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Tag: VCs

  • NUC summons VCs over discriminate grading system

    NUC summons VCs over discriminate grading system

    Worried by irregularities in the grading system of most Nigerian Universities, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has summoned Vice Chancellors of all public and private universities to Abuja to deliberate on the issue.

    They are meant to brainstorm and harmonize the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) grading system, including a uniformed Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) for all certified Nigerian universities, rather than using discretional method to grade students in each discipline.

    Speaking at the workshop which was held at the Commission’s headquarters, the NUC Executive Secretary said it was worrisome that most universities were derailing from the original academic traditions that guaranteed high quality education in the country, especially the post independence era.

    Okojie who attributed these developments to poor governance structures in most of the institutions, said individual grading systems pose technical challenges for proper grading of students, particularly inter-university credit transfer and student mobility both within and outside the country.

    He said some institutions, while awarding grades in some disciplines use the 6 grade points of 5,4,3,2,1,0 for letter grades of A,B,C,D,E and F respectively. While in some cases, other disciplines removed the E grade altogether thereby having a grading system with grade points of 5,4,3,2,0 for letter grades of A,B,C,D and F respectively.

    Okojie said the discriminations have incontrovertibly introduced two systems of grading within the Nigerian university system.

    He said: “What is happening is that with the kind of governance structure in some institutions, you find that they lose trend about the tradition in the system itself.

    “They should go back to their Senate.  Why we are having this discussion is that we also have private universities coming on board and we have assumed that because Vice Chancellors who service these private universities are from older institutions, they know some of these traditions.  It is not the case, so we are going to go through the process.

    “For CGPA the maximum is 5.  University of Ibadan have been using 7. We have told them, when you are using 7 scale and the maximum is 5, how do you compare, whereas the first class honours on the 5 scale maximum is 4.5 and above. These are the issues we are concerned about.  Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife at some point was using 4.3 they went back to 4.5. We need a common platform and it is very important.

    “A review would not only facilitate curriculum design within the university that would foster inter-departmental and inter-disciplinary collaboration but would also minimise duplication thereby enhancing understanding by most foreign universities too”.

    NUC’s Director, Academic Standards, Gidado Kumo explained that the Vice Chancellors and Directors of Academic Planning were invited to Abuja to get their feedbacks or observations on how to arrive at a generally satisfactory university education policy.

     

  • The VCs education varsities need

    The VCs education varsities need

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan  appointed vice chancellors for the four colleges of education upgraded to universities before his exit last month.  The appointments are generating ripples, report LEKE AKEREDOLU (Akure), ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE (Kaduna) and OKODILI NDIDI (Owerri).

    The euphoria over their new status was shortlived. Hardly had the celebrations over the upgrading of four colleges of education to universities begun than they stopped. The schools are  Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri, Federal College of Education, Zaria and Federal College of Education, Kano.

    At the Adeyemi College of Education, workers and students  who hailed the government for the move are now bickering about the appointment of a vice chancellor (VC) for the university.

    Their hope that the Provost, Prof Olukoya Ogen, would be made vc was dashed. Instead, the Federal Government named Prof Richard Peter-King, a zoologist from the University of Uyo as the VC.

    His appointment did not go down well with the lecturers and alumni of the institution.

    They argue that the provost’s tenure has not yet ended while also, noting that the new VC does not have background in education.

    The workers and alumni are also worried by the claim that Peter-King has been away from the ivory tower for long on political sojourns.

    The Nation gathered that Peter-King, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), contested the party’s governorship primaries in Akwa Ibom State.

    He was Chairman, Technical Subcommittee, Presidential Monitoring Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) from 2011 till 2015.

    Born on May, 17, 1958 in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, Peter-King was former President Goodluck Jonathan’s mate at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).

    Those criticising his selection said that it is a compensation for his contribution to PDP’s growth.

    Peter-King obtained his first school leaving certificate from St. Gregory’s Primary School, Ikot, Ebok, Eket in 1972. He proceeded to the Nigerian Christian Secondary School, Ukpom, Abak Local Government Area in Akwa  Ibom State where he wrote his Ordinary Level examination in 1976.

    He was a pioneer student of Uniport, where he earned a second class Honours (Upper Division) in Zoology in 1981.  His masters in Hydrobiology and Fisheries Biology came in 1985; his PhD in Zoology (with major in Fisheries Biology) came in 1994

    Peter-King taught at the University of Calabar, Cross River State, as a lecturer and research scientist in 1984. He joined the University of Uyo, (UNIUYO ) when it was created in 1991.

    At UNIUYO, Peter-King was Head, Department of Zoology; pioneer Head, Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture; Acting Dean, Faculty of Agriculture; pioneer Director, Centre of Wetlands and Waste Management Studies; and Director, Remedial Directorate.

    He has attended, at least, 35 major national and international scientific workshops, conferences and symposia and has over 70 journal articles; six edited conference and workshop articles; seven Technical Reports; five Book chapters; and nine scholarly articles.

    But, it was not shown if Peter-King has any teaching qualification.

    Chairman of the institution’s chapter of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Dr Akintunde Akinrinola told The Nation that the union expected the government to have considered two factors, the legal process and professional procedure, before upgrading the college and others.

    The laws guiding the upgraded colleges, he said, have not been amended up till now.

    Akinrinola said: “We observed that two things are involved in the upgrading of the college to a university. The first one is that you have legal angle, and also have professional angle to it. In the aspect of the legal area, you look at it, you have a law that established Adeyemi as a College of Education and since we are not in a military era, that law has not been replaced.

    “The fact that the Federal Executive Council pronounced the college upgraded is a good and welcome development for us but we believe that things must be done properly. The first thing is to get the law establishing Adeyemi College of Education amended to become a university before you start talking about the appointment of a vice chancellor. That law is still there; it has not been replaced.”

    The COEASU chair also faulted the government for treating the colleges like they are new institutions, ignoring the fact that they have principal officers whose tenures have not expired.

    “Looking at the appointment of the VC, it is faulty because we are not a new institution.   If it was a new university that was established, all you needed to do is to appoint a VC and a governing council.

    “But this is an established institution where we have staff and you are talking about appointment of a vice chancellor when you have a sitting provost whose appointment has not been terminated. His letter of appointment is still with him and has not been revoked.

    “Are we saying that the provost should continue to head the college of education within the university structure because up till now, he has not been given any other letter either to resign or to become an acting vice chancellor or to leave as a provost?” he said.

    Akinrinola also blamed the government for ignoring the professional procedure that should be followed in the appointment of vice chancellors for specialised institutions like the new universities of education.

    He said: “The issue of appointment must follow a professional procedure. If you are establishing a special university like our own University of Education, then, you must be mindful of who comes in as the Vice Chancellor.

    “In as much as you cannot take a teacher to go and head the university of medical sciences, or university of science and technology, so if you are talking of a University of education where you are to train teachers, the head of that institution should have teaching qualification because he is going to head the institution and provide leadership in terms of curriculum development, positioning the faculties and knowing what is expected of the faculties.

    “But if you bring in somebody who is a novice in education, someone who does not know anything about the theories of teaching and learning, how will that person cope? I don’t think we can cope with such person as lecturers.

    “So, the appointment of the Vice-chancellor should not be politicised. It is not about politics, it is about putting the right peg in a round hole.”

    The union chairman urged the government to revisit the appointment, saying:

    “We are putting it back to the government to review that appointment. We are not adverse to anyone. We are not saying that anyone should leave but we are saying that someone who is a professional teacher, who has teaching qualification, should be made to head the institution.

    “We are talking about sensitive issues that can boomerang because with someone who cannot harmonise between the old system and the intended new system there will be problem.  But if the provost is promoted to the acting vice chancellor, he will assist in the transition and the appointment of the substantive vice chancellor can come properly through, normal procedure by the governing council.

    “Don’t think the Provost is the one pushing us to react on this issue but we are concerned about the institution. We are talking about due procedure, professional ethics. I am a teacher and you ask me to go and head the state teaching hospital. I believe that the medical doctors and nurses will not allow me to sit on the seat,” he said.

    National Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the alumni association, Yemi Olugbamigbe also urged the Buhari administration to revisit the issue and appoint a credible candidate with teaching qualification.

    The association said there were challenges that might undermine the smooth take-off of the university if the government refused to do the right time.

    He said: “A period of moratorium is required within which there would be the necessary harmonisation of supervision, programmes, staff cadres etc. And this period of transition should be jointly monitored by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) while the existing governing council is retained.

    “The hasty appointment of vice chancellors for the institutions which already have chief executive officers interviewed and appointed by the same Federal Government is counter-productive and could lead to administrative crisis.

    “The governing council ought to draw the criteria for the selection of vice chancellors after the period of moratorium and qualified candidates should be made to sit for an interview where only the most suitable should be appointed.”

    A lecturer, Akeem Baderinwa, said it may be difficult for the vice-chancellor appointee to add any value to the institution.

    “He has no teaching qualification and his professional course is not being taught in our school.  How will he add value to the school?  Government must revisit his appointment and do the needful in order to avoid backwardness in our great institution,” he said.

    Another worker, Festus Dada, alleged that he was informed that the appointed VC has been away from the academia for over 12 years, wondering how such a person would cope in the institution.

    But, a non-teaching staff, Haruna Akinrinmade cautioned the stakeholders against taking any action that might delay having a substantive vice-chancellor in the institution.

    “As this issue is going, the government may like to revisit the matter and at the end terminate the appointment of the VC, Peter-King, thereby giving room for an acting vice-chancellor and you know the long process that involves in the selection of a vice-chancellor?”

    A student of English, Korewole David, recalled that in appointing provosts for the college, people with teaching qualifications were always considered, wondering why government did not follow the same path in appointing the VC.

    He said the immediate past Provost of the college, Prof. Idowu Adeyemi, and his successor, Prof Olukoya Ogen are alumni of the college.

    “I think the appointment of the new VC is political and should be revisited. Adeyemi has remained one of the best colleges in the country and the reward was what gave us the chance to be upgraded as University of Education. Adeyemi was able to be among the best colleges just because the appointment of previous and present provost have always been done in line with professional procedure.

    “Now that the institution is now a university, we want more progress that will make the school to be ranked among the best in the world. For the institution to get the best status, it must start from the head which involves the appointment of a credible vice-chancellor and Governor Council,” he said.

    But, student of History, Jumoke Lawal, said they can’t wait to receive the new vice chancellor.

    Defending the appointment, the Director of Information, University of Uyo, Mr Godfrey Essien, who confirmed that Peter-King is a Professor of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the university, noted that he was qualified to run the new university of education.  He described the position of a vice chancellor as more administrative than academic.

    “As a professor, Richard King is qualified to run any university. One does not need to be an education professor in order to qualify to manage an education university,” Essien said.

    Things are not different at the Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri. The workers and students are not excited with the appointment of Prof Sadiq Zubair Abubakar as the pioneer Vice Chancellor of the Alvan Ikoku University of Education.

    According to The Nation findings, the majority of the workers believe that it is a political settlement for the appointee.

    They condemned the appointment, noting that it will hamper the smooth take-off of the university.

    They argued that the Provost, Dr Blessing Ijioma, an associate professor, would have been in the best position to pioneer the new university.

    It was also learnt that the appointment has divided the leadership of COEASU. Many  members are kicking against the government.

    The Chairman of COEASU, Mrs. Ukachi Wachukwu, declined comment. However, she is among those who expressed confidence in Dr Ijioma’s ability to run the upgraded institution.

    Another member of the union who did not want to be named, expressed fears that the incoming VC will not keep the pace of activities in the institution.

    “The Alvan Ikoku College of Education, now a University of Education, cannot be compared to other conventional universities. We have a different makeup, which requires in-depth experience to manage. If the Federal Government wants the university to succeed, the key appointments should not be used for political settlements, it should be based on merit and capacity,” the source said.

    The new Vice Chancellor for the Federal University of Education, Zaria (former FCE, Zaria), Prof Mohammed Abdullahi Kolo, has resumed.

    Kolo was the Vice Chancellor of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai in Niger State.

    The Nation gathered that, Kolo reported at the institution early in the week.

    When our correspondent visited the school, the issue dominated discussion among students.

    The Head of Public Rations Unit, Hajia Rakiya Sidi, also confirmed that the new Vice Chancellor had reported.

    She also said the Provost, Dr. Mukhtar Ibrahim Maccido,  would automatically become the Deputy vice chancellor after the expiration his tenure.

    She said there is no formal communication yet to the college on the conversion.

  • Power to appoint VCs; ‘Litmus test’ for varsities

    Power to appoint VCs; ‘Litmus test’ for varsities

    Many universities appear to be finding it difficult managing the power granted them by the Federal Government to appoint their vice chancellors. This seems to have placed a burden on Governing Councils some of which have been accused of misusing the power, reports ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA.

    It is a power they longed for, but now many universities are finding it difficult to manage the power. In the past one year, crisis has been trailing their use of this power to appoint Vice Chancellor (VCs).

    For years, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) fought for the right of universities to choose their VCs.  President Goodluck Jonathan granted them power on assuming office in 2010, ending the practice of sending the names of three shortlisted candidates to the visitor to pick from.

    Can universities sustain this partial autonomy as contained in the University Miscellaneous Provision Act approved by the president in 2013?

    Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) Prof Julius Okojie is worried over the universities, capability to cope, but he believes they can pull through. Addressing the 29th edition of the Association of the Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) meeting held Afe Babalola University in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, Okojie said the autonomy has placed a cross on Governing Councils to live up to expectations.

    The government, Okojie said, is watching how the councils will henceforth, handle appointment of VCs, which he described as a litmus test.

    “They (Councils) can (manage the autonomy)!” Okojie said. “We must realise that it is only the Councils that have the right to approve the VCs’ appointment; it no longer comes from government. The President cannot sack the VC, but it can sack the Council if members are not doing well. But the challenge now is for universities to live up to expectation and manage the autonomy well.”

    Okojie said more than before the government will scrutinise the profile of those it appoints into the governing councils of universities and other tertiary institutions. With credible people on board, he is optimistic that the councils will follow due process in appointing VCs accepted by all.

    He spoke in light of the crisis that followed the selection of a vice chancellor for the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), where the governing council chairman, Alhaji Lawan Bukar Marguba, allegedly unilaterally cancelled the selection of Prof Ibrahim Njodi, who came first with 90.1 per cent.  (His closest rival scored 31.5 per cent).  The cancellation did not stand.

    The Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike has condemned the ethnic tendencies of some councils in choosing vice chancellors.

    When he met with heads and chairmen of boards of tertiary institutions in Abuja, he said any qualified Nigerian could administer tertiary schools, regardless of his or her state or local government of origin.

    He said: “There is something that is occurring that if we do not stop now, it will be a problem. On the issue of appointment (communities) are trying to localise appointment of vice chancellors, rectors and provosts. For example in Rivers State, we have the Federal College of Education, Technical, Omoku. You have people from Rivers State who are lecturers; you have people who are not from Rivers state. For Christ sake, it is not a college of education for that community. It is a federal government school but in that community.

    “Therefore, it does not mean that if you are from outside the state, you cannot be a provost or rector in that institution. We are not happy about it. And, one has to state clearly, as the government position is that we should stop this idea of localizing this position. We are not saying that those who are qualified from that place and who can compete with their colleagues should not be given. But, this attitude that is coming in now that ‘he is from Rivers, he is from Anambra, he is from Enugu or he is from Sokoto; no, please make sure that our own sons, our own daughter get it’. That is not the essence of sighting institutions in those areas.

    He also spoke strongly against unnecessary interference of host communities in the running of tertiary institutions.

    “We have even got to a level whereby a traditional ruler is telling you whether a Vice Chancellor is performing or not; whether a rector is performing or not; whether a provost is performing or not. Is that is the question you are supposed to ask? There is nothing wrong in you having a good relationship with your host community. But, a situation whereby the community begins to decide who becomes provost or who becomes rector, it has never happened. And, if we allow that to continue, by the time it gets to a level where nobody can control it, then, we will be in serious problem,” he said.

    Wike is worried the problem has become a recurring.  In March, he described as unacceptable the insistence of the Nsukka community that the then VC of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Prof Bartho Okolo, and the Chairman of Council, Dr Emeka Enejere, should be removed.

    At the university’s 43rd convocation, Wike said: “My address would not be complete if I do not make reference to the recent disturbing developments in this university. While I am pleased that peace and normalcy have returned to the university, let me seize this occasion to reiterate that federal institutions should not be seen as the property of the communities or states in which they are situated.”

    According to the VC, Federal University, Gashua in Yobe State, Prof Shehu Abdul-Raman, a lot of malpractices work against the governing councils and university autonomy.

    “Though Council is now empowered to appoint vice-chancellor, the way it is being handled is not appropriate. We may say that Council is following normal procedure, but there are lots of irregularities, selfishness and money exchanging hands which may not help the autonomy.

    “Politics has entered constitution of our council. So we see people even individuals with OND who don’t even know about university administration being appointed council members. We need people that are sound and financially strong enough to support the university. What we have today are Council members chosen because of their political parties’ affiliations.”

    Vice Chancellor, Bowen University in Iwo, Osun State, Prof Matthew Ojo said:

    “Our own (Bowen) council enjoys 100 autonomy; we don’t have any intervention from the proprietor. We just concluded the process of appointing Registrar and Bursar and there was no interference from anybody.

    “But I know in federal universities, the game must be different. More than half the members of Council are political appointees; and this will reflect on the quality of what they do with the autonomy. The Chairman of Council who is appointed by government in most cases is a politician or a political appointee.  If the number of council members by government is less than 50 per cent, then we might be getting somewhere,” he said.

    Deputy Vice Chancellor and Senior Vice-President Academics & Administration, Adeleke University, Osun State Prof Ibikunle Tijani told The Nation that government it influences the governing councils.

    He said the government should end the practice of appointing people into c council for political reward.

    “Until government stops the selection of council members on the basis of political or ethnic leaning, such members will never have independence of mind,” he said.

    To be completely free of government influence, Chief Afe Babalola, founder, Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), suggests that the government should allow tertiary institutions to choose their councils.

    He said: “The process of appointment into Governing Council should be made an exclusive affair of universities. A system should be put in place in which council members will be elected by the university community.  This will ensure ability of the council to formulate policies and strategies for the university without undue government influence.

    “The most interesting aspect of the composition of the Governing Council relates to the appointment of 12 persons who are supposed to represent a variety of interest. However, what most government at the state and federal levels do is to appoint people based on political considerations. There have been reported cases of Council members requesting either contracts or even cash for members of their constituencies in the belief that they were appointed to serve the interest of the said constituencies and not the institution itself.”

    Besides, Babalola said the government also has to stipulate a tenure for council members so they can function properly.

    He said: “To allow Council to function, members must be assured of the certainty of their tenure. This entails the immediate composition of Council as and at when required. A situation in which government will fail or refuse to constitute the Governing Council of universities for several months is not one that augurs well for proper administration and accountability.

    “Aside that this development is retrogressive; it also discourages Nigerians from accepting service on universities’ Governing Council.  Who, afterall, will be willing to accept such appointment when he is likely, before the expiration of his tenure to face the indignity of having the dissolution of Council of which he is a member announced on the media without any prior notice and without even the simplest appreciation of acknowledgement of services rendered by him?”

    Chairman, of Lagos State University (LASU) chapter of ASUU Dr Adekunle Idris believes the council will not compromise its position if the quality of membership can be vouched for.

    “The law says the minimum qualification is BS.C. But we are not talking about only first degree here but how many among them are administrators?  And how many years of administrative experience do they have? For us in ASUU, we have always agitated for individuals such as retired vice-chancellors, professors, registrars and bursars with a rich mix of other distinguished individuals from the private sectors,” he said.

  • VCs may stop indiscriminate award of honorary degrees

    VCs may stop indiscriminate award of honorary degrees

    The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities is set to stop any university from awarding honorary degrees to undeserving politicians and businessmen, especially those who have reduced such honour to a means to attract money bags.

    The Vice Chancellor of the Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida University (IBBU) Lapai, Prof Ibrahim Kolo, said this at the induction of the former president of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Abubakar Gimba and Prof Mohammed Daniya, a renowned Physicist into the Hall of Fame of foundation fellows of IBBU by the university Senate.

    Kolo said indiscriminate honorary degrees to politicians and businessmen on ‘cash and carry basis’ has been of concern to the committee which now resolved at its meeting at Keffi, Nassarawa State to forestall the ugly development.

    Kolo said: “It has been brought to the attention of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigeria Universities that the manner in which some universities were awarding degrees to those who do not deserved them was becoming un-becoming.

    “People are being given awards not for their tangible contributions to the university or the society but on the basis of what they can offer to the university,” he said.

    He said the committee resolved to stop any university from abusing award of doctorate degrees.

    “When somebody is awarded a doctorate degree by any university, it should be in recognition of his or her selfless service and tangible contributions that individual has made to the university and not because of money such individual will give to the university,” he said.

    On the recognition to the two recipients, Kolo said the university Senate considered their immeasurable contributions to the development of the university and selfless service to the society.

    The Vice Chancellor said but for the yet-to takeoff university’s post-graduate programme, the pair deserved to have been bestowed with IBBU honorary degrees.

    Responding, Gimba thanked the management of the university for the honour. He said he was happy at the developmental strides of IBBU despite being in existence for less than a decade.

    A former vice-chancellor of the university, Prof Daniya agreed with Gimba, saying he was proud to be associated with the university.

    He said that the university has been built on strong foundation. He urged stakeholders to support the institution towards attaining greater heights

     

  • VCs, others urged to study educational administration

    A Professor of Educational Management at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Noah Oyedeji has suggested that vice-chancellors and other top administrators of educational institutions undergo a postgraduate diploma (PGD) in educational management to enable them run schools better.

    He said this when he delivered the 140th inaugural lecture of the university titled: “Education anomaly and the educational administrator.”

    The don said the theories and principles of the programme would guide them in the administration of their institutions.

    “All educational administrators such as head teachers, principals, provost, rectors and vice chancellors should acquire postgraduate diplomas in educational management so that they can be familiar with theories and principles guiding educational administration,” he said.

    Oyedeji also advised that educational administrators should work with the government to prevent strikes so that the academic calendar can be stable and standards maintained.

    He said when strike occurs, school activities are disturbed leading to such problems as lowered students’ academic performance, social menace by idle students and a disruption of the National Youth Service Corps programme.

    “There is the need for the educational administrators to work with the government to prevent strikes in institutions of learning because of the future consequences such strikes are most likely to have on the nation,” he said.

    Oyedeji also faulted the government’s insistence that universities should seek ways to improve their internally-generated revenue (IGR), saying that it has made institutions to lose focus and abandon their major role of human capital development to seek fund for sustenance.

    Though he lauded the idea of the IGR as a strategy to train students in entrepreneurship, he warned that it should not replace the government’s subvention as the major means of funding the institutions.

    Oyedeji also said the Federal Government allocation to the education sector in the past two years were grossly inadequate and called for increased funding.

    He said: “The government has abandoned its traditional role of substantially funding education which is a social institution. The government directs the institutions to source funds through Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to the extent that many tertiary institutions abandoned their major role of human capital development (training) to the establishment of organs for the production of goods that can be sold to generate funds for sustenance.”

     

  • VCs deliberate on varsities’ success

    VCs deliberate on varsities’ success

    The Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) has urged Federal and state governments to stop appointing Governing Council chairmen on the ground of political relationship.

    They advocate that the position should be given to those who have integrity and working experience at the university level.

    The university administrators made the submissions at the 28th AVCNU yearly conference held at the Federal University Technology, Akure (FUTA) last week.

    They noted that doing so would help Nigerian universities to achieve their targets of being rated among the best in the world.

    At the meeting, which had as theme: The Nigerian university system and the challenges and prospects of globalisation, they also deliberated on many other issues, including the appointment of governing council chairmen, union issues, and funding.

    AVCNU, which comprises Vice-Chancellors of both private and public universities, also seeks more funding of higher institutions, urging the government to also extend financial assistance to private universities.

    They noted that inadequacy of funding by university proprietors is a major cause of declining education quality.

    The Vice-Chancellors warned that proliferation of universities without increased funding will pose challenges to the new public universities.

    The communiqué reads: “Teaching/learning and research take place in resource-poor contexts therefore making it near impossible for Nigerian universities to measure up in an increasingly competitive global knowledge economy. The availability of infrastructure such as energy and telecommunication is a critical need in Nigerian universities.”

    The Vice Chancellors also called for the introduction of students’ loans and scholarships as well as endowments to increase funding sources outside government and private proprietors.

    “Funding from the private sector is inadequate because Nigerians do not know how to give to worthy causes. Philanthropy should be encouraged in order to have more advancement in the university system while differentiating between genuine advancement and ‘Cash and Carry Advancement’ that compromises our integrity.”

    They also underscored the importance of STEM education at all levels of education system to make room for the development of intellectual capability, creativity and innovation and recommended the need “seek innovative and workable solutions to instability in the university occasioned by student and staff union issues.”

    “There is a need to put Unionism in the right perspective to be responsive and responsible to nation building as it used to be,” they said.

    The Vice-Chancellors commiserated with the family of the deceased and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in a communiqué issued after.

    The communiqué issued and signed by the AVCNU Chairman, Prof. M. H. Muhammad reads: “Lastly, the AVCNU received the sad news of the passing on of Prof Festus Iyayi of the University of Benin, and a past President of ASUU in a ghastly motor accident on the Lokoja-Abuja road with shock and devastation. The conference mourned his loss and prayed for his family, ASUU and University of Benin and indeed the entire NUS to be strengthened with fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”

     

  • How graduates can get jobs, by VCs

    How graduates can get jobs, by VCs

    Graduate unemployment is no longer a Nigerian but a continental problem. Vice-Chancellors, who gathered in Libreville, Gabon, for the 13th General Conference of the Association of African Universities (AAU), discussed the way out, reports KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE.

    Who is to blame for graduate unemployment. This poser took vice-chancellors (VCs), deputy vice-chancellors (DVCs), other representatives of universities, governments, funding and research agencies four days to answer at the 13th General Conference of the Association of African Universities (AAU) held in Libreville, Gabon, last week.

    Under the theme: Transforming African higher education for graduate employability and socio-economic development, the participants wondered whether the universities were at fault; whether their curricula were inappropriate. They also examined the government’s role in providing jobs and evolving policies that promote economic activities, which in turn, create jobs. They discussed the role of public/private partnership; and considered how graduates could be taught to become self employed.

    Prof Bruno Bekolo Ebe, Recteur, Université de Douala, Cameroon, said during one of the group discussions that he could not understand why doctors and engineers would be roaming without jobs when hospitals in his country lacked sufficient doctors. Was this a problem of the curriculum?

    “I want to give examples and see if it is a problem of curricula. In my country, there is a shortage of doctors because we don’t train enough. Yet you find doctors without jobs. We also do not train enough engineers, pharmacists, nurses, but you find them roaming the streets,” he said.

    In interviews with The Nation, many did not agree that the curricula in most African universities were inferior and responsible for producing graduates without relevant skills to survive in the labour market. Rather, they highlighted factors they said were responsible for graduates spending three to five years in the university but fail to get jobs after graduation.

    These factors include dwindling spaces in the labour market due to poor economy, poor infrastructure, and preference for paid employment rather than creating jobs; politics and others.

    Prof Arinola Sanya, DVC (Administration), University of Ibadan (UI), does not think the curriculum is a major problem. She said many African graduates who get an opportunity to travel abroad get competitive jobs and do well. She attributed the problem to politicisation of employment by the government, such that only those with influence get available jobs.

    She said: “Talking from my own experience at the UI, I will not say that our graduates are not good. When you conduct interviews, you find it difficult choosing the best out of the whole lot, because they are all very good. The problem is not with our curriculum. Of course, we need to review the curriculum regularly to accommodate changing trends. But I think the issue in Nigeria is that everything is politicised, including employment. So, it is not that our graduates are unemployable; but I think if you are not well connected, you will not get employed.

    “I am of the feeling that the unemployment in Nigeria, the figure we are quoting, is not very accurate. It is true that a lot of ministries/parastatals have frozen appointments. That is publicly; but privately, jobs are given out to those who have the connection. And if you look properly, those ones have a previous job. They are just changing from one job to a better one. And that will not affect the percentage of the unemployed. Government should hands off politicising everything.”

    VC of Ajayi Crowther University in Oyo State Prof Timothy Jaiyeoba said the problem was now prominent because of the poor economy of most African states. He said industries were not doing as well as they used to do, thereby reducing job opportunities.

    “In some places it is not as if the graduates are not good. It is just that the industries are not employing as many as they would have done in the past because of the economic situation. Many of them don’t produce at maximum level, some because of power situation. They use generator and so on so there is a limit to what they are producing. You see that they do not need these graduates fully. Most of these industries too import their products from abroad. Which means the employment of those who produce these goods are also outside Nigeria,” he said.

    Sokoto State University VC, Prof Nuhu Yaqub, blames the government for the poor economy that has reduced the number of available jobs. The government had not helped businesses to thrive, he said because of poor infrastructure which increase the operating cost of businesses and makes them unprofitable. He added that non-diversification of the economy was also responsible for the problem.

    He said: “There is also the incapacity of the state to provide infrastructure. There is what is now generally referred to as infrastructural deficiencies – no light, no roads, no water. Invariably this also has repercussions on productivity and employment. In fact, it has also led to a situation whereby you have a situation of underemployment. Let me give you an example of myself. I wake up at midnight and I want to work on a paper to present for a conference and I discover there is no light. There is nothing I can do. I am employed; prepared to work; the facilities that will make me do my work to an optimal level are not there. So there is also the phenomenon of underemployment in most African states.

    “So, I think, therefore, that when we are talking about how universities could be geared to produce graduates that would be employed, we have to take these factors into consideration. The nature of the African states, the nature of the economy the African states are also operating, and, of course, the other dimensions – the nature of governance itself – you discover that there is so much corruption in Africa.”

    While many VC complained that government wasn’t doing enough, Great Zimbabwe University, VC Prof Rungano J. Zvobgo, blamed the universities for not preparing graduates for the job market. He said universities failed to be innovative with their curricula; university-industry linkages, and help students gain entrepreneurial skills to start businesses.

    He said yearly, his university succeeds in getting 80 per cent of its students jobs even before graduation through its one-year job placement scheme. He advised the universities to prepare students to create jobs rather than seek employment.

    “It is not enough for VCs to prepare students to graduate; they must also prepare students for the world of work. The public/private sectors don’t have sufficient jobs for all our students who graduate every year. What we have to do is to ensure that we have prepared our students with enough skills for them to be able to create employment for themselves and for others. And I gave the example of Zimbabwe where at my university, in the third year every student goes on what we call work-related learning.

    “This is a year during which a student is engaged in a place of employment related to his or her programme. The purpose of this is that the student would begin to learn how to apply the knowledge he/she acquired in the classroom on the work bench in the relevant area of study. This is useful because it is true that the employer begins to identify your strength and weaknesses. And if the student shows sufficient capacity to translate what he/she learnt in the classroom on the work bench, it has happened that a number of students in that category gets offers of employment before they come back to the university for their final year. It is also useful because some of the students, particularly the good, hardworking ones, are able to demonstrate that university education is not all about getting a degree. It about how you are going to apply is that degree to go to the world outside for you to be able to survive.”

    Prof Charles Nherera, VC, Women University in Africa, Zimbabwe, said attempts by VCs to blame government would be shooting themselves in the foot as they produce those who run the government.

    “I want us to take the blame. I want us to think that employability must expand to creating the employment ourselves. When we blame the government, politicians, infrastructure, we blame ourselves because we are the ones producing the people that create the problems,” he said.

    He added that his university has also been able to achieve a high employment rate of its products because of partnership with the alumni who help with placements. He advised others to adopt this model.

    “We have partnered with our alumni association in this regard. We inform them of students that need placement and they help fix them in places. As a result almost all our students get jobs shortly after graduation,” he said.

    Though the university has a role to play in graduate employability, VC of the University of Ghana, Legon, Prof Ernest Aryeetey submitted that university administrators are not to blame for all the problems in the system. He said there was a limit to what they could do from their offices in the universities.

    “It will be a shame if VCs think we can solve all the problems of our countries. There are things we can do and cannot do. If there are no markets, the people we train cannot get jobs. There are some responsibilities we can tackle. Our focus is on the curriculum. Every university has responsibilities to ensure the curriculum is relevant to the needs of the society,” he said.

    How can universities get robust curricula for their programmes, it is by involving the stakeholders on the review of the curricula regularly, says Prof Ibrahim Kolo, VC, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State.

    “We should state the difference between unemployment and unemployability. There is no way you cnat tie the question of unemployability to the curriculum. Every other person in the larger society should be concerned about this problem. We should get stakeholders of university education – parents, corporate organisations, industry, to participate to put the infrastructure and curriculum we require to link our students with the industry in place,” he said.

  • ‘VCs okay for electoral process’

    ‘VCs okay for electoral process’

    Accountant-General of the federation Mr Jonah Otunla has said the use of Vice-Chancellors as returning officers in the 2011 elections was a commendable move by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Otunla, who spoke at the Third Foundation Day lecture of Caleb University, Imota, Lagos, said the election was fair and credible, judging by the calibre of Vice-Chancellors who announced the results.

    “The 2011 election was a success because of the employment of VCs as INEC returning officers”, he said.

    He urged the INEC to consider appointing them in the 2015 general elections.

    His words: “In 2015, if INEC has no better alternative, I think it is best to re-employ the services of the VCs because it had the best result on the 2011 election, the idea of INEC using them as returning officers should continue”.

    Delivering a lecture entitled: The Impact of Quality Education on National Development: Where is Funding Situated? Otunla said rather than clamouring that private universities should be included in the funding circle of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Nigerian private universities must endeavour to do things that Nigerian public universities are not doing.

    He stated that the reason private universities want to benefit from government funds is because most of them are still at the developmental stage and have challenges of funds to expand their infrastructure and resources.

    “Education should not be seen as a commercial venture, it should be seen as a social service. Having regular funding from the government sources such as TETFund, would not actually be in the interest of the private universities. Instead, these institutions should work at developing such reputation that instead of them begging for money, others will come to them begging them to take their money”, he said.

    To enhance their funding and reputation base, Otunla enumerated leadership and management, quality human resources, value for money, research activities and infrastructure as things that can make Nigerian private universities stand out and build reputations that are insurmountable.

    “Reputation of universities is built on their research and related academic activities. Such activities would help in attracting funding from both government and private organisations such as companies and non-governmental agencies”, he said.

    As part of efforts to encourage accounting undergraduates at the university, he pledged an endowment fund of 100,000 for the best graduating Accounting student of Caleb university with effect from 2013.

    In his address, the Vice-Chancellor of Caleb University, Prof Ayodeji Olukoju, said the university is partnering with foreign and local institutions with encouraging results.

    “We have pursued prospects of partnership with foreign and local institutions and we are on our way to cementing one of the best partnerships and linkages in the Nigerian university system. It promises to be a windfall for our staff and students in many dimensions”, he said.