The Honourable Minister of Education (HME), Professor Tahir Mamman, SAN, OON, has warned the newly inaugurated Governing Councils of tertiary institutions against extravagant expenses in the course of discharging their duties as prudent management of the institutions finances would lead to their growth and development in line with the Federal Government expectations.
He also reminded them that the laws stipulated that as appointees, they were appointed on a part-time basis and not as full-time employees or managers of the institutions. He made the clarifications last Thursday at the Idris Abdulkadir Auditorium of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Abuja during the inauguration of the newly appointed members of the Governing Councils for Federal Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education.
Professor Mamman, who frowned at some reported cases of chairpersons of councils making extravagant demands like chartered aircraft to attend functions and a house in the capital city, among others, said these were beyond the jurisdictions of the council members and they should thus, desist from such. The Minister’s concerns stemmed from the perceived conduct of some appointees of governing councils of institutions who reportedly compete with the institutions’ management officials for the day-to-day management of the institutions.
He insisted that their activities as members of Governing Councils are on a part-time basis and that emoluments and benefits of part-time employment are defined across the country. “I will mention with some hesitation but it’s very important. Councils are on a part-time basis, they operate on a part-time basis not full time, either chairman or members,” he said.
“We have reports of what happened in the past, where some Pro-Chancellors wanted chartered aircraft each time they wanted to go for functions, whether it’s convocation, or a trip to Abuja,” he said. “They want to have houses in Abuja. This is a real report. The government has, for a long time, monetised – taken itself out of the provision of houses for staff – except, of course, on the campuses.”
The Minister tasked the newly inaugurated councils to avoid such large expenses, noting that President Bola Tinubu has a habit of letting go of anyone found wanting immediately after they are reported to have committed infractions.
He said: “Please let us avoid these things because we have a President who has zero tolerance for corruption. I can tell you one thing I learned from my President, among other things, if something breaks out in the media and it is negative, you are out the following day.
“The President doesn’t sit down waiting for evidence. Before you start arranging long papers, long evidence. No! He acts decisively. Usually, these kinds of things happen around quarrels about money. So Councils should try to avoid that.”
The HME said, there is a clear line of operations between the university management and the Governing Councils of the tertiary institutions. Also, he warned the councils against circumventing the university’s establishment and miscellaneous Acts and other relevant laws in the appointments of the institutions’ Principal Officers.
He said the process of appointing the Principal Officers for the institutions is clearly provided for by the laws.
“There is no grey area on how Principal Officers emerge. All you need to do is to apply those laws and I tell you you will sleep well. It is when you skip the regulations and the laws that you won’t sleep well because you will be seeing series of petitions either to you or over your head to us. Either way, it’s not good,” he said.
He pointed out that accurate data was key to informed decision-making, resource allocation, research, and strategic planning in the education sector.
According to him, it is for this reason that DOTS, which addresses the learning crisis in the nation’s education system is being implemented as a service-wide policy, aimed at attaining set goals in the sector, which in turn would help the Ministry attain reliable, verifiable, and authentic data that are essential for interventions by Government and International development partners.
The Minister also tasked them to steer their respective institutions towards multiple sources of funding, saying the government cannot single-handedly meet the financial needs of all the tertiary institutions. He asked them to explore diverse sources of funding, including partnerships with the private sector and international organisations, alumni, and through endowment and sponsored research.
He also listed other challenges ahead of the newly inaugurated councils including addressing the grievances of staff unions based in their respective institutions, sexual violence, and unstable academic calendar.
He urged them to cultivate good relationship with the University-based unions, warning them against trying to stifle the activities of unions on the campuses as it is a constitutional and international right for both staff and students to unionise.
He further asked them to see the unions on their campuses as partners and engage in periodic conversations to find solutions to the challenges of their institutions. “Don’t treat them as if you have different aspirations. Treat unions as partners. That’s the most important thing to understand. They are partners. Let them know your aspirations are the same as their own. A lot of time the difference is about how to go about achieving the aspirations,” he added.
The Minister also lamented that the education system has suffered the most, from the mass emigration of professionals abroad.
Though rarely acknowledged, no sector has lost more professionals to emigration, widely known as the ‘Japa’ syndrome, than the education sector, Professor Mamman, noted.
He said despite the brain drain in the tertiary education sector, more private institutions are springing up to compete with the existing ones for the few lecturers available.
The Minister noted that it takes at least 15 years to train a professional to the doctorate level, noting that when such a person emigrates, it’s a loss for the country and the system that trained them. “Many at times we talk about the medical personnel, but I can confirm to you that we have lost more teachers in Nigeria than any other sector, especially for teachers in the tertiary institutions,” he said. “In the face of this loss, we now have private universities coming up, competing for the same staff with the public universities.”
He therefore, charged the newly inaugurated governing councils “to rethink how we can bridge this gap, how we can bring back qualified people into the teaching profession and support them to provide the necessary manpower”.
Speaking earlier, Minister of State for Education (HMSE), Dr. Tanko Yusuf Sununu, expressed confidence in the present crop of eminent, quintessential, well respected Nigerians in the councils, who have contributed immensely to the growth and development of Nigeria in their various fields of endeavour.
While congratulating them, he said that Nigerians have been yearning for quality functional education, fit-for-purpose and for sustainable development and that which would equip the citizens and make them competent to deal with global emerging issues.
He explained that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinibu was determined to give Nigerians the best education at all levels in his Renewed Hope Agenda, adding it was the reason government chose each of them as the right foot soldiers in achieving this laudable agenda.
In his goodwill message, the Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Mr. Chris J. Maiyaki, praised the giant strides Nigeria Tertiary Institutions had taken and urged the universities specifically to embrace digital technology so as to be globally relevant and effective, to contribute to national development.
He lamented that the various events that were undertaken by the tertiary institutions in the past such as convocation ceremonies was no longer interesting, with some alien things being introduced these days, noting that the NUC would work with relevant stakeholders in order to establish the Minimum guidelines for the conduct of Ceremonies in the nation’s Universities. He, however, urged the Governing Council members to restore sanity and bring back the old glory of tertiary Institutions.
The Executive Secretary, National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) Professor Paulinus Chijioke Okwelle, congratulated members of the Governing Council and expressed confidence that they would add value to the education system.
Also, the Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris M. Bugaje, urged them to find a way to tame the intransigences of the staff union to stop the incessant strike actions so as to meet the President’s vision for education. He reminded the Governing Council members that education is about service and wished them the best while discharging their duties.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Chief Wole Olanipekun, who spoke on behalf of the appointees, appreciated the Federal Government for finding them worthy to serve the nation and pledged their commitment to the progress of the tertiary institutions.
He said that tertiary institutions should be made independent and productive through Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and should be absolved from the Civil Service structure. While going down the memory lane, he recalled as Chairman Governing Council, University of Ilorin, how the university was to generate funds from within.
Chief Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, however, appealed to the Minister to convey the councils’ message to President Bola Tinubu that the institutions should be exempted from the Treasury Single Account (TSA). “Education is so keen, so germane that it can’t generate revenue under such a structure of civil service, he said. He pleaded for harmony between the university management and the members of the governing council and charged them to build and not to destroy.
He lamented that the learning delivery in tertiary institutions had been too theoretical and not beneficial to the country, stating that there should be a melting point between theories and practicals.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education (FME), Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, thanked God for using President Bola Ahmed Tinibu to approve the reconstitution of the Governing Councils. She appreciated the Minister of Education for inaugurating the governing council and also for his role in making the event a success. While thanking the members for accepting to serve because of their love for Nigeria, she urged them to serve with wisdom.
Among the Pro-Chancellors and Chairmen of the Councils of universities include: Nigerian statesman, Major General Ike Nwachukwu (Rtd) for University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN ); His Excellency, former Governor of Bauchi State, Mr. Isa Yuguda the Chairman, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Governing Council and the APC Governorship Candidate in the 2023 Kano State election, Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, for Bayero University Kano (BUK) as well as the Immediate Past Speaker of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ibrahim Balarabe Abdullahi, as Chairman, Governing Council, Federal Polytechnic Damaturu Yobe State, among others.
At the Inauguration Ceremony were the Acting Directors of: Inspection and Monitoring (DIM), Mrs Lydia Imoroa; Finance and Account (DFA), Mrs Hauwa Amos; Students (DOS), Ms. Rita Nneka Okonjo; Human Resources (DHR), Mrs Victoria Omorodion and Public Affairs (DPA), Ms. Offiong U. Edor.