Henry Omunu and Augustine Okezie, Abuja
Minister of Education, Alhaji Adamu Adamu, on Tuesday, informed the House of Representatives Committee on Tertiary Education and Services that the 12 university Vice Chancellors recently removed by the Federal Government were replaced by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
It would be recalled that on February 12, 2016, the Federal Government announced the removal of the 12 vice-chancellors and appointment of their replacements.
While five of the vice chancellors were sacked, the other seven were disengaged after serving out their tenure.
Adamu, who appeared before the House Committee on Education on Tuesday, admitted that the candidates appointed as replacements for the removed varsity heads were nominated by the party.
Also on Tuesday at a separate venue in Abuja, the Minister inaugurated the governing councils of the 12 newly-established universities, contrary to the warning by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), that government should first legalize their existence through a gazette before constituting their councils.
Adamu had on February 13 constituted new governing councils for the 12 Federal Universities after dissolving the old councils.
At the Reps panel, the Minister said that the president only exercised his powers under Section 3, sub-sections 6 and 7 of the Universities Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1999 as the visitor to the universities in the sacking and replacement of the vice chancellors.
“The candidates appointed for the vice chancellor positions were nominated by the party. The president only exercised his powers under Section 3 sub-sections 6 and 7 of the Universities Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1999 on the sack of the five vice chancellors”, the minister said.
He said that what his ministry did was to follow the provision of the law on the matter, adding that it was important for it to take that decision.
According to him, the past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan established the universities indiscriminately and that the sacking of the five vice chancellors in question was done because they were illegally appointed as those institutions were established illegally.
However, Chairman of the committee, Aminu Suleiman, told the minister that there were serious concerns by education stakeholders over the manner the vice chancellors were removed from office, adding that this has resulted in pockets of protests which prompted the House to adopt a motion mandating the committee to investigate the manner of their removal.
While expressing reservations with the minister’s explanation, the lawmaker added that the law was clear as to how a vice-chancellor can be removed from office either on the grounds of misconduct or inability to perform the functions of his/her office.
“For you to tell me that there are no laws governing these 12 universities is wrong. The only thing you can tell me is that the law is not gazetted. To that extent, it is wrong to have acted on that basis,” Suleiman stated.
A former Minister of State for Education and a member of the committee, Rep. Aishatu Dukku, expressed concerns over the minister’s action, saying that the minister had not given any cogent reason for the removal of the vice chancellors.
Another member, Mojeed Alabi, a professor and former university lecturer, said the sack of the Vice Chancellors was an act of impunity.
Other members of the committee insisted that the president had no right to remove the vice chancellors while the governing councils for the affected varsities were still in place.
They argued that the way and manner of removal of the vice chancellors was effected had a military undertone, asserting that what the president should have done was to close the institutions, rather than quickly removing the vice chancellors.
The committee subsequently asked the minister to re-appear before it next Tuesday with hard facts and more convincing reasons for the sacking of the vice chancellors, adding that the committee has two weeks to submit its report to the House.
ASUU, at a press briefing last week, accused government of running the 12 universities created by the administration of former President Good Luck Jonathan by ‘’executive fiat’’, maintaining that the way forward remains respect for varsity autonomy, giving these varsities a legal bite and installing a governing council that will initiate fresh process of selecting new Vice Chancellors.
While inaugurating the councils on Tuesday, the Education Minister urged them to provide the kind of leadership that will make Nigerian institutions globally competitive.
Adamu further maintained that universities’ councils have a special role to play in guiding and setting examples for managements on how to train students in character and learning.
He said “As governing councils, you must be bold, courageous and responsive in ways that provide the kind of leadership that supports the growth and development of universities and make them globally competitive and attractive.
”In doing all these, you must ensure that the universities’ planning and growth are in consonance with all National Universities Commission(NUC) guidelines, especially, with regards to the issues of Academic Briefs and the development of appropriate master plans.
”I would like to remind you that governance and management are two distinct responsibilities in the university system… councils will set the policies that define the direction and then support the managements in their implementation of the policies,’ he said.
He urged the councils to supervise and monitor the effective entrenchment of the committee system and ensure plurality in decision-making process.
In her remark at the occasion, Chairman Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund,, Hajia Binta Garba, said that concerted efforts must be made to reposition Nigeria’s education sector.
Binta urged the councils to work with other stakeholders in restoring the lost glory of Nigeria’s education, adding that the ranking of Nigerian universities had started improving. She said that Nigeria loses over 2 billion dollars in capital flight in education yearly.
”We know that before 2019, the amount lost through capital flight will be reduced drastically,” she said.
Responding on behalf of the members of newly inaugurated councils, Sen. Gbemisola Saraki, the Chairman, Governing Council, Federal University, Utuoke, said they were delighted to be part of history. She assured that the councils would discharge their duties diligently and justify the confidence reposed on them.
*Culled from Daily Times
