Former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu
When
the Abia State University, Uturu, took out advertisements in national
dailies to tell the world that it had “cancelled and withdrawn”
(tautological emphasis) the certificate of Orji Uzor Kalu, a former
Governor of Abia State, most people believed that it was the voice of
Jacob but the hand of Esau, read the incumbent state government.
However, ABSU clearly advertised why it revoked the degree. It told us
that its action derived from its “onerous statutory responsibility to
guard and maintain at all times the academic regulations of the
university, its hard-earned reputation and the credibility of the
certificate it awards”. I guess with this strong declaration it expected
applause. However, what it has got mostly was a lampoon with a few
endorsements deriving from political consideration.
We should quickly dismiss the defence
that has been offered on behalf of ABSU. The two: Justified precedent
and legality are interrelated. It is submitted that the withdrawal of
certificates is a worldwide phenomenon and the action of ABSU is nothing
spectacular. It is further submitted that the laws and regulations of
the university permit such. Yes, the facility for universities to
withdraw their certificates is worldwide but the circumstance of each is
peculiar; and that is what matters.
The fact that you can remedy an
untoward situation does not say you should allow it to happen. It is
happening and the remediation are two different matters. If a nation is
known as crime-infested, does it make it less so because the state
posses the authority to punish crime? The fact that universities have
powers to withdraw degrees should not give them confidence or the
latitude to be careless about, compromise or even connive at breaking
their own regulations in the first instance. The first act creates the
image; and its remediation, as in the case of ABSU, highlights and
possibly worsens the image.
The aim of this piece is to show that
ABSU has failed and will have to do a lot more to defend the credibility
of its certificate. And to also show that the university is not an
exception but an example of the deep rot in the administration of the
Nigerian university system. Scratch most Nigerian universities slightly
and you will find an ABSU. Also, this article is not interested in the
dog fight between the current Governor of Abia State and his predecessor
except to the extent that the university has been drawn in and has
allowed itself to be abused.
The university and political systems of any
nation must necessarily interact. Each seeks to protect and advance its
territory while seeking to influence and control spheres outside to it.
Politicians seek to dominate their environment, the universities
inclusive. However, in Nigeria, the domination is for corruptive and
denigrative ends. The university seeks to protect its relevance and
integrity by insisting on autonomy in its activities and administration.
The way to develop and defend autonomy is for the university to possess
character. Character here defined as the moral strength of courage,
honesty and fairness. Sadly, a large number of universities in Nigeria
lack character. In seeking to lead the universities, the office seekers
become totally beholden to political office holders.
All manner of
sentiments such as place of origin, political party affiliation,
religion are mobilised such that when the position is obtained,
Vice-Chancellors become puppets in the hand of their political masters
and they take the university down with them. This is the context in
which Uzor Kalu’s ABSU administration and Theodore Orji’s ABSU
administration may be understood. Orji Kalu’s ABSU administration was
unable to show courage and resist the unworthy application of its
Visitor to become its student concurrently; nor was it able to properly
scrutinise his application document, nor ensure that the regulations
that govern residency, lecture attendance, examinations etc were adhered
to. Theodore Orji’s ABSU administration felt obliged to commit
self-immolation in the public to satisfy the crave of its new Visitor.
The sad but true situation is that this genuflecting by universities to
the depravity of political power is very pervasive in the Nigerian
university system. University regulations are frequently breached to
accommodate illegal requests of political/traditional rulers/religious
leaders, other men of power and influence and nepotistic relations. One
clear implication that should be immediately underscored is that as the
universities lack character, their products, graduates and research,
will also be devoid of character since you cannot give what you do not
have. The consequence for the nation is that a large number of graduates
are being pushed into the nation who see nothing wrong in shoddy and
fraudulent reasoning, cutting corners, uncouth and tyrannical exercise
of power, sycophancy, and cronyism. The world is wary of research
results from the environment of universities that lack character.
The ABSU episode shows that the
institutional structures that are within and around the universities are
non-functional and severely compromised. This is the only way the Orji
Kalu’s studentship and certificate scandal could have occurred because
his admission when he was Governor was an open knowledge both within and
outside of ABSU. One may ask, what manner of recruitment got lecturers
on the Faculty of ABSU that are able to allow a student who did not
attend lectures for four out of six semesters to sit exams or to return
marks for exams not sat?
What sort of Departmental and Faculty bodies
approved such a result at their meetings without any of the lecturers
raising an issue? Were questions raised at the Senate at the time of the
award? Who raised the question for the Senate to review its position
now? Has the Senate gone the whole hog to investigate and discipline the
lecturers, Heads of Department, Dean of Faculty, and Admission Officer
responsible for this situation? Where were the students who were Orji
Kalu’s course mates? Did they raise a query about their absentee mate or
they just went along so they can get their certificate which is now
badly assaulted? The National Universities Commission conducts periodic
accreditation where one of the things it certifies is students’
admission and records. In this instance, it must have conducted at least
one accreditation exercise and given approval to what ABSU has done.
There is also the possibility of Visitation to the university by the
Visitor; was there one, what did it find? It is open knowledge that
these quality control exercises are corrupt and merely whitewash
university administrations. The union of academics has a branch in that
university: Did it play its role as a watchdog of the system or was it
compromised? The essence of the issues raised here is to query how such a
big camel could pass through the many needle points available to police
the system. And that is the summary of the situation of our
universities today. ABSU is not alone; a number of programmes involving
the political/military/business elites in our universities are
compromised. The rot in the national environment is equally deep in our
universities. The scary aspect is that the university is expected to be a
guiding light to the nation. Sadly, it has become immersed in the depth
of a corrupt and dysfunctional nation. When gold rusts…
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