From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
There is on going silent war in some tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It is the fallout from the appointment of governing councils of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education (CoE).
The silent war began shortly after the identities of the council members were made public. In some others, the rift kicked off immediately after the inauguration of the council members.
The supremacy war is often between heads of the institutions, in this case, the vice chancellors, rectors and provosts and chairmen, pro-chancellors and council members.
This was in spite of warnings by the Federal Ministry of Education, and the established clear lines between the functions and responsibilities of the Governing Councils and that of the management of the institutions, particularly as regards day-to-day running of the institutions.
At the centre are some interests which are mostly personal to the parties, and not for the sake of industrial and academic peace, progress and development of the institutions, neither were they for the benefit of students, whose academic destinies were being affected by the actions and decisions of the parties.
Some top management staff alleged that council members have began to place some unrealistic demands on school managements contrary to their statutory responsibilities and entitlements.
On June, 2023, the councils were dissolved. Since then, the institutions have been operating without councils, thus leaving key decisions, financial and otherwise, in the hands of individual management teams, but with little supervision from the ministry.
Stakeholders, particularly the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), became concerned with the prolonged absence of the councils, which, according to them, gave room for several unchecked financial and administrative actions, and decisions of the management of the institutions.
After over one year of waiting, the President approved the re-constitution of the councils. The list was dominated by partisan politicians who have served in one political capacity or the other at different times, as against technocrats, educationists and people with passion in the development of education.
Due to the prolonged absence of the councils, several institutions were already being run by the most senior management staff though in acting capacity. This was as directed by relevant regulatory bodies, NUC, NCCE and NBTE, and approved by the Minister of Education.
On July 4, 2024, the governing councils were inaugurated by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman.
Roles of governing councils
Governing councils are critical components of the university community. They ensure smooth and efficient operations of the institutions as recognized by the establishment Act of the institutions.
At inauguration in Abuja, Minister of Education, Prof. Mamman, stressed the need to stay within the operational boundaries to avoid conflicts that could disrupt academic and industrial peace and harmony in the institutions.
Councils are not supposed to interfere in the day-to-day activities of their institutions, but most of them do, hence the silent war being witnessed in some of the institutions. Most of the council members also display limited knowledge of their responsibilities, hence they cross the boundaries. Many members deviate from the established responsibilities within the shortest time, thus resulting in clash of interests, and unnecessary and avoidable conflicts with the management of the schools.
Councils are statutorily responsible for the appointment of Vice Chancellors, Rectors or Provosts and other principal officers of the school, in line with the approved criteria and guidelines. In doing this, they are expected to ensure that proper attention and priority are given to the relevant acts of the institutions and government guidelines for the process of such appointments, as well as ensure fairness and transparency.
Councils also set strategic direction, oversee transparent and responsible financial management of the institutions, and also ensure the overall performance of the Institutions to achieve its goals and expectation.
In the same vein, councils take position to ensure good management, healthy growth and development of their Institutions. In doing this, they expected to be abreast of the current acts of their institutions, government policies, white papers, circulars, gazettes and other relevant documents, relating to the institutions and those of general application in MDAs.
They are expected to encourage responsible unionism, while arresting the problems of cultism and drug abuse by students. But to achieve this, an effective strategy should be put in place for early detection and eradication of such social vices such as sexual harassment, theft, extortion, and inducement, amongst others.
Post-inauguration retreat discussions
After inauguration, the councils were subjected to a retreat to further elucidate on huge task ahead vis-a-vis their boundaries, responsibilities and others.
The minister told them: “A situation where some of you will be demanding for a house in Abuja, a first class flight ticket to attend a meeting, and some other luxuries is unacceptable. You are here to serve, hence your attentions should focus on providing solutions to the challenges facing the tertiary institutions, which includes; low carrying capacity resulting from insufficient infrastructure, inadequate academic, non-academic and technical staff; insufficient funding due to declining Government resources despite the efforts and disposition of our leaders.
“Others are unstable academic calendar; examination malpractices; insufficient deployment of ICT and other innovative technologies for teaching, learning and research; the proliferation of illegal tertiary institutions, certificate racketeering, and gender imbalance.
“You are expected to explore diverse funding sources, including partnerships with the private sector and international organisations, Alumni, endowment and sponsored research to ensure financial sustainability of the institutions. It’s, however imperative, that the limited funds allocated by Government are judiciously utilised.”
Council members speak
Isa Yuguda, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), said that such rifts often exist between the council and the management of the schools especially when a new council is inaugurated and there was no clarity to the direction of the councils thereby giving room to suspicion and anxiety:
“We are aware of our responsibilities. As a result, will operate strictly within that corridor to avoid rancour that might destabilize industrial peace in the school. We had a retreat shortly after our inauguration. At that meeting, we were exposed to our duties and the need to work within that circle.
“Myself and other council members are good managers and we have handled several managerial positions in the past, and that, perhaps, might have qualified us for this bigger responsibility. However, we are deeply committed to the cause of industrial peace and development of NOUN, and we would use all the knowledge, wisdom and skills available to us to ensure that the institution witnessed significant development, academically and otherwise.”
Ambassador Greg Mbadiwe, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Council, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, said: “We were well-received by the management and other members of the university community. We had wonderful interactions and all the parties made commitment to the cause of advancing the institution, academically and otherwise. However, we had our first challenge shortly after inauguration, and that was the task of appointing a Vice Chancellor for the school.
“Expectedly, the atmosphere was charged and seriously tensed as everyone was keenly watching the steps we would take on the matter. But after all due consultations and considerations, we arrived at a choice of an Acting Vice Chancellor, who is expected to serve for six months within which we would have decided on who becomes the substantive Vice Chancellor.
“The criteria and guidelines were carefully spelt out. The process was also transparent and everyone confirmed that level-playing ground was provided. But we had to choose the acting Vice Chancellor because she is not a competitor in the race for substantive Vice Chancellor because of her age, and she is aware that.
“The announcement diffused the tension and anxiety, and restored the industrial peace and harmony in the school. Aside the task of appointing the new Vice Chancellor, we have not had any other challenge with the management of the school, and that was because we have operated within our boundaries, and we hope that the working relationship with continue to be smooth for the good and advancement of the school.”
Senator Grace Bent, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, University of Jos (UNIJOS), submitted: “Many of VCs have formed clique with the bursar and other internal council members to frustrate the good efforts of the councils because they see them as foes. They easily forget that they can’t function well without the support and cooperation of the council.
“Some VCs are yet to come to terms with the fact that the councils are in place now, unlike in the last one year that they have been running the affairs of the schools unchecked. So, they need to submit to the authorities of the Councils, provide them with the necessary supports so they can enjoy harmonious working relationship that would be beneficial to the school.”
She suggested that the ministry, perhaps, through the National Universities Commission (NUC) constantly educate the VCs on the critical roles the councils play in the growth and development of the school: “If this is done periodically, there would be cordial relationship between the council and the management of the institutions.
“We have already commenced actions that would transform the university into world class university that it should be. I am the first female Pro-Chancellor of the university. I promise that within the shortest time available, the university community will see the impact of the council. But we can’t achieve our desired goals without the support and cooperation of the university management led by the Vice Chancellor.”
It was a different experience for a former provost in one the colleges of education in the South South who pleaded anonymity: “During my time, I had battles with council members. I noticed that many of them were after the finances of the school and made no effort to improve the finances. From their utterances, actions and decisions, you would need no one to tell you that these people were out to enrich themselves with the resources of the school.
“In their being smart, they would orchestrate their ‘fraudulent’ actions in such a way that they wouldn’t be found wanting, thereby implicating the provost or other principal officers of the school. Whenever I insisted that things be done properly, they would revolt and threatened me with several unfriendly actions.
“Some of them insisted they would not fly economy class to come for their statutory engagements in the school, among several other things. Some of them quickly changed their lifestyle, began to live luxurious lifestyle and put the bills on the school. Some made away with some of our brand new vehicles.
“In as much as they were critical members of the university community, some of them increased the financial burden of the school while offering nothing in return. Majority of them were not coming to add any value to the school, rather, they would look for avenues to wreck the finances of the school for their personal gain.
“Within the tenure of every council, there’s always an opportunity to appoint a Vice Chancellor, Rector or Provost, as the case maybe, in addition to other principal officers like the Bursar, Registrar, Librarian, among others. It’s always an opportunity for them to bargain and choose the highest bidder.
“As chief executive, if you don’t have a God-fearing chairman of council, you are doomed. I had several confrontations with them during my time. But I was able to conquer because my hands were clean.”