Category: Sunday Interview

The Elegushi of Ikateland, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi and Oniru of Iruland, Oba AbdulWasiu Omogbolahan Lawal grew under the tutelage of the former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He told TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO that Iruland is lucky to have Oba Lawal as the monarch.

COULD you recall how you met Oniru and how the relationship blossom?

Our meeting predates my becoming the King. Of course, we both grew up knowing ourselves as Princes and related as such.  We however become close when we were both working with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.  He was the ADC, while I was the Personal Assistant.  We were both together almost 20hrs of the day, trying to carry out our specific briefs. So it’s a relationship that has been many years ago and as fate would have it, I became a King, eleven years ago, and he was one of our sons (laughter) as he continued in government and today, he has ascended the throne of his forefathers and we are now colleagues, brothers and together, we are doing our best for the development of our respective kingdoms and Eti-Osa in general.

 What’s your assessment of his one-year on the throne?

He has started well. I am not surprised.  He has proven himself in various capacities he has served. He was born into the royal family and he understood the tradition.  And being able to combine both, has helped him well and today the people of Iru Kingdom can look back on what a good choice they have made.

 Iru and Ikateland is closer, do you have any joint developmental programme or are you trying to develop any?

We are both in the Chieftaincy committee of the Eti-Osa, where I am currently the chairman.  So we both discuss issues of mutual interest as it affects our people and communities. We are both descendats of Olofin, so we celebrate similar festivals, with which we promote our culture and tradition. So we continue to do all of these and we plan to do more in the months and years ahead.

On a lighter mode, you’ve taken a second wife, would you advise him to follow your footsteps?

You want me to advise him on that? No.

Has he done well in bringing members of the Iru royalties together especially those that contested the stool with him?

As it is with every area of public interest, there is always those who feel otherwise about the choice.  But I think he is doing well to bring all sons and daughters of the kingdom together. He is doing well and I am aware they are also supporting his reign. *

Your general advice for him.

He should continue to put the people first as he is doing in the last one year. He is doing well and I pray his reign last for many years and the spirit of our ancestors will always guide and be with him.

The Oniru of Iruland, Oba AbdulWasiu Omogbolahan Lawal clocked one on the throne on Monday June 7. His Imperial Majesty in this interview led TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO into the world of royalty and his vision for Iruland.

KABIYESI, congratulations on your first year coronation anniversary, kindly lead us into the world of royalty.

It’s a major change for me and it has also been a good experience. I really enjoy the support of everyone – the good people of Iruland, the residents, the indigenes, the three ruling houses – Abisogun, Akinogun and Ogunyemi ruling houses, the government of Lagos State and of course the distinguished members of the fourth estate of the realm.

 You have been in the corridor of power since June 1999, when you were seconded as the Aide-de-camp/Escort Commander to the then Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu right up till last year when you left the State Executive Council; what has changed?

Before we move to that, as a public servant between 1994 and 2020, I have been in the public service for 26 years and I enjoyed myself in the duration of service. Coming to Iru Kingdom as a monarch, a lot has been done to adapt to the demands of the traditional institution. Royalty has its own demands – it is associated with glamour, elegance, service and also the promotion of culture and tradition. Currently, one has to also follow the trend in terms of dynamism. What today’s royalty demands are different from what they used to be. Of course, culture and tradition still remain the same but there are other evolving trends that one really needs to adjust oneself to. So, the life of a public servant and the life of a monarch are different, with some similarities though. As a traditional ruler, you’re expected to provide support to your subjects; you’re also expected to inspire them; you’re also expected to come to their rescue when they’re in need. In the past, the subjects provide for the monarch, but these days, such gesture is interwoven – they will provide for you and you also have to provide for them.  Essentially, I am leveraging on the experience of the public service. I am also leveraging on what I picked up when I was growing up; I started my boyhood from the palace. My father was the Ojora of Lagos and I had to learn a lot as his Ilari then. I had to learn a lot on how to comport myself not to be a king but a prince. Though, there is hardly any prince in Yorubaland or any other place globally that would not want have the tendency to want to be king someday. So, I leveraged on my public service experience; what I experienced as prince; what I learnt from my dad and what is happening generally.

Did it ever occur to you that you would be king or were you at any time nursing the ambition while in the police to become Inspector General of Police (IGP)?

Well, if you’re from a royal house and in my case, both my parents are from six ruling houses. Maybe I was not preparing myself consciously to be king, but with providence, my public service experience, my father being the king, I knew someday it could happen, so I never for once foreclosed the ambition. I always thought someday you’re going to retire and if such opportunity comes up, you know your people could ask you to come and be king the same way my father was beckoned to come and be the Ojora of Lagos in 1975 and in 1977, he became the Ojora of Lagos. I think that’s my case but public service, experience, the knowledge I’ve acquired prepared me for this throne not that I was focused on becoming a king.

Where were you on the day you were announced as the king and how did you feel?

I was elated; I was in Lagos then, Ikeja precisely.

 Not in the office?

I was preparing to go to the office.

You were lucky to work with four governors, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Babatunde Fashola, Akinwunmi Ambode and the present governor; we’d like to know the difference working under them and how has that prepared you for this present role?

The four of them have different modes of governance but what was constant was that they were progressives. They all loved Lagos and I am very close to the four of them. I may say closer to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Babatunde Raji Fashola because we worked together. Asiwaju was the governor, I was the ADC. As ADC, BRF was the Chief of Staff, so, we worked hand in hand.  So I know the ethics of their governance. I know that both of them had one goal – the development of Lagos. I joined Asiwaju 1999, I was 29. I was not too young but I learnt a lot from them and I learnt a lot from Asiwaju. Asiwaju as a governor of Lagos State was a pacesetter. He made a lot of sacrifices for the development of Lagos. So, when Fashola succeeded him, he also made a lot of sacrifices for the development of Lagos because both of them were progressives. When Mr Ambode became a governor, he made efforts. He wasn’t as political as both of them but he also made good efforts in the governance of Lagos. Sanwo-Olu is barely two years and I can tell you that he is expected to be better than the three of them because our prayer always is that our successor should to better than us.

What is your relationship with those who contested the stool with you?

The relationship is very cordial, they are my brothers. We have the same DNA. One is related to me from both mother and father side, that’s Prince Segun Oniru. His father and my father were both from Aromire Ruling House of Lagos; his father and my mother are also cousins from the Oniru family. Prince Hakeem Ajasa is my younger cousin and his own father and my mother are both of the same parents – same father and mother. So, I have known both of them for ages. So our relationship… yes, currently, we are having one or two issues but we are family, we are brothers, we will always resolve them.

What is LEGIT all about?

#LEGIT simply means Let’s Grow Iruland Together. On ascension to the throne, I knew that my kingdom is dominated by very high-value real estate properties – both commercial and residential. And the kingdom is believed to be an elite community. So, I decided that there’s a need for us to even get to know the residents because the Oniru Royal Family has crown land which is generally known as the Oniru Estate… On the day I was installed as the monarch, I made it known to the property owners that I have not come to devalue their properties; that all that I would do would be to scale up the value of their properties. I always make reference to the real estate value of Greater New York. The value of a real estate in Greater New York is equal to the GDP of the United Kingdom. With that, I know that you can do a whole lot with real estate. As a former Commissioner for Housing in Lagos State, I knew the problems, the challenges and where interventions were needed. So, I decided to have town meetings under the Let’s Grow Iruland Together. It was at the end of the Town Hall meetings that we asked, what are the salient issues? What should be the vision and the mission of my reign? We were able to know where we need social interventions; we found that we needed to do empowerment for women because we discovered that 70 per cent of the people within the estate are women and youths. So we’ll be focusing on empowerment of women, taking care of the youths, giving them skills that are going to make them entrepreneurs. We also looked at the major resource that we have in this kingdom, that’s the Bar Beach, the waterfront. The Atlantic Ocean is a major resource. With that, we knew that tourism is one sector that we must also focus on. On environmental sustainability, we need to have a sustainable city. I don’t like the way our oceans are always filled with plastics and plastic bottles, because of the life below the water.

We also had partnerships with some real estate firms and town planners because we need to come up with Acupuncture development. This zone is built up. We have also engaged with a global consultant, a masterplan firm to refocus the opportunities within the kingdom.

Generally, LEGIT is about that and a lot more.

How do you unwind?

I have tried my hand at golf. My Private Secretary, Mr. Akeem Akintoye is the Captain of Ikeja Golf Club. I’m a member of the Ikoyi Golf Club and I’m sure very soon, though not to the level of Tiger Wood (laughter), I will perfect my skills in golf. I also try to read books. If you don’t travel, you read and see yourself in the Atlantic. I also watch football as a sports enthusiast…

Which club do you support?

Don’t worry about that (laughter). Definitely, not Chelsea… I used to go to Onikan Stadium then to watch matches – Stationery Stores, Julius Berger, Shooting Stars, Enyimba and El Kanemi of Bornu among others. With what is happening, the world is now a global place; I try to see what is happening in Europe and other parts of the world and I am a fan of one London club which I don’t want to mention.

What’s your relationship with other monarchs?

I learn a lot from them. I try to call Alaafin of Oyo always; somebody who has been on the throne for 50 years – don’t forget I will be 51 next month. I’m also learning from Kabiyesi Oba Akiolu, who is my father; Kabiyesi Ojora, Elegushi, Oba Ojomu, Kabiyesi Shasha and so many other monarchs that we talk regularly and share ideas and perspectives on things. I am really learning fast even from the Oni of Ife and Sultan of Sokoto. I learn from other people and others come to learn from me based on my public service experience. We acquire wisdom, knowledge everywhere for the good governance of the Kingdom.

Astute administrator, professor of English, two-time vice chancellor, author, mentor and politician, David Iyornongo Ker turns 70 today. In this interview with Tunde Olusunle (PhD) and Tivlumun Nyitse (PhD), the one-time Benue State Commissioner of Education and current team leader of the visitation panel to the Modibbo Adama University of Technology, MAUTECH, Yola, Adamawa State speaks on his illustrious career across board and why retiring from active academic works is not yet attractive to him.

There were professional options and opportunities for your generation after graduation from the university. Why did you opt for lecturing?

Academics was always an attraction. I grew to love my lecturers at the university and wished to be like them when I grew up. Professor Kolawole Ogungbegan was a good inspiration.

You started out at the University of Ibadan before moving to the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU. What informed your relocation?

I went to the University of Ibadan to meet the great names I always heard of like M J C Echeruo, D.S. Izevbaye. It was the fulfillment of a dream. After my masters programme at the University of Sussex, there was pressure from my alma mater to return; so I relocated to serve the department that trained me.

You have taught and mentored generations of students over the past five decades. What is the experience like?

It has been fulfilling looking around to find my students doing very well in their calling. I am proud of them and I still want to do more.

Were you in any way involved in nurturing creative writers in the early years of your career?

I was editor of the students’ departmental journal which published the early works of famous writers such as Olu Obafemi. I was equally involved in creative writers’ workshops at ABU; when I joined Benue State State (BSU), my association with ANA Benue State chapter became a very productive experience for writers in Benue and elsewhere.

You were a pioneering teaching staff at the Benue State University (BSU); how was it different from the University of Ibadan and Ahmadu Bello University?

BSU was a great challenge. Banking on my experience from bigger and more established universities, we had a job to model the young state university along the lines of the fame that produced us.  Mind you, we were the first state university even in the North. That too was a challenge worth addressing. Pioneering is a big task but we found it very exciting because it did not take long for good results to begin to show.

You would subsequently be appointed Vice Chancellor of BSU; what will you recall as highpoints of your stewardship?

When I look back, I am happy with what I left behind as legacy. I am particularly proud of the medical school which I built from scratch. There are also programmes such as Mass Communication, whose profile I raised because of my commitment to it. I am also proud of the postgraduate school because I was the pioneer dean and was able to develop it when I became Vice Chancellor.

Your appointment as Benue State Commissioner of Education under Group Captain Joshua Oluyemi Obademi was definitely a different experience; how did you acclimatise to government bureaucracy?

I was able to acclimatise easily because I was willing to learn. The civil servants were also happy to teach a professor; thus we got on very well together.

What were the specific impressions you stamped on the state in this capacity?

I established the Special Senior Science Secondary School in Makurdi. I also set up the Benue State Examination Board. In addition, I gave school supervision a flip by making myself the Chief Inspector of Education as it were. I went to nearly every school in Benue and left indelible marks. I enjoyed my work as Education Commissioner.

The leadership of Veritas University later head-hunted and appointed you VC of the institution; how different was it managing a Christian mission institution and a secular university?

A university as we all know is universal; so the system itself does not get tinkered with much. We are regulated by the National Universities Commission (NUC). The difference perhaps is in the funding out-lays. The Catholic bishops did their best to ensure that we kept to the standard. When the NUC visited in 2011, we received full accreditation in all our programmes.

What does the national honour of Officer Of the Order of the Niger, OON mean to you?

It means a lot to me. I remind people when they forget that I have a national honour bestowed on me by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003. It feels good to be recognised at that level.

With your experience lecturing in half a dozen universities, what, in your assessment, is the quality of literary creativity in Nigeria today? Do the novels, poems and plays being churned out qualify as serious literary productivity?

There are good quality works and the teacher of Literature has no problem selecting for the numerous courses we teach. That in itself is a good gift that creativity is alive and well. There is no shortage of good works.

As a follow-up, can we say that literary criticism is advancing or retrogressing in Nigeria?

Literary Criticism is advancing. There is vigorous criticism out there and the writers themselves are good critics, which is also healthy. I can confidently say that we have no dearth of good literary critical works.

Of the contemporary generation of playwrights, poets and novelists in Nigeria, who would you describe as flag-bearers who hold prospects for the future of literary production?

The field has quality and the movement from one generation to the other is fluent. I am thinking of famous playwrights such as Olu Obafemi and Ahmed Yerima, whose example is being followed by the younger generation of writers.

There are concerns about the downward spiral of the reading culture in our country, partly ascribed to the advent of the internet; and apathy for reading traceable to a certain laziness on the part of younger students and scholars. What are your thoughts on this?

This is the age of hustlers. Since they took over the space and started making “waves” in academia, politics, business and other fields, they have all taught us to forget tradition and follow their new rules. They do not value reading. They even offer degrees to people who do not need to read a book, for a fee. There are no more rules, no standard, about what constitutes achievement. I have been talking recently about illusion of grandeur, a malaise that makes ignorant people sound sharp and make pompous statements. The tragedy is that they have an audience. That is the more reason why the internet needs to be avoided to some extent.

A good number of your generation of literary scholars like Biodun Jeyifo, Niyi Osundare, Kole Omotoso, Tanure Ojaide, Funso Aiyejina and the late Isidore Okpewho emigrated to explore opportunities in the United States of America and similar places; did this impact our national literature in any way?

The brain-drain, as it is sometimes called, became a very positive thing for Nigeria. Our critics and great writers who migrated abroad became even better and our Literature was the better for it. Examine the roll-call yourself and you will see the quality. It is indeed a blessing in disguise.

Younger literary figures such as Harry Garuba, Maik Nwosu, Helon Habila, Uche Nduka, Afam Akeh, Nduka Otiono, the late Esiaba Irobi and Pius Adesanmi, equally voted with their feet in the late 1990s and 2000s. How can this drain be mitigated?

It should not be mitigated. I feel people move around the world as their feet carry them. They make us stronger. They are challenged where they are and they challenge us back home to do better.

You were Chairman of the Board of Benue Printing and Publishing Corporation, BPPC, publishers of The Voice. Does it worry you that most, if not all state-owned newspapers are now extinct?

I am worried. I used to puzzle at the word underdevelopment but I am beginning to know its full meaning more and more.

Beginning from the 1980s to the latter part of the 20th century, the media was a major enabler of our literature. Newspapers and magazines notably, devoted generous space to creative writing and literary criticism. The harvest was humongous in terms of sheer multi-generic literary production and the emergence of a new generation of writers fondly referred to as the “third generation.” Is it possible to reenact this development in the face of contemporary sociopolitical realities?

It is possible indeed, I still see a robust engagement with media by some writers. This should be encouraged.

You co-edited “New Poetry From Africa” with Olu Obafemi, Johnson and Maduka in 1996 – 25 years ago. Are we likely to see more collaborations like these in the months and years ahead?

Olu Obafemi and myself have a few titles we are working together on. You will hear from us very soon. Twenty-five years is indeed a long time but as you know, we have been engaged in other ‘trades’ in the period. We will fully return to scholarship I can assure you.

Your book titled “The African Novel And Modernist Tradition” was published in 1997. Are we to expect a sequel to this?

I wish I could do a follow up but the energy and time are not quite there. I am however working on an autobiographical writing. I need, for instance, to put my two tours as Vice Chancellor in perspective.

In recent years, you’ve ventured into partisan politics in Benue State, aspiring to be governor in 2015 and 2019; what was the motivation?

After my second tour of duty as Vice Chancellor, I felt strongly that I could be of great use if given an opportunity to govern the state. I am happy I took the plunge, though with benefit of blind sight, I think there was naivety in my approach.

At the last count, there were nearly 200 universities in Nigeria, split almost equally between government and privately owned; would you say the proliferation is good for our educational system?

I have no problems with many universities, as long as the standards as we know them are not compromised. My worry though is that the capacity of the regulatory body, the NUC is being undermined because of shortage of staff and other needs.

You were recently named by the federal government as Chairman of the Visitation Panel of the Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola; what are your preliminary impressions on this assignment?

Visitation panel is quite a challenge but it’s not unknown territory, so we are happy to be given the privilege to perform this onerous task for the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari GCFR.

You will be clocking 70 come June 6, 2021 and retiring from active academic work; what will you miss the most about the profession?

I am not going anywhere my brother. I love this job. Retirement is just a process. I will continue to teach and research. I love these students and I will not want to miss them.

Vice Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede in this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde speaks on the target as the institution clocks 60, the challenges of running a university, management style and how he founded a dental museum.

Tell us about life as Vice Chancellor?

To be a vice chancellor is one of the greatest things that can ever happen to any academic, because that is the pinnacle; the very peak of your career as an individual. And you don’t want to misuse the opportunity. You are happy that you are vice chancellor, but at the same time you are very careful – because whatever you do at that level can make or mar you as an individual.  So, it’s a mixture of both joy and some level of fear. You don’t want to disappoint people, having gotten to that level in life. It’s an opportunity to impact lives, even beyond the shores of your country to international level.

Surely, superintending intellectuals such as you have in the academia is no tea party; what has been your management style?

There are certain key things that you must take cognisance of as a vice chancellor. The first is that you must be able to listen to people. Whether you think what they are saying is right or wrong, whether it is necessary or unnecessary, you still have to listen to them because you learn from whatever they say. The second thing that you must have is patience. You must not act by virtue of the kind of power that is given to you. You have to be patient and know that people do things differently. The other thing that you must also introduce into your management style is the ability to recognise the values in other people. You must not be covetous as a vice chancellor. So, my management style really is for you to use your experience and before you become a vice chancellor, you must have been so many things.  Before I became VC, I had been Head of Departments for many years, Dean, Provost of the Medical School and Head of Council.  So, in your management style, you must look at all that you have done and use it to take decisions; not just what you see on the spur of the moment.

Tell us about some of the memorable moments at Ife and in your personal life?

The day I was pronounced vice chancellor, which was 8th May 2017 is a memorable moment in my life. The entire campus was agog; people dancing and jubilating. I had never seen anything like that in my life.  To me, it’s a memory that would never fade away because we were actually getting off a crisis situation. So, it is something that I would forever cherish and would forever be grateful for.  The other memorable moment in my life is my very first day at O.A.U, then University of Ife. That was before I became a student of the university. I actually came to O. A.U for the entrance examination and immediately I entered the campus, I was impressed. I told myself I want to live my entire life here, if really it’s possible and God answered.

Tell us about the challenges?

There are quite a number of frustrating moments and this is based on the fact that there are things that you can do but the process in place and the bureaucracy in the Nigerian system will definitely not allow you to do.  So, it is highly frustrating. You know that you can do something in 24 hours and you are finding it difficult to do it in 24 months. That is rather frustrating.

How seamless is bureaucracy in your administration?

We have tried to avoid quite a number of things that constitute the clog in the wheel of progress. We have been able to do this by selecting the best people to occupy positions.  Yes, you are VC; you can select your friends.  In my own style, I believe that whoever is best for any particular post is the person you should put there. If it requires going to plead with them, to beg them to take those positions, I do it. We made a lot of progress in the area of utilising the Tertiary Institution Trust Fund. When I came, I had to set up a Tetfund office; and to do that, I had to look for the best experienced of our academic staff to head that office. People that are knowledgeable, that are intellectuals are in demand. They are not going to come to you to put them anywhere; you have to go to them. Once you are able to put the right person in the right place, you will see changes. I think the country should take a cue from this.

You started a dental museum, what does this mean to you?

My aim was not to start a dental museum. My aim was to answer a simple question: who, actually, was the first dentist to practise in Nigeria? So, when I went into that, I found out that people were giving different answers, different people, depending on what they knew.  Somebody would say 1926 and another would say 1934. So, I decided to go into that, just to answer that question. I found that I could write a paper on it. In the process, I had to interview quite a number of people and found that I could actually write a book on the history of dentistry in Nigeria, which I wrote and published in 2015. And that is the book that all dental personnel in Nigeria are still using. It is the only book that stands for the history of dentistry in Nigeria.  While interviewing people, I discovered that they would tell me what they were using in school. If I asked if they still had it, they would say, ‘No, because it is no longer useful, I threw it away.’ So, I said okay, I could add this to what I was doing. I started going around, especially if you told me one dental clinic was opening or they were modernising somewhere. I would go there to collect whatever they had; it doesn’t matter where in the country. For example, the first dental chair to be used in Nigeria and manufactured in 1907 is in that museum. And the very first dentist to practise in Nigeria came in 1907 as an industrial missionary of the Baptist Mission. He was employed and worked in Iwo, Ogbomosho, Shaki and he used that chair. Now, you find everything that has to do with the history of Dentistry in Nigeria in that particular museum.  It’s a one-storey building with four flats. It’s about the only dental museum in the whole of Africa.

Obafemi Awolowo University is 60 this year; what are the plans for the next 60 years?

We expect that O.A.U is ranked at the very top of higher education in the world, not just in Nigeria. Yes, we are a first generation university. We are doing well in Nigeria and we are also comparatively doing well in Africa.  But, I want to see us become the Harvard, the Yale and Oxford of the world. It is possible and it is achievable. I also want us to identify some key areas where we have comparative advantage, go into these areas and ensure that we lead the entire world in those areas. Still, I want to ensure that the university would not be dependent on foreign grant and support.

Insecurity is a major problem in the country at the moment and some have asked that private security personnel must carry gun. Are you thinking of this for the university?

Anywhere in Nigeria, whether it is in the campus or outside campus, you actually need adequate security.  Where we are in the country now, you cannot do without people carrying guns. The days are over when you just used people with batons. I also want to tell you that you don’t need to recruit on your own. There are people who are already trained to do that. As a university, you can use those people; you don’t need to go into an area where you are not really an expert. When you look at the Nigerian campuses, you have security men there at any point in time. The only thing is that they may not be in uniform. In O.A.U for example, we are very lucky in the sense that over many years the campus has been very secure and I pray that it would continue to be so. And that is because we have quite a lot of security people there. Anybody and everybody should be part of the security. Almost everybody in O.A.U does that job of manning the security. You have the porters in the halls of residence, you have the students themselves, you have the lecturers and we know what it means to secure the premises. And that comes from the fact we actually came from a situation where you have the Ife/Modakeke crisis. Everyone went through that war and so we knew what it means to have security.

 

Let’s go down memory lane, what dreams did you have as a young boy?

Growing up, I really wanted to be somebody who would be known and recognised. At the secondary school level, I had friends with whom I moved. We even formed the young scientists club at the time, and at a point decided that we would read Medicine. But suddenly, I found that in my state , somebody who was a dentist came, one Dr Omole and every day, it would be announced on radio, ‘Dr Omole wants to go to Ado-Ekiti, Dr Omole wants to go to Ondo and if you have any dental problem, go and meet him there. So, I decided that no more Medicine for me; that it would be a dentist.  So, my first choice was Dentistry and my second choice was dentistry. But I chose dentistry to be able to feed my family, not to become a Prof or VC. As fortune would have it, here I am today; I attended Owo High School founded by the late Ajasin. That is why I behave like Ajasin. My mum is 87 this year and my father is still alive, he is 97.

 

The appointment of vice chancellors in Nigeria always comes with crisis. Why is this?

There would always be crisis if you fail to follow some guidelines in the appointment of vice chancellors.  The first thing in appointing a vice chancellor is to be dispassionate about it. Once you focus on the person you want and want to ensure that by whatever means, that person gets there then there will be trouble. Others are no fools, no idiots; they would work against the process.

What’s in the office that makes it so coveted?

It is not the office.  When you say somebody is an academic, he believes that he knows what is right and what is wrong.  So, immediately you begin to do what is wrong, he knows. The issue here is cheating.  Nobody wants to be cheated. What happened in Ife for example has nothing to do with the office. People were not really interested.  I was a professor at Harvard and there is nothing you want to give me as vice chancellor that is up to what I can get over there. But when you see that something is infringing on your right, or when somebody believes that he can do something – whether you  like it or not; then you want to show that person, as an academic, that it is not going to happen. If 21 of you are contesting a position, you already know that only one person would get there. But the moment you start to disqualify qualified people before they even get to the process of being interviewed at all, then you know that the process has gone beyond normal. You don’t introduce extraneous guidelines.  You have an advert that says this person must have 10 years experience as a professor; he must not be beyond the age of 65 years….  By the time you now shortlist and disqualify somebody who is convinced that he is qualified, you cannot expect him to keep quiet.  Most likely, he will do everything to make sure that the process does not work.  So, don’t change the goal post in the middle of the game. Secondly, don’t give the impression that you already have a candidate that you are working for. Once you give that impression, all the other candidates would gang up against that particular candidate. The third thing is that the chairman of the council must be experienced enough to understand the process. If you are dependent on the people within the university to advise you on what to do and what not to do, you are going to get the wrong advice because they also have candidates. The fourth thing is that you need to understand that to have a seamless appointment of a vice chancellor; you must select a respected and responsible Chairman of Council. As an academic person, when you bring someone like our Chairman of Council with his trajectory, why won’t I respect him? But when you bring somebody who is a professor of six years experience…. You don’t go and pick a professor in one university that is not up to the level of Obafemi Awolowo University, make him Chairman of Council of O. A.U and expect that he will succeed.

We don’t have such rancour in the developed countries. Why?

There is always a problem everywhere but the difference is that when you take up that position in other countries, you are going to work to ensure that the university survives. The situation in Nigeria is very different. Here in Nigeria everybody is spending the so-called oil money. You sit down in your office and at the end of the month the salaries of your workers are paid. If you are VC over there, the salary of the workers and everything is dependent on what you are able to make. So, if you are not qualified or competent, it shows almost immediately. You can even leave the place vacant and it would run on its own. So, whereas everybody wants to be VC here, in those places, even if they invite you to come and become vice chancellor, you won’t like it because you know the possibilities and you know what can happen within a few months. Incompetent people would never aspire to such position.