#StopASUUStrike-Yayale’s Arduous Tasks: Can his name be written in gold?, by Prof. MK Othman
Deep Thought with Othman
I resisted writing on the above subject for an apparent reason, but the force of necessity outweighs the force of resistance, and I have to cede to the momentum’s law. Reflecting on the crisis bedeviling the Nigerian university system in the last one and half decades, one cannot but sympathize and pray for Alhaji Yayale Ahmed’s success in the arduous tasks of resolving the unending crisis and leading Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria Governing Council, which is set to midwife a new Vice Chancellor in the next few months. I do not envy Yayale’s assignments – Pro-chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council, ABU Zaria, and Chairman of the 2024 FGN-ASUU negotiation team. The assignments are so tasking that one can hardly accomplish them without scratching one’s integrity. Malam Adamu Chiroma, Engr Bunu Sheriff, Prof Nims Briggs (all of blessed memory), and Prof Munzali Jibrin were given the same assignment earlier, and they committed their wealth of experience and put in their best but could not deliver as expected and were not found free from blame.
Thanks to the visionary leadership of Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto, the only premier of the northern region, who founded ABU Zaria. He made it the finest example of a successful national project in Nigeria because of its enormous contributions to building and forging national cohesion. All 747 Local Government Areas in Nigeria are represented in ABU Zaria as students, staffers, Alumni, or all, which is incomparable to any institution of higher learning in Nigeria. Thus, when ABU Zaria sneezes, the rest of Nigeria can catch a cold. However, ABU Zaria, being a mini-Nigeria, has its pocket of headaches reflective of the larger society.
READ ALSO: #StopASUUStrike: What are the options for an ASUU strike?, by Prof MK Othman
The four last proceeding governing council chairpersons of ABU Zaria did not complete their tenures. The tenure of the immediate past chairman, the late Mallam Adamu Fika, a nonagenarian of blessed memories, was short-lived by the dissolution of all governing councils of federal government-owned universities after winning the 2023 election. The tenure of the late AVM Mukhtar Mohammed was cut short by the cold hands of death after a few months of serving the university. Within 143 days as the Council chairman, he raised the hope of the entire University community at different strata. At a time when the expectations and hopes were high, the university was made an orphan. AVM Mohammed undoubtedly had sound and encyclopedic intentions for ABU; unfortunately, he could not realize them in his lifetime. My AVM Mohammed’s tribute published in my rested column (22/10/2017) can be accessed via my blog https://breakthroughwithmkothman.blogspot.com/2017/10/avm-mukhtar-muhammed-abus-greatest-loss.html
The last two, the late Malam Adamu Chiroma and the late Engr Bunu Sheriff Musa, were appointed at different times to chair the ABU Zaria Governing Council and the university Pro-Chancellors. Still, each resigned due to circumstances beyond their control. Adamu Chiroma resigned as his council failed to produce a new Vice-Chancellor three months after the tenure of the outgoing Vice-Chancellor. In contrast, Engr Shareef resigned when the council could not hold a meeting outside the university because the Council Chamber was considered unpalatable for the meeting. These men were the finest of their times; they had implacable records of service, were ministers of several ministries at different times, and were never found guilty of corruption.
Adamu Chiroma served as central bank governor in the 1970s and as a minister of Industries, Agriculture, and Finance at various times under President Shehu Shagari’s democratically elected government in the second republic. He was a founding member of PDP and served as the Minister of Finance under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government in the Fourth Republic. Bunu Shareef was an alumnus of ABU Zaria, earning a degree in Engineering and a Master’s degree from Southampton University in the UK. He was a minister of Mines and Power, Aviation, Water Resources, and Labour, where he developed a cordial working relationship with labor leaders, yielding a wage increase in 1990. He equally served as an Ambassador to France in 1998. Is ABU Zaria difficult to govern?
Before answering the question, let us examine Yayale’s second task of chairing the 2024 FGN-ASUU negotiation team. The team will use the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement, which was reinforced by the Memorandum of Understanding and Memorandum of Action signed by both parties in 2013 and 2020, respectively. However, between 2021 and 2022, FGN has set up two negotiation committees, one after the other. The first committee was Prof. Munzali Jibrin, an erudite professor, gentleman, and educationist. The committee painstakingly negotiated with ASUU for several uninterrupted months. It turned into a comprehensive report, which contained all-inclusive recommendations to finally and permanently resolve challenges in the university system sustainably. Instead of accepting the report for implementation, FGN set up a new negotiation committee under the late Prof Brigg, Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, without regard for Munzali’s report.
Similarly, Brigg’s committee did an excellent job and submitted a beautiful report for sustainable resolution of the university crisis. Still, the hawks in FGN were not interested in ending the imbroglio and made the government throw the report in the waste bin. Can Yayale’s team do something different and acceptable to the government? The answers to my first and second questions are affirmative.
First, government officials come from a stereotypical, controlled system where the boss is always right, unlike the university system in which issues are subjected to intellectual discussion with superior arguments holding sway. The University system consists of four statutory organs, which makes it a kind of government within a government. It has the legal power to make laws (Statutes) for direct Gazette without passing through the National Assembly, provided such laws do not conflict with constitutional provisions or extant Laws. The organs of the university are a council, senate, congregation, and convocation, each having distinct powers and functions designed to complement each other and optimize teamwork. This is why the university system is managed using a committee system. For Yayale to succeed, he must find a size-fitting interface between the university community, government officials, and the public to appreciate and support each other in nation-building. Without sound university education, the nation is doomed to remain in abject poverty, squalor, and tumultuous social crisis for self-inflicting injuries.
Specifically, Yayale must watch his steps as he moves to midwife a new Vice Chancellor for his Alma matter. ABU Zaria needs the best among the several qualified candidates, who should be subjected to a transparent and meritocratic process devoid of nepotism and selfishness. Those poised to clandestinely play the kingmaking roles in the choice of the incoming VC should be avoided as the university interests are secondary to such egoist personalities. Fashioning selection criteria to favor a candidate is inimical and dangerous when choosing the best for his Alma Mater. With the best, as the VC of ABU Zaria, the university can reach its zenith, second to none in Africa.
To lead the 2024 FGN-ASUU negotiation team, Yayale must study Profs Munzali and Briggs’s last two reports to identify why the government jettisoned them. Were the issues unimplementable? Was it a lack of political will? Were they rejected due to the roles of fifth columnists? Yayale must cultivate his tactical acumen in conflict resolution, the type he used to solve the ABU Zaria local crisis around 2004 when mass sack letters were at the doorsteps of some academics. Unknown to many, Yayale was the chief architect who facilitated the signing of the famous 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement, which we are all referring to. Now, he is in the eye of the storm, attracting attention and high expectations. May God see him through successfully.
I have never met Yayale, but his credentials and antecedents speak volumes; he was born in 1952, joined Bauchi civil service in 1977 after his first and second degrees from ABU Zaria, transferred his service to the Federal Government, and rose through the ranks to the Head of Civil Service of the Federation in 2000. Yayale was appointed Minister of Defense in 2007 and then Secretary to the Government of the Federation from 2008-2011. He was among the finest, tested, and result-oriented technocrats, disturbed from enjoying his retirement to execute complex tasks in his septuagenarian age. Yayale should use his wealth of experience and wisdom, shun nepotism to do what is needed, and write his name in gold. May God see him through to the end, amen.
Professor Mk Othman was a two term Executive Director of the National Agricultural Extension Liaison and Research Services, NAERLS, and is currently a Senior lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria.
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