Kayode Olanrewaju 
…and persistent protests rock institution
- Unions accuse provost of incompetence, highhandedness
- I can’t talk on the issue, but I’ve documents to show you –Provost
CRISIS There is an uneasy calm at Federal College of Education, Technical (FCET), Akoka, Lagos, following the demand by the staff unions for the removal of the provost over allegations of highhandedness, intimidation of workers and lack of due process in award of contracts.
These are not the best of times for the authorities and workers of the Federal College of Education, Technical (FCET), Akoka, Lagos. The crisis rocking the college in the last few weeks came on heels of the insistence of the workers’ unions which are calling for the removal of the Provost.
The staff unions, comprising the Senior Staff Union in Colleges of Education, Nigeria (SSUCOEN) and Non-Academic Staff Union and Associated Educational Institutions (NASU), under the Joint Action Committee (JAC) are demanding for the immediate removal of the provost over allegations of incompetence and tyrannical rule levelled against him.
The crisis that has not only generated ill-feelings and sour relationship between the administration and the workers, but also continued to take its toll on the smooth running and management of the college, has pitted the workers against the administration of Dr Azeez Ademola Wahab, The aggrieved workers, who expressed deep concerns and dissatisfactions with Dr Azeez Ademola Wahab-led administration and called for his removal as the Provost of the college, vowed that only his removal could return peace, stability and development to the institution.
The workers, who have been at loggerheads with the Wahab’s administration have in the last few months embarked on protests daily on campus challenging the continued stay of the provost in office.
The unions, which told New Telegraph that their members would resume their protests tomorrow (Wednesday) after Sallah holiday, also declared that the protest would not stop until the Provost is removed, and an Acting Provost is named for the college to replace the embattled provost.
But, while the unions are demanding that the provost, whose tenure they alleged had since expired in May 26, 2024, should vacate office, the Provost was said to have also claimed that he had secured the approval and letter of reappointment for a second term in office.
Allegations
The JAC in a letter to the Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman on June 3, 2024, jointly signed by the Chairman, Austin Nwachukwu and Secretary, Kazeem O, entitled: “Protest by the staff of Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka: Why Dr Azeez Ademola Wahab should not continue in office as Provost, Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka-Yaba, alleged that under his administration, there have been numerous issues that have negatively impacted the staff, students and overall functioning of the institution.
Thus, the unions insisted that Dr Wahab should not continue in his role as Provost, and therefore called on the Minister that urgent action must be taken to address the various problems confronting the college as a result of the alleged maladministration.
The grouse of the unions that are demanding the removal of the Provost, include among others, usurpation of the duties of the Director of Works and Services Department. As part of their grievances, they accused the provost of sidelined most of the times the Director of Works when meeting with contractors and consultants
The Provost’s action has resulted in low morale, high stress levels and lack of trust among staff, students and management
on projects of the college, while he has permanently kept the Bill of Quantities and Drawings which are primarily supposed to be in the custody of the Director of Works. Based on this, the unions, however, cited the Fine Arts and School of Education Buildings in which the integrity of buildings and others were compromised because the structures were constructed without conforming to the statement of Bill of Quantities.
Also, the workers indicted the provost for alleged usurpation of the duties of the Registrar and Bursar of the college, due to power abuse and recklessness on the part of the provost.
“This has impacted negatively on the relationship between the Registrar on one hand and the Bursar on the other,” the letter reads in part, even as it noted that Dr Wahab could best be described as a “Sole Administrator,” who did not see anything wrong in his divisive leadership style.
The letter further added: “For instance, every submission to the Ministries of Finance and Education, NCCE, TETFund and PENCOM such as on personnel matters, administrative, financial, pension which are supposed to be taken and defended by the desk officers are personally been handled by the Provost who takes them to those agencies without recourse to any follow-up. “A look at the vouchers for his travels is calling for further investigation.
He also does not allow the committee system to work in the college, as the various committees in the college are mere symbols only on paper. In a year or two most of these committees do not meet as a result of the provost’s knack for stifling them.” Besides, the unions accused the provost of abusive and dictatorial rule, describing him as “very abusive, hostile and dictatorial,” thereby fostering a culture of fear and intimidation on the staff members.
According to JAC, the Provost’s action has resulted in low morale, high stress levels and lack of trust among staff, students and management. On the dwindling students’ enrollment and dilapidated hostel facilities and other infrastructure development, the JAC in the letter regretted that it is disheartening that the provost did not show interest and concern for the challenges besetting the college.
“The college that was boasting of about 3,000 students in the 2019/2020 academic session when Dr Wahab assumed office as Provost, the enrollment figure has since continued to drop rapidly to the extent that the current population of students in the NCE programme is 364 in the current 2023/2024 academic session.
“The non-signing of students’ certificates is largely responsible as those who have graduated and those who are in their final year are discouraging intending candidates not to apply to or enroll at the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka because they will not be issued their certificates as required.
Given the worrisome state of the toilets and other facilities in the college, which are dilapidated, unusable and epidemic-prone, and despite the fact that a bed-space ranges from N40,000 to N50,000, most students have resorted to sleeping either in the classrooms or open environment since the hostels are inhabitable.
Consequently, the unions, which are now crying out that they look towards working in an ambience of peace, administratively-friendly and conducive atmosphere for the overall development of the college and satisfaction for members of staff, called on the Minister that the members of staff are tired of the leadership Dr Wahab as the Provost and could no longer tolerate the high handedness and overbearing of his administration.
The JAC stressed: “We are, therefore, calling and appealing to the Moderator of the college to remove Dr. Ademola Azeez Wahab as the Provost of Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos, without further delay; and appoint an Acting Provost from among the Deans/Chief Lecturers pending the reconstitution of the Governing Council and its inauguration.
“We also call for the removal of the Acting Deputy Provost, whose appointment is inchoate and made at the instance of Dr Wahab, and to appoint an Acting Deputy Provost from among the Deans/ Chief Lecturers pending the reconstitution and inauguration of the Governing Council, as his appointment has also generated so much tension and uneasiness among the staff.”
They unions appealed to the Minister to take urgent action and intervene in the crisis as peace would automatically return to the college, even as they insisted that the provost should not be left under his whims and caprices to further destroy the college, a heritage of the Nigerian people without appropriate sanctions.
Other allegations levelled against the provost include poor cleaning and general sanitation in the college; hostile relationship of the college to the host community due to the leadership style of the provost; lack of repair of the college utility vehicles in which out of the 29 college vehicles, only nine are functional; failure of the management under the provost to adhere to due process for the award of contracts, which has been characterised by lack of transparency and accountability with reports of contracts being awarded without following due process.
“Projects were executed before awarding the Letter of Contracts, a practice which is contrary to and against the guidelines of the Bureau of Public Procurement in awarding of contracts. Indeed, this has led to the execution of substandard projects which affect the integrity of these projects,” the unions alleged.
The JAC, in its letter to the Minister, also blamed the provost for the deplorable condition of the College Medical Centre, which it claimed is in shambles without regular supply of drugs and power supply at night as medical personnel have to use torchlights or rechargeable lamps to carry out medical procedures.
Part of their grouse is the poor management of the College Revitalisation Fund, which aimed at improving the conditions of the college, but due to underutilisation of the first tranche released by the government with no clear-cut projects or where the funds were channeled.
According to the unions, the recent visits by the Ministerial Budget Monitoring Committee (MBMC) further revealed and gave credence to the abysmal performance by the funds, which it claimed other colleges had proper spent their first tranches and have met other conditions stipulated in the guidelines that enabled them to access the second tranche.
Management
However, when contacted through phone call, the Provost, Dr Wahab, who also declined comments on the crisis, told Our Correspondent that he would have preferred to see our reporter one-on-one before he could speak on the issues and unions’ allegations.
According to him, when he sees our reporter he would have to show some documents on the allegations levelled against him by the unions and the call for him removal. “I am very sorry, I can’t speak with you on the matter. I have been conscious not to speak on the phone particularly with someone I don’t know.
I would prefer we see one-on-one for me to speak with you because I will also like to show you some documents,” the Provost said. Also, when contacted, the Public Relations Officer for the college, Mr Erinfolami, declined comments on the matter, as he simply told New Telegraph: “I cannot speak on the issue. I am indisposed to talk about it.”
Tenure expiration
On the other development, the unions, which claimed that the tenure of the provost would expire in May 2024 and hence should vacate office or be removed, had in a letter written in April 8, 2024 to the Executive Secretary, National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), said the tenure of the current Provost of the college (Dr Wahab) would expire in accordance with the new Education Act by 26th May, 2024 after five years of a single term in office.
The unions’ letter was titled: Re- Federal Colleges of Education Act 2023: Request for proper and wholesome implementation to avoid crisis in the Colleges of Education Sector: Letter of Reminder.” But, the Provost, who supposed to have vacated office, according to JAC, has been misinforming the staff of the college at different fora that he has been reappointed for the second term in office.
For instance, the unions recalled that the Provost sometimes called a meeting of the Staff Congregation on December 6, 2023 and another meeting of the unions on the March 18, 2024, where he flew the kite of his second term, and informed the college community that he would not vacate office, but would continue till May 26, 2027 in line with the repealed Act of 1986.
The letter signed by Nwachukwu (SSUCOEN Chairman); Alonge (NASU Chairman); Kazeem (SSUCOEN Secretary); and Odukunle (NASU Secretary), stated: “It is important to inform you sir (NCCE Executive Secretary) that as a result of this, tension is already brewing in the college and staff are waiting and agitating because the same Act of 2023 affected the tenure of the Bursar and the College Librarian and they had since exited office and already replaced with Acting Bursar and Acting Librarian, accordingly.”
Similarly, the unions had on April 8, 2024, in a similar letter to the Chief of Staff to The President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, tagged: “Re-Federal Colleges of Education Act 2023: Concern about Non-Implementation of the Act,” expressed concerns about the lack of implementation of the Federal Colleges of Education Act, 2023, signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu since 12th June, 2023.
Act
Meanwhile, the Federal College of Education Act, 2023, No 43 Section 6, provided that the Provost shall hold office for a single term of five years only, beginning with the effective date of his appointment on the terms and condition, as may be specified in the letter of appointment.
The sub-section 7 of the Act says “If on the commencement of this section a Provost appointed before the commencement of this Act has held office for – (7a) less than five years, the Provost shall be deemed to be serving the five-year single term and shall not have right for the renewal of his appointment for a further term of four years. Also, (7b) of the Act further provides that “more than five years and serving the second term of office, be deemed to be serving the last term of office without further extension.
Based on these provisions, JAC, which also expressed strong belief that the Act was very crucial for the smooth running of Colleges of Education System, however, noted that observations showed that the law has not been implemented effectively in the colleges.
According to the unions, this action of non-implementation of the Act by the ministry has resulted in doubts at many levels in Colleges of Education, particularly as it affects the Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka, Lagos, where Section 13 (Sub-Section 7a and b) of the New Act 2023, is not been adhered to (Appendix I), and thereby causing tension in the college community.
However, the ministry, while responding to the unions’ letter, promised that due diligence would be done on the issue and ensured that the provisions in the New Act are complied with by the staff of the federal colleges of education in the country. It said: “Be assured that the ministry is committed to ensuring that the extent rules and regulations including the Federal College of Education Act, 2023 are adhered to by the staff of its institutions.”
But, despite the repeated assurance given the unions by the ministry in its letters, the unions while speaking with New Telegraph, wondered why the ministry has been trying to subvert the Act by using its Legal Unit to misinterpret the provisions in the Act in favour of the some Provosts, whose tenure had expired to stay in office.
He bemoaned that the action of the Minister for sending a delegation of the ministry to the college on June 12, 2024 during the Democracy Day holiday to investigate the crisis in the college is suspect. “Why should June 12, a holiday, be an appropriate time for the Minister to choose for such a visit and investigation, in view of the crisis and various letters written to the ministry by the union,” the union lamented.
Besides, the union accused the ministry of supporting the action of the Provost, who the union alleged of bringing armed policemen into the campus, with a letter claiming that the Dr Wahab has been reappointed as provost of the college, and hence he should be reinstated and allowed into his office by the workers.
The delegation of Federal Ministry of Education to the college, led by a Director in the ministry, Dr Uba and the Chairman of Committee of Provosts in Nigeria, Prof Farouk, assured the protesting workers that the Minister, Prof Mamman, is passionate about the issue and stability of the college, as well as the welfare of staff members and students. “We are here to see what is happening. What are the issues and your grievances so as to report back to the Minister? The Minister is not happy with what is happening here in the college.
“We are here to meet and listen to the unions and even individuals about your grievances, because the minister wants a final solution to the logjam in the college. But, I want to urge you all to conduct yourselves well and control your emotion so that we can listen to you as you articulate your grievances,” they delegation said.
