, I was formally installed and awarded a Honourary Degree of Doctor of Sciences. So really for me work started immediately. After the installation, we have followed up with a Founder’s Day activities and will continue with the climax being the convocation ceremony on Saturday.

First, we must understand that my appointment is not how many points’ agenda that I am coming with. As a chancellor of a university, it is a ceremonial portfolio and not the chief executive of the university. I am appointed to join the stakeholders of the university to see how I can contribute as a father of the university. I am expected to come once in a while, especially around convocation activities, to preside over the activities. It is an assignment of honour and it must be separated from the duties of a chief executive who is the Vice Chancellor and must be separated also from the Pro Chancellor – who is chairman of Council.

But as a Chancellor, my role is to assist if they need my intervention. As a foremost traditional ruler, you build networks and put in a word here and there in a capacity that is not like that of the Vice Chancellor or Pro Chancellor and plead for the university as a father.

I don’t have any number of agenda because I don’t have the implementation or execution status but I would prefer for the University of Benin to move in the direction of a post COVID-19 to see how to deploy more of information and communication technology in teaching, research management of the university, in administration, in the management, library and also in the accounting.

So in every aspect when they deploy ICT, the university will become more visible and accessible and the ranking of the university will improve internationally. I have already spoken with them in this direction to make the university more modern and will have a positive impact all over.

The second key thing I would want to achieve is to ensure that the university is stable. There is a lot of harmony, peace and stability without which not much can be achieved. There is need to use technology to advance the community also the processing of results and many more. The interaction of the university with the international community will go a long way to help. Technology, as you know today, has brought the world to a global village. When the technology is strong, you can discuss with scholars around the globe and impact positively and make people the world over to know what you are doing.

The direction is peace and stability, deploying technology and community service to the university.

As a two-time Vice Chancellor to federal universities, what are the biggest challenges in Nigeria’s university system?

I have served as Vice Chancellor of two Federal Universities – Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University (formerly Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi) and Federal University, Dutsema, Katsina State. The first one was an already established university that needed growth and breaking new frontiers and the second, I was going to lay the foundation as pioneer Vice Chancellor. 

Having served nearly three decades in the university system, starting as a graduate assistant and growing through the ranks to be a professor in my mid 30s, and having held several positions in the university, I think I am in a position to say a thing or two about the major challenges.

First and foremost is the funding of universities in Nigeria. Funding is the major thing because of the competing issues for the available funds. Universities, whether they are federal, state or private, face the same issue of funding. It is never enough, so the bulk of funding that goes to the universities is taken up mainly by the payment of staff salaries and allowances.

It takes over 90 per cent and they are not enough to support academic programmes, development of new programmes, the needed infrastructure, employment of new staff and many more. Yes, there is the TETFund which is meant to support infrastructural development and staff training, but it’s inadequate. More needs to be done in the area of funding.

The money that is usually budgeted for education which universities benefit from is completely inadequate.

The second is the structure of the funding. There is very little made available in terms of recurrent in the direction of teaching. In teaching the students, you need to have laboratories, technical labs, basic science labs, language labs etc. The equipment needs to be put in place, needs to be serviced and maintained and there are consumables that need to go with that. Very often, it makes teaching, research very difficult and that is having a negative impact on the growth of the university system and the kind of quality we want. That structure is bad.

Like I said, the priority is given to payment of salaries because of unions that may want to hold everyone to ransom. But I think that government can have a better approach to deploy more growing the universities rather than just staff salaries.

The other major thing is the issue of instability especially in the public universities. Union strikes and industrial disharmony in the university system. You have academic staff union agitating for better conditions of service and the non-teaching staff also to deal with. Often when this happens, it leads to a disruption of the academic calendar and therefore, students know when they are admitted but they don’t know when they will graduate because it now depends on these factors.

When there is instability like this, it make thing difficult, especially for schools that have foreign partnership across other countries. For those countries, they don’t understand how we cope with such issues, especially with timing. We are having less distraction now coming from students’ instability but more from staff, and the way to address that is for the funding bodies, state or federal, to be more proactive in the way the universities are funded.

For example, I will suggest that there is no point having to wait until staff go on strike before you review their salaries. Every time, the financiers fail to act until staff start agitating and they go into agreement in a hurry to get peace, at the end of it, those agreements they find it difficult to implement and the agreements themselves become a cause for distraction in the system.

At peace times, government needs to take a good look on how to fund the universities and how to address reviews in salaries. What I suggest is that you don’t really need to have drawn negotiations to arrive at pay packages. All you need to do is, you know the value of the naira depreciating with time and therefore increase the salaries so that the money will have value to those being paid.

For example, you give somebody N100, 000 today and in four, five years after he is still on N100, 000 while the naira is depreciating. It is clear that there will be agitation for more salaries and allowances, which will lead to disruption and strikes. So, on an annual basis, we should have a system to look at the inflation rate, look at the value of our currency vis aviz other international currencies and then review the salaries. This is not just for the university system but also for the civil service. 

I know government is trying because of competing needs but if we plan ahead and review pay packages of people on incremental basis very quietly there would be no need for strikes because the worker would notice that his pay package is not the same from the previous year.

The third thing I want to mention is the challenge of brain drain. A lot of our people especially professionals are leaving after getting fully trained and because of how the economy is, they leave the Nigeria university system and go abroad and that is not good enough.

So, our experienced hands that should stay around to mentor the younger people are leaving for greener pastures. This is a challenge that needs to be tackled.

The other area I would need to mention, having been in the system, is too much of central control. I do believe that it is good to have an oversight – some sort of monitoring but there is so much central control that it is becoming more difficult for universities to function in an environment that is comparable to other universities in other countries.

The university is derived and characterized by the universal nature of the system so that what a university does in Nigeria is compared with what is done in Europe, America or Asia. That is why they do rankings of universities but because of the control, there is a tendency to lump the entire public service into the university.

But universities are uniquely different and not like the civil service. People in the civil service don’t deal with students that volatile, they don’t have to deal with laboratories or equipping them, funding them and keeping them running. The civil service doesn’t deal with the challenges of training high level manpower for the economy.

As it stands, things are lumped together and for universities to employ staff, they will need to get to the head of service. In the past, the universities had room and allocation of funds quarterly as the case may be for them to manage and be able to recruit staff in a short period of time to strengthen academic programmes. Now, the universities cannot do it. Before you employ anyone, it has to go to the centre, the person needs to be captured for the purposes of integrated staff paying system.

Everybody that is a staff in the federal universities is paid directly by government so that the management of universities really don’t have full control. If, for instance, there are shortages in payment, the staff cannot go all the way to the centre, neither can the vice chancellor ratify it. The general control is beginning to affect universities and the manner in which they are run is being affected.

While I am not against government policies of exercising some level of control but within that control, they must allow some level of flexibility so that each university will operate in a way comparable with universities in other parts of the world. That is what I will advocate and plead for – to allow some level of autonomy. There is actually a law passed by government to give universities some level of autonomy. There are councils for the universities funded by government and also the ministry of education as well as the National Universities Commission, TETFund all different levels of government agencies.

With all of these, the Vice Chancellor is torn apart, having to meet up with the requirements of each of these bodies. Over time, it will affect the quality of what we produce as graduates.

What is your take on security of Nigerian universities and institutions?

Currently, the situation in our universities is a reflection of what is happening in the country. The security situation in the country needs to be improved.

The Federal Government, the military, the state governors who are the chief security officers of their states and all the relevant people in the security architecture of this country are doing their best. And I want to commend the efforts of Mr. President and his team in addressing the security challenges that we have.

But in spite of these efforts, we haven’t been able to really bring everything under control. There are some states that the security situation is really bad and universities or other institutions located in those areas are under serious threats. What has worsened this is that some universities don’t even have properly fenced campuses. So they are porous and vulnerable to security breaches by bandits, unknown gunmen and even cultists.

These are challenges that no Vice Chancellor is trained to address. They are not trained for security issues but as professors – an expert in his/her field and some bit of management to be able to lead. But to go into issues of security is completely foreign to any vice chancellor. Therefore, fencing of campuses will improve on the vulnerability to attacks, but that’s not all. The universities also need to be more security conscious and put in place what is within their capacity by being more vigilant and in the area of information gathering.

One of the challenges of managing a security situation in a university is that vice chancellors and management are careful about inviting external security personnel to intervene because of the way the students may perceive it. And also because the security agents are not trained to be with students, a misunderstanding may arise that would worsen the situation.

It is difficult to permanently station security personnel on any campus. We must also understand that campuses are mimics of the society and once there is insecurity, it will filter in because of the town-gown relationship. I know much has been done, but more needs to be done so we can weed this nation of these situations.

Fencing of campuses is good but it is not the ultimate because people can scale it and more importantly, it is very expensive. In the past, a major intervention in this area is TETFund. Already there is so much to grapple with and insecurity is not what we need now. I know government is working on it. We must also realise that security is not a one-man business but for all of us.

As Tor Tiv, how has the herdsmen, farmers clash affected your community and Benue State?

Thank you. When you have insecurity in the land, it affects everything, including the economy, food security and so on. And Benue State is one that plays a very significant role in the provision of food security for Nigeria.

To say that Benue State has suffered from incessant attacks by herdsmen is stating the obvious because this has been on for a period of time dating back several years. The farmers have lived in fear and some have had to relocate. And sadly, the herdsmen don’t just come to graze but to attack farmers and taking over their ancestral farmlands. Therefore, they can’t farm. And when the farmers are at work and the herders come, you’re in trouble. 

Worse is that even when you have already cultivated your farm and even harvested, the herdsmen will come with guns, offensive weapons and force you to leave your harvest for their cows to eat or your life. Even some that have been harvested, the herders will chase everyone away and release the harvest for the cows. It’s that bad and many have run away from their ancestral homes and farm lands.

As I talk to you, we have food shortage in Benue State because this has been on; not something that happens once in a year. In fact, in some places, the herdsmen chase away people and settle down and that is why it is affecting food production in Benue State. My people have been hard hit the most and it is a challenge that I want to urge those concerned, especially the government and international agencies to do something to intervene and find a way of arresting this situation.

As one of the steps of addressing this, the Benue State governor passed a law banning open grazing, but it became very controversial and the herders have continued to invade and kill people. To a very large extent, this has affected food production, food security in Benue that is known as the food basket of the nation. The earlier an intervention is made, the better. Otherwise if it continues, the consequences are better imagined.

As a young man growing up in the village, we used to have herders that come with their cows for grazing and if in the process, they damage anything, they will apologise and pay. It’s all different today and some of them don’t even look like Nigerians. They don’t speak Hausa or another Nigerian language. Some of them even speak French, so we don’t know where they come from to inflict these kinds of atrocities on us. Given the efforts of government, I hope that this comes to an end because as it stands we cannot grow the economy or attract foreign investors.

The agitation for secession is on the increase. How do you think the matter should be handled?

Thank you for this topical issue. First we must ask the question, why this increased agitation for secession? I was born before Nigeria’s independence. In my opinion, I think the call for secession is coming out of desperation because people feel that Nigeria as is presently constituted, does not represent their aspirations and their dreams. South East talking, South South is doing their, South West and the Middle Belt are also talking.

The agitations are coming out of some level of pain and disillusionment. I do believe that secession might not really be the solution. I do believe this country should seat down and look at the issues that are causing the agitation. If people are feeling a sense of dissatisfaction, not being included, not being made to feel a part of the country, then we can address the issues.  I believe that Nigeria as a country provides a buffer for all of us.

All the tension we have can be diffused in the big Nigeria we have but if we divide ourselves into smaller units, we can explode there. Somebody from the north, if he feels too much heat, can leave Sokoto and head to Lagos to settle down and likewise for anyone from any other part of the country.

The joy in this is that the founders of this country saw the need for us to stay together. I recall as a young man, I did my Nation Youth Service in the South South – a place I ordinarily would not have thought of going to. There is so much room for all of us in Nigeria. What is important is for us to assess ourselves. If it means restructuring it by giving more powers to the states. I believe we’re better off together than being divided.

My counsel to leaders is that we should seat together and discuss frankly, telling ourselves the truth and working out how best we can be stronger. “Nigeria belongs to all of us all and we will stay together to salvage it.” Those were the words of President Buhari when he was a military Head of State. Remember the story of Andrew checking out? Together and united we can conquer the world and lift Africa. We can create room for everyone to operate freely. Let’s note here that poverty does not know tribe, religion or political party. Leave Nigerians and you will see them mix together, relate and live as one. They do business in peace. It is when the political class comes that we begin to have issues of tribe, religion and what have you. We need to be honestly and be ready to concede where necessary.

You go outside Nigeria; the people making waves in different spheres of life are Nigerians in different fields and disciplines. Fixing this country is simple if we forget religion, sectionalism, tribalism and other divisive factors. If we say secession, there is no end to it because before long, there will be further disagreements.

How would you describe your visit to Benin?

Before now, I have been in Benin but purely on transit. This is the first time I am in the ancient city for more than a night and it has been wonderful. The people are warm and accommodating. After the installation ceremony, I paid a courtesy visit to the Edo State Governor and I am grateful to him for his support for UNIBEN and the Oba of Benin at his palace. I think I feel at home. They have a very rich culture and tradition.

In my days as a student, my name, James Ayatse was often mistaken. Many people thought I was from Bendel State. Even when I wrote Benue as my state of origin, someone would go and change it to Bendel. I was associated more with Bendel than Benue. I have a lot of friends from Edo State from my university days.

What is it that you miss the most now that you are Tor Tiv?

I miss my students. I love teaching, and having been it for almost four decades. I love it when I am able to teach students from the scratch to them becoming professors. I feel elated when someone walks up to me and say, I taught him in school. It gives me a sense of fulfilment. It wasn’t for the money because, as you know, a teacher’s reward is in heaven. Money cannot buy any of the joy of growing people. Then there are some things that, by tradition I cannot do any longer. I can no longer just interact with people the way I used to because tradition doesn’t allow it. But as Tor Tiv, this is another area of serving my people and I enjoy it while doing my best to ensure that the traditional institution is moving on, especially coming from the background that I have.

One of your subjects, Felix Akiga is doing business here in UNIBEN. How does that make you feel?

Well, Felix Akiga is someone I have known while I was in the university system. I have known him as a very worthy son of Tiv land. He used to be a basketballer and has been in the hospitality industry for some time now with a chain of hotels around Nigeria. I had the honour of commissioning his Royal Choice Inn.

I am excited that I met him here and everywhere I go I meet my people. The Tiv people are the 13th most populous tribe in Nigeria. The good thing is that Tiv stands for the people and it also stands for the language. Tiv has no plural, so if it’s one man he is Tiv and if they are more, they are still Tiv. Everywhere I have gone to since I became Tor Tiv, I have been received by a large turnout of my people. On arrival in Benin, they were at the airport in their numbers. 

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