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The Stakeholders Meeting: Between Abu And NUC By Iro Bala Dansarki Let me start by stating the obvious. I graduated from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in the seventies and have worked my full career in the civil service. I have recently retired and this gives me enough time to pursue admission for my remaining children and those of close relations. Securing University admission these days is not only hectic but time consuming. More so in ABU where it’s remaining prestige still serves as an attraction to thousands of students every year. In the process though, I came to accumulate a wealth of knowledge about the institution through interactions with both academic and non academic staff. However the recent Stakeholders meeting which was organized by the school authority proved to be an eye opener for me in the affairs of the University and elsewhere. I will first of all commend the University for organizing the stakeholders meeting. It was the first in the country and its purpose is pretty obvious. Since assuming power in 1999 President Obasanjo has gradually starved the University system with funds. In fact the entire educational system witnessed an unprecedented cash flow problem which reached its peak last year when Obasanjo allocated less than two percent of the total budget to the sector. Recall however that during Abacha regime the allocation was a little over twelve percent and all the Universities could pay salaries on time among other things. It was this cash squeeze that prompted ABU to call for the stakeholders meeting. The meeting was well attended except that there was no representation from the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC). I found this odd and as such started asking questions. I left the meeting when I realized that the school does not have definite proposals on how to raise money and retreated to the nearby garden where I found a group of staff of the institution discussing the issue of the moment. When I was a student we used to call the place Love Garden so as to distinguish it from the Botanical Garden which was on the road to ABU Dam, near the Drama Village. We sat in a semi circle, under huge tree and took turns in the discussion. From the tone and mood of the discussion it was obvious to me that ASUU members were in the majority. It was a lively discussion and they kept churning out solid information and facts about issues on university funding or the lack of it. I joined in their discussion but soon steered it towards the role of NUC in tertiary education. The things I learned convinced me that it was time the NUC was either scrapped or a judicial enquiry set up to investigate its finances. Consider this fact for example: The NUC was set up by decree to, among other things, ensure the proper funding of all Federal Universities in the country. No one needs to be told that these Universities are now wallowing in abject poverty and NUC is not doing anything about it. There is no record of an occasion when the present NUC Secretary appealed to government for more funding on behalf of the Universities. It appears to me that the NUC is more interested in carrying out fancy schemes that require big budgets but with little or no real benefit to the University system. And as if to prove that they are less concerned with University funding they refused to attend the ABU stakeholders meeting. What then, one might ask, is the primary concern of NUC? Well, one need not think hard to arrive at an answer: they are preoccupied with their own survival. This means that NUC is more concerned about getting allocations for their own use. Universities are regarded as an afterthought. With this frame of mind it will not be far fetched to imagine that if push gets to shove they (NUC) are ready to convert funds meant for the Universities into their own. Or shall we say ‘borrow.’ After all how does one explain the trips Vice Chancellors and their Bursars make to the Commission every month before salaries are paid? Someone mentioned that the new ABU Vice Chancellor had already made more than fifty trips to Abuja, perambulating between NUC and the due - process circus. Indeed it is a circus where chief executive officers are made to abandon their offices and parade themselves at Abuja before contracts for minor jobs are approved. In the case of salaries why does the NUC give the Vice-Chancellors Wema Bank cheques when it is well known that the bank does not have a branch in Zaria and in several other University towns? Your guess is as good as mine. It would be quite interesting to hear what Akanbi, Soludo and the EFCC would say about this Wema connection. Nevertheless one thing is clear to the University community: the NUC does not play with their staff’s salaries as they are always paid before the twenty fifth of every month. It is true the decree empowers the Commission to collect funds for the Universities from the Federal Government but to hold on to these funds longer than necessary is downright condemnable. In fact the decree says they should collect such funds on quarterly basis and distribute same to the Universities. According to my sources they don’t collect the correct amount and they don’t disburse on quarterly basis at all. As such Vice Chancellors are reduced to errand boys as they make rounds from one office to another at the NUC building trying to locate the salaries of their respective Universities. A friend of mine confirmed this much when he said that Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities are a common sight at Aja Nwachukwu House. As is well known the issue of funding is central to the Universities and to the decree establishing the NUC. It becomes obvious therefore that if the NUC cannot serve the Universities in this respect then the Commission has outlived its usefulness. By collecting recurrent funds on behalf of the Universities and locking the money up in a hitherto unknown bank, the Commission has unwittingly become part of the funding problem. No one among the discussants could remember when last they were paid salaries before the end of the month. There was consensus though that since the beginning of Obasanjo’s government, salaries began to be delayed till the following month. And that made nonsense of any salary increment since it always came late, too late at times. As any worker knows, a delay in the payment of salaries destroys purchasing power and that is the lot of all University staff throughout the country. Having seen how the Commission has failed in its primary assignment, let’s now examine the things they do in the name of enhancing or protecting the interest of Nigerian Universities. These are the things they probably excel in and spend huge sums of money on. Number one is research. Yes research! I know it is laughable to imagine but the Commission has a whole department of research. They neither have laboratories nor true researchers, they don’t even administer questionnaires but they have a full blown research department complete with Professors among the staff. Wonder what they do? Here it is in one word: coordination. The department, it is claimed, coordinates research works that are conducted in Universities. But the question is: what research is really being carried out by Nigerian Universities? Is it pure research or basic research or perhaps, and this is more to the point, none of the above? Of course it is none of the above. No University in Nigeria carries out real research – at least not the kind that requires coordination in the same sense that NASA, for example does it in the case of space research in the USA. This is largely because research grants have for long disappeared from the funds given to Universities. And whose fault could this be. The NUC again. Another undertaking that the NUC involves itself deeply, even though it is not part of its statutory mandate, is what they aptly call NEADS. This stands for a mouthful Nigerian Experts and Academics in the Diaspora Scheme. The scheme is supposedly meant to showcase Nigerians who have excelled in various fields abroad with the hope of finally bringing them back home. One Professor Gabriel Audu Oyibo is currently being taken round University campuses across the country under the scheme. Nothing wrong in that really, but when huge sums are spent on the scheme at the expense of our Universities and their resident experts, then there is bound to be reactions from several quarters. At any rate why should the NUC alone spearhead this scheme when we have a bona fide Academy of Sciences? What about the Mathematics Society and all the other bodies that have something to do with science? These bodies or organizations can put their heads together along with the NUC and shoulder the responsibility. They can as well seek for the support of the relevant Ministry and the legislature. However by going it alone the NUC is probably thinking of cornering the glory of having found and marketed the Professor. Remember there is a Nobel Prize angle to this saga which the NUC is well aware of, but certainly ignorant of the politics involved. I believe it will not be out of place to educate the NUC about the political intrigues of the Nobel Prize. Personally I believe that Professor Oyibo deserves the Nobel Prize considering what he did to Albert Einstein’s relativity theory. He is said to have gone way beyond the E = mc2 equation which is a feat that Einstein could not do in his lifetime. He named his equation GAGUT or God Almighty’s Grand Unified Theorem which according to him provides a complete solution. This theorem is no joke at all as renown Universities all over the world are said to be studying it seriously. Now if the likes of Stanford, Yale, MIT and Cambridge take something seriously who are we to treat it with levity? Again Oyibo is said to be in the good books of American scientists and congressmen alike. Senator McCain is said to be a firm believer of Oyibo’s theorem and so are several science bodies in America. However let’s remember that the prize we are talking about here is for physics which has always being dominated by Caucasians and Jews. The only non-whites to receive such prizes in physics were an Indian in 1930 and a Pakistani in 1979. These two occasions were a fluke and since then no other non-white has qualified through out the world. Could there be a racial undertone in the awards? Well, Professor Oyibo is a black African nominee and may remain so for ever. He has been nominated three times for the physics prize and he failed to get the ward. The reason is not far fetched. The Americans covet all the science prizes and could do anything to corner them. They would rather University of Chicago continue to produce nominees that eventually get the prize. It is true that people like Wole Soyinka and now the Kenyan woman have gotten the prizes but these are not in the sciences at all. In fact these could be likened to honorary prizes given to Africans so as to give an aura of fairness to the awards. Even then it would be interesting to examine how Soyinka got his prize which incidentally, is recent history obtainable from back issues of newspapers. For long Wole Soyinka was extremely interested in the Nobel Prize in literature. Forget the fact that Achebe is best qualified for it. So around 1984 he believed strongly that he could use his clout on the international scene to get one. He failed woefully and this led to his infamous tantrums against the prizes and the Nobel organization behind them. Later he was advised to turn inwards and gain support from his home country as a necessary precondition. First though he may have to do something that will tone down his cult- kingpin image by actually distancing himself from University cultists. Soyinka racked his brains and came up with a road safety idea. Indeed at that time what better thing to do than start directing traffic in Ibadan? The community service angle here not only gave him public appeal but also endeared him to both local and international NGO’s. Then he also started courting traditional rulers in the west who in turn mounted massive pressure on Babangida – the then Head of State. The pressure on Babangida was so much that before long he capitulated. Soyinka’s bid for the prize was then taken over by government and with unlimited funds available the campaign was more ferocious at international capitals. In 1986 the campaign bore fruit as Soyinka was awarded the Prize with fanfare at Stockholm. From the above it is clear that the motley crowd at NUC can never get the Nobel Prize for Oyibo. And the first person to torpedo their objective was Obasanjo himself. First of all the President has refused to grant audience to Oyibo. The question on everybody’s lips is why in the name of God did Obasanjo refuse to see the scientist? Your guess is as good as mine. But note that the Professor is not a Yoruba man. Also he first graduated from ABU. And there are rumours in some quarters that the Commander in Chief is equally interested in the Prize. After all Mandela of South Africa has been awarded the prize a few years ago on account of being goaled by a repressive regime. Obasanjo too was goaled by a similar regime. There is also that book titled Not My Will which carries Obasanjo’s name. Forget the fact that it has an uncanny resemblance to Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy when it comes to authorship. Secondly a group of academics from University of Ibadan were recently sponsored on NTA to cast serious aspersions on Oyibo’s theorem. It was the first salvo to be fired from the Ivory tower. But judging from the amount of time they used to discuss the theorem, it was obvious to all that government was involved. Or shall we say Aso rock. So much about Nobel Prizes and at least it is now clear that the NUC alone can never swing it for Oyibo. Doing it the Soyinka way might just be the best way to get the prize for yet another Nigerian. This means Kogi State is the best starting point for the Professor. Now let’s go back to the sins of NUC. Let us also remember that the Commission maintains what they fondly refer to as the most comprehensive database on the University system in Nigeria. If you add this to the high speed and broad band internet connection they have, then you get the best IT facility in the entire educational system. No University in the country can boast or even afford such connectivity much as they would love to. In fact what is obtainable in most of the Universities has either broken down or is not campus wide or will soon expire. In ABU all the cafes except one has broken down and subscription to the service provider will soon expire. The subscription alone runs into thousands of US Dollars which the institution can hardly pay for. In the present dispensation no University in Nigeria can afford to pay such amount but yet the NUC can indeed afford the amount without any difficulty. They have networked their offices along time ago and their staffs enjoy full internet services in their various offices free of charge. The NUC has abandoned the Universities completely as they pursue a kind of IT utopia oblivious to the dearth of information on our campuses. Well if the behaviuor of NUC towards the Universities leaves much to be desired then we have to ask the question why? Again the answer is not far fetched if we consider the caliber of staff that makes up the workforce. The Commission is full of Professors and sundry lecturers who have abandoned their true calling along time ago. The reason or reasons they left is immaterial here, though it should be mentioned that the virtually all of them left their respective Universities out of frustration. Since its establishment, the NUC was run by ex-lecturers whom we all know to be a funny lot when it comes to treating their own. Now if you don’t get my drift then consider this fact: virtually all the Ministers of Education we have had in this country were appointed from the Universities and virtually all of them had fought with the umbrella union of academic staff. The non-academic staff in my little group under the shade chorused on this. They cited the names of Ministers who overnight became enemies of the University system by fighting legitimate Unions on the campuses. No sooner they were appointed than they seized and adopted government position and became turncoats thereby abandoning their principal constituency. Borishade was not the only one, neither Ministers as government appointees. Professors and sundry lecturers who find themselves in positions of authority have been known to turn their backs on their colleagues at the slightest opportunity. It is for this reason that the NUC can never be a reliable partner for the Universities. It is as if the ex-lecturers have an axe to grind with the lecturers who decided to stay back on the campuses. Reflecting on this one of us said he believed there was no love lost between the two groups. He said from experience he discovered that the non - lecturer staffs at NUC were more helpful and friendlier. The group concurred that NUC would have been a better place and a better outfit without these Professors and ex-lecturers. In short career civil servants could have done a better job at NUC. However the above should not be misconstrued to imply that all professors or ex-lecturers are mere opportunists who cash in on the weak position of their colleagues in our Universities. No. There are outstanding Professors, especially those who natured NUC into what it is today. These people knew their jobs and did it well. Recall the performance of Professors Jubril Aminu and Idris Abdulkadir. They laid a solid foundation for the Commission and maintained good relationship with all the Universities. At that time it was unthinkable for a whole VC to travel to Abuja in pursuit of salaries. And talking about foundation was it not at that time that the Secretariat was built with a paltry sum of money? At the commissioning ceremony Babangida was said to have been stunned when the total amount spent on the project was revealed to him. And that was because he was used to getting demands for much higher amounts to build lesser structures. This was the height of competence and when those founding fathers left the Commission it is on record that they left it richer and more robust that they first met it. Someone mentioned that up to early 1999 the commission was on a sound footing but that things gradually began deteriorate soon after. Another area where the Commission loves to spend money is accreditation visits. The itinerary for such visits spans the whole year and virtually all their staff are involved. Incidentally this is one area that is emphasized in the decree and which the commission shows a semblance of understanding. Every now and then teams are dispatched by the NUC to the various Universities for this job which includes ascertaining the number of lecturers on the ground, the courses being offered and the physical structure available. However this is yet another area in which the Commission has failed woefully. Take the case of the various courses offered which the Commission takes pride in reviewing and counter reviewing every other year but neglects the important aspect of determining whether the students are actually getting the stuff on graduation. Likewise they conduct a roll call on the lecturers but without ascertaining their motivational levels. They also examine the physical structure but yet look askance when unrealistic admission figures are released by the Universities. No one needs to be told that the Nigerian University system is sick and this emanated largely as a result of the bad advice dished out by these ex-lecturers- turned technocrats at the NUC. The government relies heavily on these people for both advice and policy implementation. And more often than not they lack the temerity to give good advice. As an example, the idea of leasing out student hostels to private investors was first mooted at the NUC. But they are shedding crocodile tears now when it is obvious to them the idea can not work. Note that it is only crocodile tears since deep down they know that their Commission is swimming in funds that can be spent without accountability. This makes it possible for them to take good care of themselves come what may. It is pertinent to ask why the Commission is rich while the Universities are poor. Yet we all know that the NUC is but a mere clearing house, a supervising agency. Such agencies exist in other parts of the world but there they stick to their assigned role. Is it a case of misplaced priorities or a case of one organization feeding fat on others? Personally I have a feeling the latter is the case and hence my insistence on a public probe of NUC finances or its unceremonious scraping. At least it is clear from the above that the body is serving itself more than the Universities. It would be far better for the Universities to collect their allocation direct from government. As we all know a middleman always add a margin for his so called services. The margin is too high in this case and at any rate the Universities can survive comfortably without the NUC. In fact all the first generation Universities were better off without the NUC and became worse off a few years after the body was floated. For ABU the golden era was during the time of ICSA. Ibadan and Nsukka too had their golden days during the time they were taken care of by their regional bodies and later the federal government. The NUC can never hope to match those good old days for our Universities.
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