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By Gabriel Dike and Bianca Iboma-Emefu
Special Adviser on Education to Lagos State Governor, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, says the administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu has repositioned tertiary institutions. He also disclosed government intention to convert Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Ikorodu, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Ijanikin and Michael Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED), Epe, to two universities.
He spoke on these and other issues in this interview. Excerpts:
What have the challenges in the past two years?
The past two years have been very challenging. Challenging because we have our own vision as regards the team’s agenda, where you have education and technology as the top pillar of it. And our vision is such that we will not leave any leg of our education behind. So as we implement a strategic approach and also engage in rapid investment capital.
The challenges had to do with inherited problems. With Lagos State University (LASU), we inherited a very peaceful and development-orientated former Vice-Chancellor, Prof Olanrewaju Adigun Fagbohun. We also had a governing council that worked with him.
In LASU, we have the Lagos State College of Medicine (LASUCOM), semi-autonomous kind of. We inherited LASU’s challenges and problems that bother on dismissed staff. That is the first issue we had to address.
These were members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) led by Dr Isaac Oyewumi, Dr Tony Dansu, Dr Adeola Oyekan and the others. We had to make a decision in respect to the status vice versa the matters in court and the letter of appeal from the apex body of ASUU.
And the former President of Nigeria Labour Congress, Baba Sunmonu. After listening to both sides, even Dr Dipo Fashina and the VC were in that meeting. The Visitor said we should allow the parties to explore the options as it is.
We had the issue of the former Provost of LASUCOM, who has been under interdiction. I tried to see if we could find a middle ground and resolve it for him. Unfortunately, we couldn’t before the inauguration of the current governing council.
We had LASPOTECH filled with crisis we had restlessness on campus and union challenges. It went out of hand and the school had to be closed down for months. We took steps by inaugurating the visitation panel as stated in the extant law. The panel submitted the report in the middle of last year. I submitted the report to the Head of Service. I believe that is on course.
Then we had AOCOED, an incident that happened in March 2020. Some union leaders took the law into their hands. It was unfortunate. We have to let the law take its course in accordance with the extant laws.
I inherited a file of which the immediate governing council had sanctioned some union leaders. I had to review the file and I did a submission to the Governor that there must be fair hearing. And that fair hearing entails parties to be properly heard. We appealed to the governing council to review the case and they called for another panel.
Unfortunately, the chairman of one of the unions was not around from the fact, so the panel sanctioned two persons out of the three persons. When the report came, it came at the end of the governing council tenure and by the law, I became a surrogate council.
I said because the chairman did not face the panel. The law requires that we must hear from the other party. It is when you hear from the other party that you can make a decision. I said for these two that have been determined it stays.
The council has that power but for the union leader that has not been determined there for whatever reason, the council that would come afterwards, would take the case and determine the appropriate sanctioned or otherwise. Which was what we did.
March last year, they manhandled a principal officer of the college. Mr Governor is sticking to the law and he said let the laws take its course while the other one that was not around for whatever reason, should be been determined by the council that came afterwards. The council came back with recommendations, which we implemented.
Then MOCPED has been very peaceful, except for one or two union issues. We said to the council within your powers implement and enforce the extant law. We can’t micromanage our governing councils. What we are doing for them is to round up their capacity and invest so much in them in line with our team agenda, including LASUCOM.
In the last two years you assumed office, what did you bring on board?
In the last two years, the first thing we did when we came was to review the extant laws. In reviewing them, we saw gaps here and there, so we say to ourselves, whatever we have to do, there must be equity, fairness, transparency, and justice. There must be a level playing field for everybody. And we must also see how we can grant access to the majority of our people. In the course of our transparency narrative, we said to all the tertiary institutions that the government is investing so much, we want to know how much they are generating as Internal Revenue Generation (IGR). The money is yours but we want to block leakages. We want to have a transparent platform. And then there was a company that was recommended based on the World Bank Peer Review. This has been successful in Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, and Ekiti States. And we say let them come on board so that we can establish a system that would simply block all leakages and for the antecedent. And that is how Paytech came in the whole scheme of things. Since they were recommended, we went through the process and then the implementation process and the institutions were pushing back.
The questions people should ask them, who owns these institutions, why all this push back and negative press and media against the state government? What are you aiming to achieve to discourage us because we are asking the right questions and want a transparent and leak-proof system? So, I thank God, the House of Assembly concurred with us that it is within our powers. Paytech have been implementing this and we are already seeing the numbers in the positive and the rise in numbers of staff.
In the past two years, we took a very holistic approach to our tertiary institutions namely: the colleges of education and the polytechnic. It is a known fact that the worse of our kids are been asked to go to colleges of education. In fact from the UTME scale, if you have a particular score for the universities, the next is the polytechnic and the least on the hierarchy is the colleges of education. As a human, you must be adaptable to your environment. The era of colleges of education being a choice place for training teachers is already outdated. NCE is no longer attractive. The number of intakes of both colleges of education students we have is in respect to subvention every month is very low. We give subvention every month and that does not even tally at all. I can give you the numbers. Then what do we do, we had to be reform-oriented. You are looking at a 21 Century Lagos in line with our team’s agenda. Which invariably meant we must now take out our pen and paper and start writing out the numbers. And in the cause of that, Mr Governor said the only way out for the future of this state and our children, is to transmute these two colleges of education to the world-class University of Education.
Then the polytechnic is a known fact that polytechnic graduates even in the known public civil service you have a glass ceiling, you can’t exceed level 14, except you do a conversion. Conversion means after your HND, you apply to the university for two years. In LASU, it’s six semesters, for you to have a B.Sc before you can move forward in your career line. In most places, they will tell you must be B.Sc holders. A World Bank report says by 2015 and 2016, only university graduates would be attracted to jobs. Now you go to a polytechnic, you have spent so much money to do ND and HND, and you are stunted. Not because it is your fault. Interestingly, also our colonial masters, from where we inherited this polytechnic education, have already scrapped it. They have scrapped it over three decades ago because they have seen the light.
So, we now said let us have like a holistic approach to it and then to also transmute the polytechnic into a University of Science and Technology. I am glad that the House of Assembly under Hon. Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, saw it with us and expeditiously treated the Executive Bill on August 3, 2021. We had a public hearing, it was a success. So, I believe that when they resume from their recess, it would be read before the House to be passed into law for accent by Mr Governor. The next question would be, what happened to the students that have been admitted to ND or HND programmes there? The students that are there for ND or HND programmes would still be there to graduate. But there would be a transition period. For the workers, their jobs are secured. Today to lecture in the university, you need to possess a PhD but nobody would tell you to go get it overnight.
They will be given a window to upgrade themselves. I will give the example of Prof. Ogundipe, who worked in Tai Solarin College when it was transmuted to a university, he used that same platform to develop himself and became a professor, leading one of their most complicated faculty because that platform was given to him. And let us also address the other issues, what is the carrying capacity for LASU? In a state of 22 million population, if for instance, you have 20,000 applied to LASU, they cannot take more than 5,000 to 6,000, what happens to the rest? They go back and wait. Now we are now trying to take that burden off LASU, open up the space to UNESCO standards for education, there must be access and quality.
In the same way we are rapping up investment for tertiary education. To open more access to those that believe in university education. Nobody looks at you as a second-class citizen because you have HND or NCE. This is the vision of this government. In the past two years also, we have equally witnessed a lot of investments, capital investments in these tertiary institutions. When the governor came on board, we inherited tertiary institutions that have been appealing for support and the governor magnanimously gave bailout to all tertiary institutions in the state. He increased their subvention substantially. And to whom much is given much is expected. All we are saying is go there and flourish and be responsible.
These institutions alleged they are not getting enough funds to even pay salaries.
That cannot be true. What they used to get from the state government was 450million but now it is over N700 million. The only time there was a shortfall was during the COVID-19 lockdown. The shortfall was N157million. The governor has approved the refund of it to all tertiary institutions. Our people should get their facts right.
LASU is getting a world-class Faculty of Education and we are paying for it. The question to be asked is what happens to their own Internally Generated Revenue? Why are they doing underground employment without approval?
All the tertiary institutions, we just put a stop to it. They know what they can carry, we allow for replacement instances but when you go ahead and do some over-bloated recruitment because you are not the one going to pay. At the end of the day, it shows how irresponsible you are.
The issue of minimum wages has been cleared. Every month even with COVID-19, we are paying it every month and their entitlements as agreed with the unions. Every month as they get their salaries, they get their arrears. Salaries come with arrears to clear the backlog. The governor said it is their entitlements and they are public servants.
There was an agreement and that agreement is being followed. They earn allowances by virtual agreement they had with the state. When Prince Adesegun Ogunlewe was the Lagos State Head of Service, it was agreed that the council of each institution will pay 75 per cent of what they generated while the state pays 25 per cent. The state is not meant to pay 100 per cent, it is the agreement they had.
We are not owing, we have increased their subvention. Two of these institutions are owing pension substantially running into billions. How could people’s pension be deducted and you failed to remit? And they are begging for the magnanimity of the governor to help them clear it. Those that deep their hand into it, what happened to them? It is not that we are overbearing, it is because we asked questions.
The unions accused you of meddling in the affairs of the institutions, what is your reaction?
I have spent two years as surrogate council cumulatively to LASU for more than 14 months. I became surrogate council for September. We inaugurated the second governing council in August. We dissolved the council again in May based on the recommendation of a panel and inaugurated new one in July.
So, if I am surrogate council, I take up the responsibility of the council. In the eyes of the law, what it allows me to do in such situations is to swap my cap. I will be Special Adviser on Education, I will be council. So I have to advise the council as SAE, in some decisions where there would be conflicts, I don’t get involved with promotions. But I will tell them to step it down until the council is inaugurated. But you won’t tell me as surrogate council that should not take decisions that my office as surrogates council requires me to take. That means I am failing my responsibility as a surrogates council.
Let us call a spade a spade. We have had discussions at the highest level, but my relationship with the unions is okay and fantastic. When it even comes to union matters, the point of call is established with the Ministry of Establishment, Training, and Pensions. That is what the law provides, my position is to deal with policies issues and whatever they decide then take it to the governor for approval.
When will LASU, AOCOED, and MOCPED expect visitation panel?
It is not a panel you put up whimsically, there is protocol you have to follow and you have to provide for it. LASU has not had it since 12 years ago. Members of the panel must have character and I don’t have knowledge of the list in my head but I must say we have a balance.
We had to call each person and look at the calendar of the institutions to dedicate weeks for the job. You can be rest assured for LASU, soonest we would inaugurate the panel. We want to fast track the implementation for that of LASPOTECH which has been done since last year. Is it possible for me to use my own hand to set up a panel when they had no council and now with the council, I blanked out the council chairman? I met the chairman of the council, Prof. Rasheed Ojikutu, and a member of the council, Adesegun Ogunlewe, former head of service and we walked from my office to the office where the documents were submitted, you can verify this from them. The laws allow me to send documents, the report to appropriate quarters which I did for the white paper. We have to look at it deeply because once it is gazetted, it becomes law. So, LASPOTECH workers should be patient.
The report cannot spend a week once it is submitted to me. But I have appealed to the unions. What creates tension in our institutions is when we choose to fabricate stories and choose to malign people because we are in public office. In trying to die the tension, I have directed the governing council chairman to start looking at this case from the individual perspective that was sanctioned. I am glad that is ongoing, four of them wrote to my office and I submitted it to the council chairman. They will look at it on a case by case basis, submit their report and we move on from there. It would still come to my office, why should I be the one to kick start the process.
Why did gtovernor order new advert on LASU VC for postgraduate medical fellowship?
I read the petition by the medical guide and they stated that the National Universities Commission (NUC) change it. I took time to read and like I said when there is the council, the council is independent. And the council is the eye of the governor. They produced an advert and as far as I am concerned it would be their responsibility to determine. Apparently, he made some consultation with the selection committee and council members to have open that window to allow for fellowship. It is within his exclusive rights and the committee’s right. Let us look at it this way, universities are regulated by NUC, was there a memo in March 2021, there was. I have read what the medical people said, if you want to implement this memo there would have been a window and hopefully, they might have discussed with the chairman, who is a seasoned retired civil servant. A man that was Auditor-General and became the Accountant General of Lagos State. He is very deep and knowledgeable and probably he has consulted. And you see it was good that we allowed him and his committee to handle things, to determine what I think because at the end of the day, it still comes back to Mr. Governor and why are we in a hurry.
There has been peace in the state tertiary institutions, what is the secret behind it?
We gave the students more access. I was Students Union leader, as a student union leader at the University of Benin, under General Sani Abacha, I almost lost my life and career as well. I was able to listen to everybody in the students’ community. The major reason is that the governor is committed to them and their welfare is paramount. Look at the Jos crisis, the effort made both in logistic in order to evacuate the students from the Jos killings, 68 of them including a three weeks old baby. The governor was in the situation room, believing nothing should just go wrong. Having him as the governor is a blessing to this state. On scholarship and bursary for Lagos indigenes with so much backlog, this administration has cleared it and has called for new application.
