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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Panel indicts govt over decay in varsities
THE Federal Government was yesterday upbraided for its failure to meet its responsibilities in making the nation's universities real centres of academic excellence.
The criticism came when the Presidential Visitation Panel set up to appraise the nation's universities between 1999 and 2003 submitted its report to the Education Minister, Prof. Fabian Osuji, in Abuja.
But the minister promptly faulted the panel's submission, claiming that government was doing its best to fund education.
Submitting the report on behalf of other chairmen and members of committees, the chairman of the visitation panel to Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Dr. Alex Usman Kadiri, said the panels found some events that occurred in the universities between 1999-2003 as deplorable and unbelievable. The panels were sworn in on August 23.
"There were cases of dereliction of duties, refusal to carry out the directives of the visitor; poor performances of governing councils, most of which were unable to introduce a single productive idea for the development of their universities throughout their tenure, the report added.
"The report added that many vice-chancellors, though tough in action and conviction, had little or no regards for rules, fairness and procedures, with a good number of them developing phobia for consultation and dialogue.
"A good number of other principal officers lacked conviction about the needs of their high offices, thereby making the universities and their activities to revolve around the personality and the charm of the vice-chancellor", the report said.
Going further, Kadiri, who was the chairman of the Senate Committee on Education between 1999-2003, and a retired Director in the National Universities Commission (NUC), painted a gloomy picture of the rot in the universities such as dilapidated lecture theatres, laboratory equipment and obsolete teaching materials.
On funding, the spokesman took a swipe at the government for not living up to its responsibility, noting that the Federal Government had not funded the tertiary institutions properly and that ASUU's demand that Nigeria spend 26 per cent of her Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on Education as recommended by UNESCO has been ignored by successive governments.
"Besides, the panel discovered that the financial aspect of the FGN/ASUU agreement of June 30, 2001, with particular reference to Capital Restoration Funds, Education Trust Funds (ETF) disbursement in ratios 1:1:2 have not been implemented by the government," it added.
The report said: "ASUU therefore feels disappointed, deceived and let down. As a consequence, the universities are in total neglect and most ASUU staff now engage more impersonal pursuits rather than teaching and research and the university system is in distress."
On the issue of the retired and dismissed staff and students, the panel spokesman said the various visitation panels over which there were white papers as well as the Samuel Kolawole Babalola panel reports on victimised staff were still outstanding because of the alleged refusal of the universities to carry out the directives of the visitor. It added that such a position amounts to gross disobedience.
"This matter cannot be wished away, and it is doing grievous damage to our body polity. Asking direct and requesting the same institution to carry out further directive which they have rejected, ignored or objected to for five years will be, in our opinion, a waste of time."
The report therefore, advocated the setting up of a presidential implementation task force for the purpose of implementing the visitor's directives in the white papers of the 1999 and the report of the S.K. Babalola Committee.
"The envisaged task force, which we recommend, should operate for three months and it should handle all the pending cases from all the universities and tertiary institutions and report directly to the visitor."
On the governing councils, Kadiri's report said that even though they were supposed to be the beacon and guiding light for the universities, they have turned out to be the fora for stultifying the growth of the universities."
It added that "we hope and pray that men and women of impeccable integrity with background knowledge of how universities function and with above average academic credentials should be appointed into governing councils.
However, Osuji faulted aspects of the submission when he told reporters later that the government had been implementing some aspects of the recommendations.
Though he could not give exact details of the aspects so far implemented, he said there was no way government can wholly and at the same time implement all such recommendations.
He said that, not being new to the university system, "at least, when I was the pro-chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), I implemented all the aspects of the panel that visited the institution."
On funding, he said the Federal Government, more than any government in the past, has provided the tertiary institutions with adequate funds, particularly in the area of rehabilitation of hostels, classrooms and laboratories among others.
He, however, restated the determination of the Federal Government to quickly study the recommendations contained in the reports and release white papers.`
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