Vice-Chancellor of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Prof. Olufemi Mimiko, speaks with OLUWOLE JOSIAH on the state of university education and education in general in Nigeria As a Vice-Chancellor, how have you been able to handle the challenges of incessant strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities?
I have had the privilege of being an ASUU member for about 30 years and I have very deep respect for the union and her processes. When I became a Vice-Chancellor, I didn’t envisage any issue or fundamental problem with ASUU. I recall that during the first week of my resumption, I invited the leaders of unions in the institution and told them that I wanted unionism beyond agitation. That was the phrase I used. I remember the then ASUU chair said, ‘Mr. VC, you should expatiate on this’, and I said I wanted to engage with the unions on a regular basis. I didn’t want to wait until issues on which we had disagreements cropped up before we begin to discuss. I told them, especially my colleagues in the academics, that I was going to be as open as possible in terms of how to translate my vision for the university into reality. I consulted with them on a regular basis. That is not to say that we haven’t had issues, but five years on, it is significant that the major disruptions that we had had in AAUA were those directly traceable to national strikes. It is on record that not once in the past five years have we been in a situation in which our local ASUU chapter went on a strike, and I am indeed quite appreciative of that. The issue of the disagreement on the last national strike is also not as simple as it sounds because one actually had one’s own perspective on that action, which unfortunately was not in consonance, as it were, with that of the leadership of ASUU locally and nationally, and that created some hiccups in our relationship. I am happy, however, that we have put all of that behind us now. We are back on track trying very hard to reconstruct and rebuild our relationship with the union.
You were accused of masterminding the manhandling of some ASUU members. Why?
No, it is not correct. The good thing, however, is that we have put all of that behind us now. We managed to find a way to sort out our differences and we are working hard at the outstanding ones. I think we have handled that and I plead that we should just proceed from there. I couldn’t have asked security people to beat up my colleagues; I certainly would not have done that. I wouldn’t even ask them to beat up my students not to talk of colleagues. Indeed, it would take a mad Vice Chancellor to ask people to beat up academics. I certainly could not have done that.
What is your take on the current state of university education in the country?
I think that the university system in Nigeria can certainly admit of having greater attention today. At the last count, we had about 129 universities. For me, that number is minuscule in relation to the number of candidates seeking admission every year and the population of the country. I think something has to be done to expand the space for intending candidates. This does not necessarily translate to multiplication of universities. Probably it would be more advisable to fund some selected universities, maybe the first generation universities, massively and in a concerted manner and give them the capacity and the ability to take in more students. That is not a novel idea. But that actually may be the appropriate route to go. This is not to say that we still cannot have a few more universities, but I am saying that the fact that we need more spaces for intending candidates does not necessarily translate to expanding the number of universities that we have.
Many believe that funding has been the bane of tertiary education in the country. Do you agree?
Yes. The second issue that is of critical importance is the funding regime. I think the funding situation has improved. There is no question about the fact that government has been doing a great job in terms of ensuring education, especially higher education, is given the appropriate support, but I think universities should be funded more robustly. As you know, funding is actually one of the key issues which our union, ASUU, and the Federal Government in particular have always bickered over and exchanged brickbats. I think there is the need for more consistent and greater pattern of funding for the university system because the truth is that the state of infrastructure in our universities leaves so much to be desired. The best of Vice Chancellors and Councils can only do so much in the face of glaring challenges we have with funding. The Tertiary Education Trust Fund is supposed to be a veritable platform for injecting some interventionist funding. But the problem we have with the TETFund is that the processes of accessing its funds are simply too herculean and quite cumbersome. I recall that in one of the meetings that the former Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, had with vice chancellors, that point was made. I think it was late last year or so that the procedure for accessing funds with TETFund had to be simplified without necessarily losing the place of accountability and transparency; because you often hear that billions and billions of naira are locked up in the TETFund that are not accessed. It is because of the very bureaucratic, almost tortuous procedure for accessing these funds. The point I am making is that we need to inject more funds in a consistent manner into the university system because without that, there is a limit to what we as administrators can achieve in the system.
The third critical issue I think we need to address is that of the inputs into the university system. A lot is wrong with the quality of the products that get into the universities. That imposes additional challenges on university administrators. This is because we have to begin to find a way of reprocessing these products, ensuring that they are good enough for the university system and then take them through other processes and ensure they graduate as very competent individuals. I also think something again has to be done in terms of funding, expanding infrastructure and teaching capacity at the secondary level.
Does this mean that both states and local governments saddled with the responsibility for primary and secondary education have failed in their duties?
I don’t think it is a question of success or failure. Rather, I think it is a question of the need for more concerted efforts at the national level. Some states are doing much better than others, but generally, we need to pay more attention to the school system at the secondary level. The direction in which we should go is clear. We should improve on the quality of infrastructure, instructions that students have access to and probably bring back the boarding system, then recruit more teachers, especially those to be posted to rural communities. Some very critical subjects we used to know, like Civics and so on, should also be brought back. I am happy that Civics has been reinstated in the new curriculum that is about to be launched. Those critical elements are very important. If we do that on a global basis and we set a national standard, we probably would continue to improve the quality of the intakes into the university system.
We also need to consider industrial relations. A lot has to be done in that regard. I mentioned earlier the nature of the incessant struggles between unions and management, and then unions and government. There has to be a framework for managing conflicts when they arise. I am a realist; I don’t believe that we would be able to do away with industrial conflicts. It is not going to be possible. But there should be a framework that will enable the relevant organs, management, government or councils to take up issues as they arise without allowing such to degenerate into fisticuffs between the unions and the universities.
What’s your plan after your tenure as the Vice-Chancellor of AAUA? Quite a number of people have asked me if I would be going into politics and I have made it clear that I cannot see myself doing well as a politician. I’ll rather go back to the classroom. I am an academic and a teacher, certainly not a politician. So the question of running for office does not arise at all. I will like to remain simply a teacher and researcher. I am going back to the classroom. I miss my students, especially my graduate students with whom I always enjoy working. There is the statutory one year sabbatical leave that I am going to take, to enable me sit down quietly somewhere and tackle some backlog of readings and writings. I do have some manuscripts I have to firm up for publication. I also have a couple of new books to write during the one year sabbatical leave period
source: http://www.punchng.com/education/universities-in-nigeria-not-enough-for-student-population-mimiko/
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