As FG takes anti-corruption war to varsities

THE Federal Government, through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, says it is determined to stamp out all forms of financial crime from the nation’s universities, NAZA OKOLI writes

HIGHER institutions in Nigeria, as in other parts of the world, have always been looked upon as centres of excellence, insulated from the decay and chaos of the larger society. It is, in fact, for this reason that the fancy term ‘Ivory Tower’ has come to be used to describe universities globally.

It, therefore, came to many as a surprise when allegations of corruption against heads of tertiary institutions began to pop up from different corners. Things came to a head recently with the suspension by the Federal Government of two vice chancellors – Professor Adebiyi Daramola of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), and Professor Olusola Oyewole of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), over allegations of mismanagement and financial fraud.

The Federal Government had based its action on the ongoing prosecution of the two professors by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

But the anti-corruption campaign in the nation’s higher institutions appears to be on a much larger scale. Already, a panel has been constituted to investigate the activities of the 12 new federal universities established under the Goodluck Jonathan administration. Even more recently, the EFCC said it would institute anti-corruption programmes in universities across the countries, beginning with the University of Lagos and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

The EFCC chairman, Mr Ibrahim Magu, said, “We are already talking with the universities; we are looking at starting with the University of Lagos and Ahmadu Bello University where we will launch the programme.

“There is also something on ground to also reach out to the universities as student union leaders have disturbed me over issues in the sector. The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) leadership visited me… and this was part of their complaints. We assured them that we are going to join them and launch the anti-corruption programme and we need them too, because we are protecting their future.”

Whistle-blowing

Clearly, the anti-corruption campaign of the Federal Government owes a huge part of its success story to what has come to be known as the ‘whistle-blowing policy’.

Speaking to Tribune Education, the National Coordinator of the Society of Educational Administrators of Nigeria (ASEN), Mr Babatunde Asenuga, said efforts should be made to strengthen the policy with a view to yielding more results.

“The conniving act of siphoning public funds meant for the development of educational institutions is very unfortunate. We are grateful for the whistle-blowing act that has brought back confidence in genuine whistle-blowing. Without that, a lot of things would have remained covered up.

“In the case of those two federal universities, I saw a lot of power display: governing councils trying to cover up; but the unions stood their ground. But beyond these, corruption should be expunged from the educational system. As the president rightly said, ‘if you don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill you.’ And why is it so? We have not even met the benchmark of education as practised in other parts of the world.

“This is why the impact of government funding isn’t quite visible. Government is trying to revamp the sector, but if the bursar who is the financial officer and the vice chancellor, who is the head of the institution, are working together to siphon money meant for development and research, then we have a long way to go in Nigeria.”

However, as the national president of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Mr Samson Ugwuoke, has suggested, efforts to transform the education sector should be driven by patriotism rather than financial motivation.

Ugwuoke, who recently spoke with journalists in Abuja, said, “We are protesting against corruption in Nigerian universities. This is SSANU’s contribution to ensure a clean university system. Our overriding interest lies in the sanctity of the university system and also to sanitise it for the future generations.”

Illegal fees

To many students, there is no better proof of corruption in the institutions than the imposition of ‘illegal fees’, particularly what in many schools is known as ‘acceptance fee’.

Comrade Saheed Afolabi, the deputy coordinator, NANS, Zone D (South-West) told Tribune Education on Monday that a good way to begin the anti-corruption crusade in tertiary institutions would be to address the rising incidence of extortion.

He said, “We are in support of probing VCs, rectors and provosts of higher institutions found wanting on corrupt practices, because this set of people make education inaccessible to the masses.

“NANS has made a public publication that we are ready to support the Federal Government on the fight against corruption in our higher institutions. University administrators are corrupt. Acceptance fee is the height of it. We are working hard to eradicate acceptance fee in the higher institutions in Nigeria. Some institutions are collecting N70,000 as acceptance fee alone.

“For instance, a certain state university in the South-West is planning to increase its acceptance fee to N100,000; another one charges N40,000. And there are also other fees that they extort from students regularly. Those are some of the areas we want the government, through the anti-corruption agencies, to look into.”

Total, comprehensive

The  Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), however, is not particularly impressed by the conduct of the anti-graft crusade so far.

Speaking with Tribune Education on Sunday, ASUU President, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, said his union had several times petitioned the government about corrupt practices in some schools, but little or nothing was done about them. He said for the ongoing prosecution of FUTA and FUNAAB vice chancellors to be meaningful, the government should equally investigate all the previous cases brought before it by ASUU and other groups.

Ogunyemi said: “While I agree that we don’t expect to hear of corruption in universities, we should also realise that people in universities are drawn from the Nigerian society. The only expectation is that they are supposed to serve as models; universities are supposed to serve as models to the larger society.

“At the same time, you also have to note that my union as a watchdog in the university, we don’t take lightly to allegations of corruption. We always insist that every case of corruption must be prosecuted to the letter.

“However, any time we hear of corruption or of allegations of corruption, we don’t jump into conclusions immediately, unless we have incontrovertible evidence because, of course, like every other person, we expect those who emerge as vice chancellors to live above board.

“So, we always ask the public to always take time to read between the lines, because there are contending interests in every organisation. Why ASUU has not been talking too much about some of these issues is that we have always stood for diligent investigation and prosecution. Until they are proved guilty, the assumption of innocence is still there.

“But like I said, there are contending interests in the cases of corruption that we are talking about here (FUNAAB and FUTA). For example, we (ASUU) have been talking about corruption at the University of Ilorin, but we do not see any action. That is why I am talking about contending interests, and the need to put everything in perspective.

“It should not be said that ASUU is supporting corruption, because ASUU has been raising allegations of corruption, and nothing is being done in some cases. So, we are insisting that all cases of corruption must be treated equally.”