I have no regret being an administrator — OYSCATECH’s outgoing registrar

Do you think parents should influence their children’s career path or their courses of study in tertiary institutions?

Most parents, even the highly educated ones, have predetermined courses that they want their children to study but which may not be the interest of their child. Let me give you an instance. A student came to LAUTECH to study Medicine. He was doing well initially but later, he relaxed and began to fail his courses repeatedly. When the university waded in through the counselor, he explained that it was his parents that wanted him to study Medicine and so he concluded that if he was failing, his parents would allow him to do his preferred course eventually. So, he was failing deliberately because he was not interested in the course.

It is important that we allow our children to select the course that they want. It is not only medical doctors that are making it in life. We have people who studied law that are making it in the world of music, theatre and so on.

Initially, I had the mind of becoming a journalist because I loved literary works. Eventually, I found myself in the university studying Education, History and English Language but I still had the inclination and the use of language was still there. That was why I taught in secondary school and polytechnic before joining the Federal College of Education as a senior member of the registry department. I eventually joined the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology as deputy registrar. To the glory of God, I have no regret being an administrator. My hope was that whatever career I chose, I would get to the top of it.

People tend to see administrative work as just sitting down in an office to treat files. As an administrator who has risen to the summit of his career, what is your take on this?

It is a misconception that an administrator just sits down in an office and treats files. An administrator is the engine room of an organisation. In the tertiary education system, the registrar plays a critical role in the administration of an institution. The registrar, as the secretary to the governing council, has to interact with the governing council and project the institution to the public. Administrators take care of issues such as staff welfare, promotion, upgrading and conversion.

How would you advise youths on convincing their parents about their choice of career?

It depends essentially on the relationship between a child and his/her parents. Some parents don’t have time for their children. What they believe is to just give them money for school. They don’t take time to listen to them or to interact with them. Also, there are lots of things that young people are contending with which they may not be able to tell their parents unless the parents are so close to them. Relationship between parents and their children is very important. We should encourage our children to figure out what they want to be, because there is a difference between what they want to be and their endowment.

How did you cope with the demands of your job and taking care of the home front at the same time?

For the past six years, I have been a weekend husband. I have been shuttling between Igboora, Ibadan, Ogbomoso and Saki, but I thank God that my immediate family appreciates the nature of my job and they fully supported my coming to Igboora. By God’s grace, I have no regrets because my family is intact.

Would you say you have made a success of your role as the registrar of OYSCATECH since you came on board?

To the glory of God, I have made my little contribution. For example, after I assumed duty, the first task I undertook was to re-organise the registry because it was units here and there. But I created divisions, namely, Establishment, Council Affairs, Academic Affairs and Students’ Affairs. I also created a new division and that is General Administration. These divisions have made my work easier. All I do is to coordinate, and I thank God that I have been blessed with qualified and committed staff. In terms of administration, I realised that there was the need for a broad-based decision-making system, and as such, I created two: Administrative Officers’ Forum and Registrars’ Forum. The registrars’ forum is made up of senior registry staff from the assistant registrar cadre up to deputy registrar. These two bodies meet regularly. The administrative officers’ forum organises a training session where papers are presented, critiqued and in the process, everybody, including the registrar, becomes a learner.

What are those things that you are going to miss about Igboora?

I am going to miss so many things. I will miss the good people within the college and the Igboora community. Everybody is always coming here to bare their souls, especially the unions – Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Non Academic Staff Union, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics and the Students’ Union. A number of times, we disagreed but in the end, we always agreed. I will miss the local foods, especially lafun and ilasa.

What is your advice for young administrators and youths generally?

Young administrators should make sure that they are knowledgeable about laws and edicts establishing their organisations. This is because they are the custodians of the laws. If they make mistakes in advising the management, they may have legal matters on their hands. They should also be ready for further studies because knowledge does not stop at a point; it keeps increasing. You just don’t come here as an administrative officer because you have first degree. You should keep improving yourself; self-improvement is very essential. And then, as administrators, they have to maintain their dignity; because if you don’t respect yourself, nobody will respect you.

How would you advise youths as regards vocational training and agriculture?

You see, the present system of education, the syllabus, especially in tertiary institutions, is taking cognizance of that by introducing entrepreneurship. If you come to OYSCATECH, for example, to study Accounting or Business Management, you are required to take an additional vocational course so that you not only finish as an accountant but also as, for instance, a farmer or a tailor. Gone are the days when you just come to take certificate; now you go away with your certificate and your vocation.

What are your parting words?

OYSCATECH is our project. OYSCATECH, above all, is God’s project. Everybody must work towards ensuring that that project does not collapse; that the project does not fail, and that the project is sustainable. I will be happy in the next few years when we come back to see structures springing up here and there. I am hoping that very soon, we start benefiting from TETfund. I believe that very soon, this place will be a better institution than it is today.

I appreciate God and I thank the Oyo State government. The immediate past government appointed us and the current government decided to retain us. They not only retained but they are making everybody happy. We are very grateful for that, and I pray that God Almighty will continue to grant the authorities of the state, especially Governor Seyi Makinde, the wisdom they need to succeed in their assignment. I also want to appreciate the various governing councils that I worked with.

I thank the students because without them, we wouldn’t have been here. They are well-behaved and I am proud of them. The alumni, too, are doing well. Alumni associations all over the world have a prominent role to play in the development of their institutions. I thank God and I thank everybody for making my stay here a very successful one.

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