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Last week’s incident in Akure reminded me of how one female leader went against the grain on universities’ standard PR response to student deaths. The leader in question is Mrs. Florence Obi, professor of psychology and special needs education and vice-chancellor of the University of Calabar (Unical). What happened in Akure last week mirrored a crisis that the Unical VC deftly managed in January when a third-year female library science student died in the institution’s Medical Centre. In the case of Akure, it was a final-year male engineering student that died at the Health Clinic of the Federal University of Technology.
In both incidents, embittered students of each institution took to the streets to protest the poor state of equipment and services in their health facilities. Although peaceful, last week’s Akure protest nevertheless took over the ever-busy Owo–Ife-Ibadan highway, triggering a traffic gridlock.
What interests me here is the manner that both institutions managed the crisis.
First, Akure, the most recent. The university spokesperson said that “from reports pieced together, (the victim) slumped in his hostel and all attempts and medical intervention at resuscitation even at the Health Centre failed, with the doctors recording that he was brought in dead.”
He continued: “The student was rushed to the Health Centre at about 8:50 p.m. on Thursday, 24th August, 2023. He was brought in dead. Efforts to resuscitate him through cardiopulmonary resuscitation and oxygen therapy proved abortive. He was subsequently taken to the UNIMED Teaching Hospital, Akure, by the medical personnel on duty inside the university ambulance.”
Note the repeated words, “brought in dead.” Someone is trying to escape responsibility here, without establishing the truth of what happened. He then delivered what amounts to empathy. According to him it was “understandable that Mr. Akeredolu’s friends and colleagues were devastated by the sad development. The management joins them to mourn at this very difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers are with our students and the bereaved family.”
This was all the university could say about the five years of skills and training that it packed into this young life, and the 21 wasted years of resources and care on him by his heartbroken family. It was an excellent press release, no doubt. The only problem is that the words contradict witness account of what transpired at the medical centre.
According to the students, Akeredolu was rushed to the centre when he slumped in his hall of residence and he died because the basic amenities to save him were not working. Power outage complicated efforts to give him oxygen and CPR. As for injections, the students said they had to use flashlights to show the medical staff what to do as there was no backup power supply in the clinic. The students also levied allegations of negligence and hard-heartedness on the clinic staff. They recalled past incidents where clinic staff allegedly invented flimsy excuses to refuse medical attention even to critical cases.
The spokesperson, however, did say that at a meeting with the school management, students had the opportunity to vent their feelings at poor services in the centre. The authorities directed “immediate remedial measure to address the lacuna and other issues raised by students,” he said. Everyone apparently went away dissatisfied with everyone else.
Contrast this with the exact same situation in Calabar last January, and it raises a question. Why are most university authorities disinterested in leveraging local and international best practices to manage tragedies such as this? The Calabar show put up by VC Florence Obi is the standard and best practice.
We must give it to the modern Nigerian woman who continues to shine the light of integrity, empathy and hands-on leadership in an increasingly corrupt and stinking society. The elegantly crafted press release from FUTA falls far short. One cannot blame the spokesperson though; whatever is put out is the official, approved position. The management of universities need to understand that public relations is not about clever press releases. It is about stepping up to show empathy and by swinging into action in the face of crisis.
Here is what happened in Calabar. On February 15, the VC suspended four staff of her university’s medical centre, not for professional negligence, but for not showing emotional and psychological support to a female student who died in the centre. The student reportedly died 30 minutes after she was rushed to the centre as an emergency case. Just like Akure students did, Unical youths embarked on a protest, accusing the medical centre of serial negligence. The VC carried out three significant, preemptive and image management actions to quell the unrest.
First, she stepped up and took charge. She addressed the students, appealed for calm and expressed disgust at the suggestion that medical centre staff could be as callous as the students alleged. Following the meeting, the university registrar, Gabriel Egbe, personally released a signed statement announcing the decision of the VC to set up a panel to investigate the cause of the student’s death. She also ordered the medical board of the university to establish the circumstances of her death through an autopsy. Their mandate was to determine if the death could have been prevented by verifying allegations that medical centre staff were careless or negligent.
Second, when the committee wrote up the report, she invited representatives of the deceased’s family, members of Benue and Tiv communities in the university (the student was from Benue State), and Unical student union executive to meet with members of the panel of enquiry.
Third, after the report was read, the VC showed why she is a mother and a no-nonsense administrator. Although the panel cleared the medical centre staff of professional misconduct, she still found with the panel that they failed to provide expected level of “emotional and psychological support” that the patient needed. For this reason, she suspended for four months each the four indicted staff of the medical centre.
The autopsy report provided closure for the family; it showed that the patient did not die of ruptured appendicitis as was alleged. Everyone was satisfied, tempers cooled, and she became a hero. What is more, Prof. Obi, relying on the autopsy, disclosed her cause of death to the family but did not make it public. At this point, with all information in and transparency established, she took on those promoting negative image of the institution.
What happened in Calabar is empathy in action. What happened in Akure is empathy in words. Huge difference. The Akure template is also not peculiar; it has become the standard adopted by university managers and it gives the impression that they do not care. One does not demonstrate empathy by writing clever press releases and trying to escape responsibility without verification. For every organisation, the beginning of empathy is the effort to understand an aggrieved customer’s thoughts and emotions. Generally, students feel powerless in Nigerian universities and they are made to endure a lot without complaints. Whenever they take to the streets, we can take it for granted that they have had enough of the raw deals that university authorities and a few rotten teachers frequently serve them.
Ironically, empathy is the key to making improvements that endure. At Calabar, setting up a panel allowed the VC to take charge, communicate effectively and ultimately fill every information gap. It was empathy at work when she honoured stakeholders with an invitation to the presentation of the panel and coroner’s inquest reports. This would have created positive interactions and given satisfaction that the process was open, transparent and that their feelings counted. If another similar event occurs in future, stakeholders will come with the confidence that those in charge will approach the matter with tact and understanding.
Above all, the action of suspending persons found to have rendered poor service serves notice that it is not business as usual in the institution. As she told journalists after the meeting, the panel of inquiry absolved the nurses on duty of any professional negligence but saw elements of lack of emotional commitment as medical professionals.
“The problem of commitment to work in the university is a pillar that the institution gives great value in all its sections, including the medical centre. Management has, therefore, decided to place all the staff members on duty on a three-month suspension for lack of empathy and psychological support and especially for demanding money for card against the medical centre’s policy of attending to patients in critical condition first.”
What this lady has shown is the best practice of public relations followed by actions that should lead to improved services, improved communication skills for the PR department, and problem-solving skills for all who took a keen interest in the process.
Bravo, Prof. Florence Obi, professor of psychology and special needs education, who is manifesting excellence in public relations as well. I don’t want to sound political but we cannot forget that this was the same academic who oversaw a seamless election process that brought in Prof. Chukwuma Soludo as governor of Anambra State.
It is difficult to hide excellence.
