CONFERENCE For five days, ProChancellors/Governing Council Chairmen, and egg-heads of stateowned universities across the country, and other key stakeholders gathered in Lagos to re-strategise and redirect the focus of the institutions for optimal performance

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For five days, Pro-Chancellors and Chairmen, Governing Councils of state-owned universities converged on Lagos to redirect and deepen the developmental re-orientation of the system, so as to chart the way forward for state universities.

The forum, held between July 8 and 12 at the Providence Hotel, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, was the 7th Biennial Conference of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-Owned Universities (COPSUN), hosted by the Lagos State University (LASU).

Essentially, the conference served as a pivotal platform for discussing, brainstorming, and shaping the future of higher education in Nigeria by providing solutions to numerous challenges confronting tertiary education in the country. Primarily, the conference was also to refocus and reposition state universities for optimal performance.

Stakeholders

Participants at the event include Lagos State Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Mr Tolani Sule, who represented Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu-Olu as the chief host; Chairman of COPSUN, Senator Joshua Lidani; former Vice-Chancellor of University of Abuja, Prof Nuhu Yaqub; Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH and Chairman of the 7th Biennial Conference Planning Committee, Prof Ayodeji Omole; LASU Vice Chancellor and Chairman, Local Organising Committee, Prof Ibiyemi Olatunji Bello; former Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission, Prof Julius Okojie; as well as other Pro-Chancellors, Vice-Chancellors and other key stakeholders in the nation’s higher institution education.

The theme of the conference, coming two years after the last biennial conference held in Osogbo, Osun State, was “Effective University Governance: Role of Stakeholders.”

Declaring the conference open, Governor Sanwo-Olu noted that the nation is facing a multitude of complex challenges threatening our collective tertiary education system existence, which despite, he expressed strong belief were surmountable.

He commended the Pro-Chancellors for coming up with the conference at a time when our universities require new ideas, policies and direction to compete favourably with their global counterparts.

Welcoming participants to the conference, the Chairman of COPSUN, Senator Joshua Lidani, who bemoaned the challenges stagnating the system, however, explained that the theme of the conference encompassed many issues on governance in the university system.

He noted that these glitches, include among others, but not limited to incessant strike by labour unions operating in the universities, inadequate funding, as well as indiscriminate and premature dissolution of university governing councils.

Though he attested to the fact that the conference alone could not be able to address the challenges, it would apparently raise the consciousness of all and sundry to the threat posed by the challenges to effective university governance.

Today, COPSUN, he said, had been fully entrenched as a prominent stakeholder in the education sector, whose voice cannot be easily ignored, even as he saluted the courage and dedication of members of the committee and other guests at the conference.

On his part, the former Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Prof Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, who chaired the opening ceremony commended COPSUN for the good role the body is playing in the education sector. Setting the tone of the conference, former Vice-Chancellor of University of Abuja, Prof Nuhu Yaqub in his keynote address, structured his paper on what university is all about, its mission and challenges, as well as conceptual issues that centered on governance and effective governance.

The ripple effects of this kind of commitment to rekindling hope in education are not only historic but also monumental

The paper also examined the conceptual relationship between “effective governance,” which is paramount and “good governance” which is prominent in the larger state issue. He described governance in the university system as “the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realisation of human rights essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for rule of law.”

Besides, Yaqub noted that governance could be best considered as it “relates to the political and institutional processes that are necessary to achieve the goals of development. Curiously, he stated that the notion of an effective university governance system must admit that there is always the likelihood that would require one party to tarry a bit because contradictions are there in every phenomenon.

“This is particularly the case in a university arena where staff, students, stakeholders, among others, are so diverse such that a great deal of circumspection is what is very much required to blend successful “effective governance” with differential behavioural idiosyncrasies on the campuses, especially in the era of technological innovations that seems to be highly variable, and at the same time, difficult to control or handle most effectively,” he said.

Therefore, in the first instance, he insisted that it should be clear to all stakeholders that democratic norms should be welcome to authorities in the universities, and that if this advisory is not accepted to be worthy of due regards, why should the students union be permitted to exist in all institutions of higher learning.

According to Yaqub, to build a new and effective university governance system in state-owned universities, the conference should map out for every stakeholder in terms of commitment or role they can play. In view of this, he added that they should be allowed to select which role they want to play and be allowed to select roles they wish to play that are going to be impactful in attaining the fundamental objectives as enunciated in visions and missions of the universities in the states.

To him, the people and organisations at every stage assess the performance of the institution’s objectives so far; and to also plot the new plans and what their challenges are likely to be, as stakeholders are expected to come and contribute their quotas accordingly.

He, however, listed the key stakeholders in the state universities’ project to include the Visitors to the universities, commissioners of education, chancellors, pro-chancellors and councils, vice-chancellors and management, staff unions, students’ union, alumni association, civil society organisation, development partners, National Universities Commission, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, parents/lecturers’ association, banks and financial institution.

While specifying the role of each of the stakeholders, he said that the appointments and composition of Visitation Panelists for routine checks of the institutions as a role of the Visitor, are not enough, especially when recommendations of such panels are hardly implemented.

Hence, Yaqub insisted that the Visitors to the universities should personally go to the institutions themselves to have first-hand information; while on a premise that they are academically attuned, they should be assigned subjects to teach and assess after examinations.

“The ripple effects of this kind of commitment to rekindling hope in education are not only historic, but also monumental,” he stressed. On the part of the Chancellor, the former Vice-Chancellor, noted that since they are usually the rich and powerful personages, they can go further by assisting their institutions by providing endowments, even as he said that such assistance could also go very far in the fortunes of the institution they lead.

Meanwhile, for the prochancellors and the vice chancellors, he recommended that they should be buddies dedicated to forward development trajectories of the institutions. More importantly, Vice Chancellors, he said, must be visionaries and leaders with ideas and capacities to bring about innovations to the institutions.

In his paper, titled: “Conflict Resolution in Nigerian Universities,” a Distinguished Professor of Theology at LASU, Dapo Asaju, stated that a university is a global institution for teaching and acquisition of knowledge, and therefore, should operate with international standards in terms of curriculum, infrastructure, research facilities, and quality of knowledge.

Besides, he explained that first, the ranking of universities underscores the competitiveness that obtains among universities as they strive for accreditation, recognition and mutual interactions and exchange of staff and students.

To attain the global competitiveness, Asaju stated that the roles of Pro-Chancellors/ Chairmen of the Governing Councils as regulators, policy approving body in universities, include the regulation of financial policies and activities, the final approving authority on staff and students discipline, senate decisions, academic establishments, physical developments, judicial appeal, staff welfare and promotions.

According to him, as the employers of staff of universities, the Governing Councils, have the powers and prerogatives to hire and fire, but despite that there are checks and balances to the exercise of these powers.

“That is why by law, visitation panels are set up by the government to periodically look into the books of universities in all ramifications and make recommendations on review, and reorganization,” Asaju stated.

Meanwhile, part of their responsibilities as pro-chancellor and the governing councils, he highlighted include to raise funds and receive benefactions to the universities, saying in view of the above responsibilities the Council is the highest layer of authority to deal with staff-related matters and to prevent or resolve industrial disputes in times of conflicts.

The need for visitation panels was raised in his paper, where the don said such panels should be set up as and at when due, while the white papers in their reports are released on time and diligently implemented. This, to him, is an assurance to staff that their careers and the general affairs of the university is being looked into as this would enhance accountability in all ramifications, and less cause for conflicts.

The don, who pointed out that visitation panels are sometimes the last arbiter for aggrieved university staff and their unions, however, noted that the composition of Governing Councils should be specially designed to allow for their mature and competent leadership of the universities, and also allows for comprehensiveness in constituency representations.

Challenges

The governance of state-owned universities, like other public higher institutions are faced with several challenges bedeviling the system, which include corrupt practices, examination malpractice, forgery or cloning of certificates, impersonation, miracle examination centres, fake universities; indiscriminate and premature dissolution of governing councils and boards of tertiary educational institutions and delay in reconstituting them.

Apart from the illegality of these acts, it was said that a huge vacuum is usually left in the administration of the institution leading to all kinds of anomalies, such as incessant strikes by ASUU and other staff unions and the attendant consequences in stability, quality and standards; proliferation of universities by the government; and inadequate funding.

According to the conference, these are definitely not exhaustive but are symptomatic of the deep malaise that is affecting the system and extent of the problem. Of course, this conference alone would not be able to address the problems, but it could raise public consciousness and alarm at the threat posed to good governance, standards and quality in the tertiary educational system.

“However, with the galaxy and noble assemblage of prominent scholars, academicians and administrators at this conference, there is no doubt that the conference can point the way forward and advise on the way stakeholders can play a better and rightful role in uplifting the standards of education in the country,” it stated.

Assessing the causes of industrial conflicts in the state owned universities, the conference also listed these as inadequate funding of the universities, poor infrastructure for staff and students, population explosion of students and excess workload of teachers worsened by the brain drain, poor remuneration of academics, and poor working conditions, as well as outdated curriculum, ill-equipped laboratories, and lack of tools for modern competitive scholarship,

Others, the paper explained are insecurity of lives and cultism, response of staff to general strikes by the Nigeria Labour Congress or other national industrial actions, conflict with management of a university over policies perceived as harsh and adverse to the welfare and progress of staff, perceived persecution or victimisation of staff, especially union leaders on account of their participation or role in generally agreed industrial actions, as a result of perceived dislike of union leaders by university administrators.

Accordingly, he said unrest in universities ensues when staff are punished without adhering to due process, agitations for autonomy of universities, communication gaps between management and staff, financial fraud and double standards in administrative style, indiscipline of union leaders and insubordination to university authorities, university politicking over appointment of ViceChancellors, and other principal, officers, as well as tribalism and religious bias in appointments, promotions and favouritism.

Communique

Meanwhile, in the communique issued at the end of the five-day exercise, the conference in its resolutions, recommended a virile University Autonomy which it said, is not merely a goal but a necessity for the advancement of education and society in Nigeria, as this would go a long way in empowering universities to become Centres of Excellence that drives national development and global competitiveness.

The communique recommended that the government should establish strong and independent university governing councils with the authority to make key decisions on university governance; and that universities should strengthen the alumni associations for the development of the institutions.

Similarly, it was recommended that mutual interests between Town and Gown should be encouraged in a way that such partnerships would further prepare the students for life outside the university. Also, to avoid conflicts, COPSUN universities must be administered the way it should be, and since universities are global institutions for teaching and acquisition of knowledge, and should therefore operate in line with international standards in terms of infrastructure, research, facilities, and quality knowledge.

Following the series of paper presentations and exhaustive deliberations, the conference resolved that corrupt practices such as examination malpractices, forgery, cloning of certificates, impersonation, miracle examination centres, fake universities, among others, should be maximally discouraged.

The communique signed by Chairman, National Planning Committee, Prof Ayodeji Omole, condemned what it described as indiscriminate and abrupt dissolution of Governing Councils, and that such action by the government and proprietors of the universities should be avoided.

On incessant strike by the university staff unions and the attendant consequences on stability, quality and standards, the communique warned that this should be discouraged as much as possible, even as it added that university managements are encouraged to use the available resources prudently to maximise their impact.

Also, the communique called for exploring partnerships with private entities as this could help compliment funding and improve the overall financial standing of the universities, and added that universities should promote research and innovation as this could attract external funding and grants.

The communique reads in part: The governments are encouraged to annually review and increase budgetary allocations and consequent release of budgetary allocations to education. “Eliminating corruption can help prevent funds mismanagement of resources, while the government should not relent on closely monitoring corruption as this would assist in maximising the available scarce resources.”