Concerns trail government ban of ‘illegal’ programmes in specialised universities

When, last week, the Federal Government observed that some specialized universities had “derailed” from their original mandates, and ordered the immediate closure of some programmes run by those schools, many observers considered the development strange and confusing.

In the first place, it seemed absurd that a university of agriculture, for example, would indeed offer courses in law or accounting. But what many considered even more curious was the fact that these programmes must have been approved by relevant government agencies before they became operational.

Concerns have also been raised about the fate of students who are already admitted in the programmes. Would their teachers be redeployed? And what would become of the facilities and other resources already invested in the programmes?

A senior official at NUC who is now retired and who would not want to be quoted directly told Nigerian Tribune on Tuesday that no university programme can run without approval by the Commission.

“You cannot start a programme unless NUC goes to do verification and then gives you permission to do it. Only Diploma programmes are exempt from this law. And if you have a diploma from a university, it is not for promotion; it is not for appointments,” he said.

Culprits

Even though the institutions affected by the new policy were not named in the original statement announcing the ban, there were indications that virtually all the universities of agriculture and universities of technology would be required to make some adjustments.

For instance, information gleaned from the official website of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, shows that the school has a full-fledged Faculty of Management with five departments: Accounting, Banking and Finance, Business Administration, Economics, and Entrepreneurial Studies.

Further information indicated that the university received ‘accreditation’ from several regulatory agencies.

“There have been continued efforts by the present Administration to ensure that academic programmes in the University meet expected standards. Recently, the Accounting Department received Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) accreditation. MOUAU is the first specialized University in the country to be awarded such by ICAN.

“On June 17th, 2013 the Veterinary Council of Nigeria visited the College of Veterinary Medicine of the University on invitation and approved full accreditation for the College with effect from August, 2013. During this period under review, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria visited the University and approved full accreditation for all the Engineering courses in the Institution. These are in addition to about thirty programmes of the University that have received approval of Notational Universities Commission accreditation.”

Speaking about the suitability of management courses in a university of agriculture, the former NUC official (quoted earlier) said: “They are not supposed to have Accounting. Instead they should have Agro-business with Accounting Option. When they came for Youth Corps, they were sent back to go and get proper degrees.

“Government has the right to give a directive on any issue. For example, a university of Agriculture cannot run a law degree programme. It’s not possible. The universities of Technology… some of them wanted Medicine; they didn’t get it, in my time.”

While not confirming to what extent his school was affected, the Public Relations Officer of Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Mr Adegbenro Adebanjo, said on Tuesday that the new law had yet to be officially communicated to the school.

“Let’s wait till they communicate it formally to us,” he said. “We cannot just react to what we have read in the news.”

Moving forward

When contacted over the matter also on Tuesday, the Director, Information and Public Relations of the NUC, Mallam Ibrahim Yakasai, told Nigerian Tribune that the government would not hold any persons or agencies responsible.

“You see, they (the universities) didn’t know what their mandate was. Even if NUC approved it, NUC would reverse itself. Most of them had no NUC approval; some have NUC approval.

“We are not saying they didn’t all have approval. We are saying that since the government who set them up has now decided to ask them to go back to their original mandate, of course we would reverse ourselves and withdraw approval, and we have done that already.

“So, the government did not invoke any penalties. The schools were only asked to return to their mandates. So, I am sure there would be no penalties, except where they begin again to create those programmes, but then of course we won’t give them any approval for them, and they won’t admit any students in them.

“Those who are already in will be allowed to graduate, but new students would not be admitted. This applies to all such schools, whether they are owned by the Federal Government or by the State, including private universities,” he said.

Similarly, the Public Relations Officer of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB), Dr Fabian Benjamin, who also spoke with Nigerian Tribune, said it was quite normal for government to review its policies periodically.

“What we are doing as an agency is to move ahead. We are not moving backwards. If you set out on a journey, and you look backwards, you won’t make much progress. We are not concerned about who shares the blame or who have done what is not right, or who approved what he was not supposed to have approved.”

Funding

For the President of the Academic Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, however, the problem was squarely one of funding.

“I think the problem is that most of these specialized universities are delving into areas they are not originally part of their mandate, because of shortage of fund.

“We have always said it that our universities are under-funded. When university administrators need additional fund, they would look for courses that can attract more students, and by so doing attract more income. So, to make up for shortage of fund, they go into business administration, accounting, courses in the social sciences, where there is high demand.

“If government provides the needed funds, these universities would focus fully on their mandate. But if government does not fund them, they look for other ways of making up for shortage.”

Ogunyemi also advised against the meddlesome influence of politicians with vested interests in matters concerning the location and status of public universities.

“Of course some of these universities also bow to pressure from their local communities; they say they want their specialized universities to be transformed into conventional universities. But we should not allow academic institutions to give in to politicisation or ethnicisation.

“A university is for the entire public interest. And there are specific interests, specific desires, specific needs, that informed the establishment of specialised universities.

“I think government should encourage these universities to pursue their respective mandates, and they cannot do so confidently if they too don’t play their role effectively to put these universities on their feet to ensure that they come out with cutting-edge research, research findings that can aid the development and transformation of our country.”