PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has warned the Governing Councils and Vice Chancellors of Nigerian universities against corrupt practices and mismanagement of funds allocated to institutions urging them to utilise their funds with utmost integrity and probity.
He warned that any university council or management found wanting in relation to financial mismanagement or gross moral and ethical violations would be made to face the wrath of the law.
Buhari represented by the Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Rasheed spoke on Saturday in Abuja while delivering his speech as a Visitor to the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) at the 6th Convocation ceremony of the institution.
Just as the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof Abdalla Adamu, disclosed that over 12,000 students were graduated across the disciplines, with 31 recording First Class degrees.
The President said he has already directed the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, to demand quarterly reports from all Nigerian universities, detailing their major financial and administrative activities.
He added that a template for such reports would be circulated to the universities by the Federal Ministry of education through the National Universities Commission.
President Buhari was concerned with the recent happenings in some universities where vice chancellors and their pro-chancellors have become regular visitors to Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) because of allegations of mismanagement of funds.
He said: “My administration is anchored on tripod vision of ensuring security of lives and property, fighting corruption and improving the economy. These cardinal areas are fundamental to placing Nigeria on the part of sustainable development.
“Universities are therefore, expected to key into this vision by ensuring academic environment devoid of corrupt practices and vices. As we move to address the existing needs of our universities, we demand that the leadership of these institutions reciprocate government’s gesture by judiciously utilising their funds with utmost integrity and probity,” he said.
He also urged the universities to lead in the efforts by the Federal Government to revamp the nation’s economy, saying the task of revamping the economy would require the critical roles of academics in areas of research and innovations that are required to shift the emphasis from an oil-dependent to a technology-driven economy.
He said his administration recognises tertiary education as potent instrument of change in the collective resolve for the rebirth of a new nation.
The President said he was delighted that NOUN is reinventing a new dawn in human capital development trajectory through open and distance education, expressing confidence that the National Open University of Nigeria is steadily fulfilling its mandate of expanding access to higher education at affordable cost to the teeming population of Nigerian students.
Buhari said his administration will continue to do the needful especially in placing education sector on high pedestal of functionality despite the current economic recession affecting the world generally and Nigeria in particular.
He told parents and students not to entertain any fears about the certificate acquired from the Open University, saying the university is well placed and must continue to lead and chart new directions in distance education through maximum us of information and communication technology, research and instructional materials to produce graduates that are globally competitive.
NOUN Vice Chancellor, Abdalla Adamu in his address assured the graduating law students that the amendment to NOUN Act by the Senate to enable them proceed to the Nigerian Law School to train as barristers at Law and be called to the Bar, will soon be accomplished.
Adamu disclosed that the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETfund held a public hearing on the amended Act, expressing hope that the updated version will pass third reading and final approval.
He said NOUN has continued to be the leading Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institution in the West African sub-region through the provision of affordable, accessible and flexible learning at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
He said: “As a social enabler of learning, NOUN presents unprecedented opportunities for liberalising access to university education in Nigeria. The non-residential nature of the degree programmes makes it possible for NOUN to provide a flexible and self-controlled learning system that is rapidly gaining attraction in the world of contemporary learning processes.
Giving the breakdown of a total of 12,125 graduating students, the VC said Faculty of Management Sciences has the highest number with 3613, followed by Faculty of Sciences, 2087 students; and Faculty of Education 2038.
Others are: Faculty of Agriculture 80; Faculty of Arts 72; Faculty Health Sciences 1956; Faculty Law 676; Faculty Social Sciences 1509; CEMBA 02; PGDM 02; CESIL 90.