All is not well with our universities, but everyone, including myself, wants to be a Vice-Chancellor. The VC of a broken system. The funding crisis is getting deeper, and there is no sight that it will get better, but we are fighting to head the underfunded universities with traumatized workers. The TETFund, a product of ASUU struggle that is the only intervention body for the tertiary institutions, will cease to be able to perform its functions by 2030 if the proposed tax reformed bill eventually gets passed.
But guess what? We are not talking about it. We are not discussing the challenges and the way forward. We are rather fighting over who becomes the next VC of our universities. From Awka to Abuja to Zaria to other universities, everyone wants to be a VC. People who have no idea of how to find solutions to even the current electricity challenge in public universities want to be VC. They thought all it takes to be a VC is to have been a HoD, Dean/Director, DVC or Acting VC.
It is indeed very simple to be a VC if a powerful interest
wants to make you one. All it takes is to have been made a HoD for a year, a
Dean for a year, a Director of a Centre for another year. If you are lucky to
become a professor as a Director, you can be appointed as a DVC for another
year. You have made it, as this qualifies you to be appointed as an Acting VC.
If, as a "baby professor", you are lucky to become an Acting VC, that
is a stamp. You will have people who have no idea how the university works
defending you that as an Acting VC, you are the most qualified to become the
substantive VC.
Of course, you can be a VC in any Nigerian public University
as long as you can play your game and have some key members of the Governing
Council in your pocket. To some, running a Nigerian public university as a VC
is quite easy. It's basically about coordinating the university to ensure
TETFund intervention projects are executed. You sit over how the fees paid by
students are spent, etc.
The departments teach and examine the students. Sometimes,
the departments don't receive what they need to function, but they get the job
anyhow. Then, as the VC, you chair the Senate meeting to award the degree. And
before you know it, 5 years are gone. There is no innovation. Anybody can do
it. Maybe I should have applied to be a VC (university coordinator). After all,
I was once a Director and should have the "capacity" to do the
coordination.
Surprisingly, most of us who want to be VCs don't know why
we want to be aside from becoming university coordinators. I attended one of
the ABU congregations in 2008, where the research budget of the university was
discussed. The then VC made a comment that I still find it difficult to forget,
16 years after. He said, "The funding crisis in the public universities is
real. We are getting toward a time when we will have to start looking for
business executives with track records to hire as VCs to manage our universities."
The statement was a reflection of the funding challenges of
our public universities. I am not sure if most people in the congregation that
day reflected on the statement. He meant we need problem-solving VCs with the
capability to address challenges such as funding, governance, and resource
constraints effectively. We need a VC with the right mindset and skills to look
for money for the university.
The public universities are broke yet over 80 applicants
want to be the next VC of a single university. Are they going to fix it, or is
it just for personal gain? What have they got to offer? How do they intend to
improve the funding and the welfare of staff that can't drive to work anymore?
They left that for ASUU to fight.
I remember that the academics of yesteryear were running
away from leadership appointments for fear of interference with their primary
responsibilities: research and teaching. Now we lobby and fight dirty for
positions just like street politicians. We are academics, people of unique
orientation. I don't want to believe we have lost that status. The quest for
leadership, especially within the university, should not be a do-or-die affair.
The established process should not be messed up. We will be ridiculing ourselves.
The position of a VC is not the same as a class monitor. The
role demands a combination of academic excellence, administrative experience,
visionary leadership, and ethical integrity. A VC should drive innovation in
response to technological, societal, and educational changes. A competent VC
must inspire confidence, unify diverse interests, and position the university
for growth and global recognition. How do we achieve this if we allow the
politics of VC selection to tear us apart? As a matter of fact, If you have the
quality, you need not fight dirty to be a VC. It will be seen and acknowledged
by the selection committee.
The university is supposed to provide a model that society
should emulate. Sadly, we are rather emulating the society in our leadership
selection. We should stop making a mockery of the university's leadership
selection process. The selection process of the sacked Awka VC is already an
insult to what the university stands for, and we should learn from that. Let it
not be repeated in Abuja or any other university. The University Councils
should take note. ASUU must ensure that the selection due process is followed.
By
Prof. Abdelghaffar Amoka Abdelmalik, PhD.
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
aaabdelmalik@abu.edu.ng.
Copyright © Amoka 2024
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