Tenure elongation crisis 

By Gabriel Dike

This is certainly not the best of times for the nation’s premier Federal College of Education (Technical) (FCET), Akoka, Lagos. The institution is engulfed in a tenure elongation crisis involving the provost of the 57-year-old institution, Dr. Ademola Azeez. For about one month now, he has not been able to access his office.

The Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education in Nigeria (SSUCEON) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) accused the provost of plotting to extend his tenure. They asked the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja, for the interpretation of the new Federal Colleges of Education Act, 2023, which specified a four-year single tenure.

NASU pulled out of the matter after the intervention of its national body but SSUCEON stuck to its guns and has made it difficult for the provost to operate in his office since May 2024. At the outset of the crisis, armed policemen were stationed at the main gate of FCET but withdrew from the gate, while SSUCOEN restricted its protest to the campus.

For more than a month, the provost could not gain access to his office and has been given a one-week by the workers, now under the name “Concerned Staff,” to vacate his official residence, which the aggrieved staff say was meant for a Home Economics laboratory.

His attempt to gain access to his office with armed policemen was resisted and the security officers had to withdraw from campus.

Ministry’s interpretation of the new Act 

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the staff union of the college on April 8, 2024, petitioned the Federal Ministry of Education to implement the Federal College of Education ACT, to avoid crisis in the colleges of education sector.

The ministry, in a two-page response, said a provost appointed before the commencement of the Act shall be deemed to be serving a five-year single tenure and would not have the right for a renewal for a further four years.

The letter, signed by the director, legal services, E.B. Azorbo, said: “Since the provost had been appointed for the second term of four years when the amendment Act came into force, he is, therefore, deemed by the Act to be serving his last term of office.”

The ministry advised the staff unions that any further questions on the tenure issue should be referred to the governing council of the college for consideration. However, the Concerned Staff rejected the interpretation of the Act by the ministry.

In a text message, a member of the group said: “Let me further reiterate here that the letter going around as reappointment is a misguiding. That is a reply to a letter addressed to JAC of both NASU and SSUCOEN, which wrongly addressed the tenure-ship of the provost as contained in the Act Section 13 subsection 7(a&b).

“Section 7a states less than five years, while Section 7b states more than five years. Therefore, the tenureship of the provost of Akoka falls in Section 7(a) and not (b), as mistakenly or erroneously posited in the said response to SSUCOEN and NASU, Akoka chapter.

 “Hence, all Concerned Staff of FCET, Akoka, will go ahead with the protest against manipulation until justice is served. No letter of second term has been served after the commencement of the Act.

“I, therefore, urge all staff to go into the protest in a very mature and peaceful manner and shun all forms of intimidation. Protest against oppression is our right. No retreat, no surrender.”

SSUCOEN states position 

The branch chairman of SSUCEON, Mr. Augustine Nwachukwu, told Daily Sun: “Nobody is using the union to achieve any purpose. We have our facts against him. The rumour spreading round the college is that I collected money from the provost.

“The contention is the new Federal College of Education Act, 2023, released in June 2023. By implication, the provost ought to have left by May 2024.

“The refusal of Dr. Azeez to vacate office forced the JAC to seek the interpretation of the Act from the ministry. The ministry has earlier commended the union for being outspoken.

“On May 4, 2024, we received a letter from the ministry. And we rejected the interpretation. The ministry is playing a double game in this case less than one month after commending our efforts.

“With the letter, the provost summoned an emergency academic board meeting and threatened chief lecturers not to join in the struggle. The office of the provost was locked up on May 27. He came with about 30 armed policemen to force his way through.

“Staff swore that they would rather die than allowed Azeez to resume in his office. The “concerned staff” stormed a location in the college and gave the provost seven days to vacate the place because it is meant for the Home Economics Laboratory and not as official residence of the provost.

“Minister of Education sent a delegation led by one Dr. Mba to assess the situation. We got the message of their coming at 12 midnight on June 12, a public holiday. We mobilised our members in the morning to prevent the provost from entering his office.

“In the last one month, we sent three letters to the ministry. On Tuesday, June 25, we sent another one signed by over 400 staff, including Chief Lecturers, Deputy Registrar and other ranks.

“If the provost can write his own letter and get 30 signatures, we will stop the protest and allow him to resume. Nobody threatens him but he is the one threatening staff not to join the protest.

How crisis consumed COEASU, NASU, SUG leaders 

The crisis has so far consumed chairmen and executives of Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) and (NASU). COEASU sacked the executives for backing the provost while NASU leaders were impeached on Wednesday, June 27, 2024, for the same reason, showing support to Azeez.

For the Students Union Government (SUG), on June 26, the congress impeached the president for writing a letter to FME without the knowledge of other executives and the entire students. The deputy president was installed same day as acting president.

In the letter to the minister, the former SUG president, claimed the aggrieved concern staff were disrupting their lectures and disturbing the administration of the provost: “I am the only union chairman standing. We didn’t attempt to force the provost out of the Home Economics Laboratory.

“We only asked him to vacate there because it belongs to the students. 

When he attempted to gain access to his office, we resisted and sent the policemen away, insisting the crisis is an internal affair. If the provost can vacate the office, peace will return to FCET Akoka.”

My story, by FCET Provost

The embattled provost, Azeez, insisted he remains the helmsman of the college: “As the provost of the college, I have been part of her development, growth, achievements and transformative impact that our institution has had on the lives of countless students, staff, and the society at large.

“Since my appointment as provost on May 26, 2019, I have worked tirelessly to add value to academic and administrative leadership of the college in some areas.

“I wish to bring to your attention, the continued occupation by some group of staff under the name, ‘concerned staff’ organising protest on the college’s premises beginning from Monday, May 27, 2024, for the mischievous purpose of removing the provost from continuing in office with claim of expiration of tenure from May 26, 2024, contrary to the provisions of the Federal Colleges of Education Act, 2023, and the interpretation of same by the ministry.

“After the Act, the executive members of SSUCOEN and NASU under the JAC wrote to the FME for the interpretation and clarification of Section 17 of the Act. Immediately the response from FME was released to JAC, the NASU executives made a release affirming the interpretation of the minister confirming the four-year tenure of my re-appointment with effect from May 26, 2023. NASU asked its members to go about their activities peacefully and not participate in any act that can disrupt the college activities.

“There are four staff unions in the college, COEASU, National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), SSUCOEN and NASU. All the national bodies of the four unions have expressly stated their displeasure towards the illegal protest going on in the college.

“Some SSUCOEN members hiding under the name concerned staff have resolved against the extant position of the Act, the instructions of the disposition of the respective trade unions and embarked on different activities ranging from protest to disruption of both academic and administrative activities.

“The activities of the concerned staff have been disrupting the general running of the college, with threat to peace and security of the academic environment. They have currently locked up the entrance to the provost’s offices since Monday, May 27, 2024 and have denied me and the staff access to the offices within the building, preventing smooth running of the college and interrupting time bound urgent administrative decisions. 

“On Wednesday, May 29, 2024, a team representing the Committee of Provosts led by the Chairman, Committee of Provosts, Prof. Faruk Rasheed Haruna, Provost of Federal College of Education, Abeokuta and Provost, Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo, came to the college with the view to broker peace and to listen to the complaints of the concerned staff for the purpose of resolving the matter.

“While the meeting was on, the leaders of the concerned staff invited the Lagos State chairperson, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Funmi Sessi, to the provost’s lodge and disrupted the meeting with despicable chants and defamatory altercation with resolve to continuously hold the college at ransom.

“The concerned staff and their allies have resorted to violent acts as they attacked the lodge’s gates and harassed me, my wife and children emotionally, on the day of the meeting for an attempt at peaceful internal resolution. It is glaring that the concerned staff are hell bent to create deliberate crisis and chaos in the college in order to create an atmosphere of ungovernable situation that might force the closure of the institution.

“After abortive attempts at peaceful internal resolutions, it is crystal clear that some of the staff behind the protest have ulterior motives, being fuelled by vested interests, other than they want the arbitrators and members of the public to believe.”

Since internal means seemed abortive and hindered, he sought the intervention of the minister, security agencies and law enforcement agencies in the country and the media to ensure peace and tranquility and curtail the unlawful acts of the said “concerned staff.”

Daily Sun gathered that the minister “is likely to summon the provost and leaders of the concerned staff to Abuja next week to find solutions to the crisis.”