The protest over the appointment of a new vice chancellor is unfortunate
As centres of excellence, universities provide platforms for learning and advancement of knowledge. But when merit takes the back seat on the altar of other considerations, the ideals for which the university system was founded are sacrificed. A Professor of Agricultural Economics, Adebayo Banire was recently announced as the Vice Chancellor-designate for the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, following a competitive process. But indigenes of the host community rejected the outcome, shutting down the main campus, in protests that involved ‘traditionalists’ and masquerades. Behind their action is the insistence that a ‘son of the soil’ be appointed the vice chancellor.
The appointment of a university VC is predicated on meeting certain key requirements. A village of origin is not one of them. That the governance of one of Nigeria’s most respected first-generation universities would be reduced to such crude provincial indignity stands condemned. Unfortunately, the Ile-Ife story has become quite common in Nigeria today. Other public universities across the country have, at different times, been subjected to the same narrow politics. But while the agitation of this nature by host communities used to be subtle, it has now become so brazen with a form of militancy creeping in. If care is not taken, this could degenerate to the ridiculous level of appointment of other principal officers and heads of departments in universities being demanded as exclusive rights of indigenes. Ironically, an indigene of Ile-Ife is currently the vice chancellor of another federal university located elsewhere.
Overall, what happened at Ile-Ife is a disgraceful manifestation of the degeneration of yet another critical aspect of our national life. The journey to this very low point has been long. Yet, it was not like this in the past. Time was when state or region of origin never mattered in the choice of vice chancellors. Kenneth Dike, an Igbo man, was the first indigenous vice chancellor at the University of Ibadan. Oladipo Akinkugbe from Ondo became the vice chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria in 1978. At about the same time, Umaru Shehu from Borno State was the vice chancellor at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) while Adamu Baikie was the vice chancellor at the University of Benin.
Sectarian agitations strike at the very core of university education which should galvanise the universality and liberality of knowledge and ideas. Government (at all levels) must therefore, as a matter of urgency, take steps to stem these shenanigans on our campuses. But the real problem lies with political leaders. Federal universities are sited in the villages of the president and powerful individuals. It is the same in the states by governors. With this disposition, it is difficult to blame those who see universities within their communities as theirs to be appropriated.
This march to retrogressive provincialism must be halted. First, individuals and organisations who engage in violent protest over the appointment of vice chancellors not of their ethnic specifications should face appropriate legal sanctions. Second, university staff, academic and non-academic, who conspire against properly appointed persons on ethnic grounds should also be dealt with in accordance with extant regulations. Finally, it is time to update current policies to accommodate the regular posting of non-indigenes into top positions in our universities so that protesters will eventually realise the futility of their antics.
Indigenes of Ile-Ife who feel sufficiently embarrassed by the action of some misguided people from their community should condemn this sordid act. Everything must also be done to ensure a smooth transition from Eyitope Ogunbodede to Banire at the campus. Obafemi Awolowo University belongs to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not Ile-Ife community!