Professor Lilian Salami is the current vice chancellor of the University of Benin (UNIBEN). She is the chairman of the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) and vice president of the Association of African Universities. The second female vice chancellor of UNIBEN is also a former director-general/chief executive of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), Ondo State. She speaks with CLEMENT IDOKO on the issue of university autonomy, quality of Nigerian graduates, student loan scheme and how she has been able to tackle cultism, among other accomplishments. Excerpts:
Stakeholders, including employers of labour have often complained about the quality of graduates of the Nigerian university system, alleging that the graduates are half-baked and unemployable, what is your take on this?
Yes, I argue sometimes when people say we are churning out graduates who are not marketable; I dare to say that that is not true. We have always churned out graduates who are doing very well outside the shores of this country. We try as much as possible not to compromise the quality of the students that we are producing. We may not be doing better than what obtains in the other climes in terms of producing futuristic graduates but that wouldn’t stop us from giving our best to the system.
Also, the japa syndrome isn’t going to stop; people who are good will always be sought after; the best doctors, nurses among others. So, what happens if we choose to produce graduates who cannot meet the expectation of these foreign hospitals and companies? We are conscious of these opportunities and that has always put us on our toes. I can tell you categorically that we are all professionals and we reserve the highest integrity in terms of professionalism. We produce students that we can vouch for anywhere in the world compared to what obtains in other climes. The university system in Nigeria is committed to producing graduates who can stand the test of time.
What are you doing in your university to advance vocational skills and entrepreneurship, a situation where students can have skill sets in view of the current graduate unemployment in the country?
We all know that white collar jobs can never be sufficient. If all our graduates should line up for white collar jobs, of course, you know that we will continue to increase the rate of unemployment in the nation. So, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has always emphasised the need for tertiary institutions to develop entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is not just helping our students to come out with skills that may not even be related to their courses, they also get to explore and enhance their innate abilities and skills. Aside from this, enhancing entrepreneurship also helps universities to fund themselves; so it is a win-win thing for both the students and their institutions. Producing graduates who have skills outside their expertise, will make them more marketable. The reason is that they will be versatile in what they do and of course, they will end up becoming employers, not just employees. For instance, in UNIBEN, we have a Centre of Excellence in Aqua-Culture and Food Technology, so, our students are trained in fisheries, and all other aspects of it. By doing so, we are building ponds that we can sell as well as developing the community. You cannot have an institution like the UNIBEN and the immediate community is not feeling the impact. If they are not, that means we have failed as an institution. We have a very strong entrepreneurship centre, where we engage in tailoring, confectioneries, photography, fishing and a snail farm; we also grow vegetables. We are empowering our students to develop skills in these areas. We encourage our students on mechanised farming and now, you can see them involved in snail farming (helculture) and they are growing vegetables too.
Do you think the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is living up to expectations in view of the large number of institutions under its intervention list?
TETFund to me is like a messiah sent to the tertiary education system. I want to thank the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which fought tirelessly to get us to where we are today. I always say that but for the intervention and the assistance we are getting from TETFund, most of our universities would have become glorified secondary schools. Not only is TETfund focusing on infrastructure, it is also helping to revamp research output in universities. It is also assisting with the training of lecturers to be abreast with the current information technology. Recently, the Executive Secretary of TETFund and his team have been focusing on technology advancement in the tertiary institutions because that is where the world is at the moment and it’s going. It is either you join the train now or you are left behind permanently. There is a lot of transformation on-going in the universities, especially on how to drive education with technology.
The relationship between the gown and the town, when frosty, often pose a challenge to peace, security and even smooth running of an institution, what has been your relationship with your host community?
There is a synergy; we have a cordial relationship with our immediate community. For instance, we have found out that we can’t house all our students; so, most of them are housed by the communities around us. We help monitor security and also help them in terms of health services. They come in as out-patients to our health centre, and from time to time, we hold meetings with them and if there are ways we can assist them, we don’t hesitate. They see us as a bridge that links them to the state government. So, our relationship is cordial.
University of Benin has been notorious for cultism, what is the situation now and how have you been able to tackle the menace?
Yes; when you mention University of Benin, in the past, it was synonymous with cultism, but we have been able to curb that. Though we have done so completely, we only need ample time to totally eradicate cultism from the system. However, we have put in place different enlightenment programmes for new and old students to guide them in this regard. We bring in repented cult members to address these young ones who are just coming into the university to counsel them with their own experiences, discouraging them that it doesn’t pay to join cult groups. They share with them scary conditions they were subjected to as cultists and how they ended up denouncing cultism. We are trying as much as possible to rewrite the narratives.
What are some of the key milestones you have achieved in the last five years and what are some of the challenges you are facing in running the university?
It is difficult to be in your own court and judge yourself but I can tell you, when I came on board in 2019, I actually aligned my own strategic plan with that of the university and came up with seven pillars of achievements. The first pillar was on the environment; I felt we needed to have a serene environment, where as soon as you drive into the institution, it shows that the people are serious-minded. We have been able to create a calm, serene and beautiful environment; flowers are blooming everywhere you turn to in the institution. People may not take cognisance of those little things but I think that was the starting point. Before, you would see cows grazing all over the campus but I insisted they should be evacuated. I brought in a lot of infrastructure development, courtesy of TETFund, kind-hearted individuals like the Danjumas and the NDDC also gave us two hostels and a block of flats. TETFund has done exceptionally well for the university.
We didn’t just stop at the beautification and infrastructure development; we have brought in new programmes. We have about four centres now, namely leadership management, AI, innovation and career centres. This is in line with TETFund’s recruitment in every university in order to have a better system. This is my fifth year in UNIBEN, and in the aspect of accreditation by the NUC, we have done exceptionally well. We currently have over 150 programmes and new ones are still coming up.
Also, I have tried as much as possible to bring the welfare of students and staff to the best level. My students see me as a mother now and I have proudly assumed that position. Apart from the conducive environment the students enjoy, our health centre has been exceptional since I came on board. Basically, we drive the system through committees.
However, one of the challenges we are facing is with electricity. Before now, the university can boast of at least 20 to 22 hours of uninterrupted power supply and that could run for weeks without a blink, but as soon as tariff was increased by 300 percent, we moved from paying N80 million to N280 million per month for power. The change occurred when the students were on vacation; we hope it will not hit N300 million per month eventually. The fact remains that no institution can survive paying that kind of money without going bankrupt; we are at the verge of doing that. Meanwhile, the response of the power distribution company is to cut off our light and it has been done. Right now we are using diesel to ration the light. The students are not happy about this because they have been so used to having light 24/7.
One of the consistent demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is university autonomy. In fact, one of the branches of the union recently rejected an advertorial signed by the Minister of Education for selection of a new vice chancellor on the account of breach of university autonomy; what is your take on this?
Yes, ASUU has fought tooth and nail over this issue; other unions too have done so. We need our autonomy but we need to decide the point at which the line is drawn. We want autonomy, where we can determine where, how and when to go, but you can only have that if you have both the financial and governing autonomy. So, these two must be consummated in a marriage, and that is my take on the matter.
The reintroduced student loan scheme by the Federal Government came with accolades, but from what is happening, quite a number of students are skeptical about enrolling for it, what might be responsible for this?
If you want to run a system of this nature, which is quite elaborate, you should expect that it’s going to be a work in progress, whereby we learn, fall, pick up ourselves and then fine-tune things as we go along. Right now, even convincing the students over the loan is a major challenge. There is the fear of “what if I can’t pay back,” “will I go to jail?” This is normal for anyone who is taking a loan for the first time. I think this is the mindset of many students. So, enlightenment is a major thing for this programme to fly. Like I said, it is going to be a programme that we will continue to run until we have fine-tuned everything; it’s work in progress. Though we are reached there yet, it is a good thing that we have started.
You spoke earlier that TETFund has come to salvage tertiary institutions in Nigeria, so, what will be your earnest assessment of the current Executive Secretary of the Fund, in view of the fact that he has brought a lot of reforms and innovations in the transformation process of the Nigerian University System?
The man has been putting in his very best into the Fund, he has been running the system selflessly and seamlessly. Every time you turn to the TETFund’s platform, there is always a new innovation; he is always bringing something new to the table. He is constantly working on how we can be relevant in the community of universities globally. He is someone who really consults and when you consult, you will never miss your steps. You will employ the eggheads and that will in turn better the system. Like I said, I have known for some time and the stuff he makes, so, I’m not expecting anything less.
What do you want to be remembered for when you exit as the Vice-Chancellor of University of Benin?
I want to be remembered for my commitment and dedicated to the job. I want to be able to say to myself, “you have done well.” That may not be the judgment of everyone, but that is what I feel and I think the majority are with me on this.
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