A seasoned educationist and former Minister of Sports and Special Duties, Professor Taoheed Adedoja is the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the governing council of the Federal University, Dutse (FUD), Jigawa State. In this interview with DOYIN ADEOYE, he shares the achievements of the institution, its prospect, and the challenges facing the education sector in Nigeria, among other issues. Excerpts:How has it been since your appointment at the Federal University, Dutse?
I consider it a major responsibility to be one of those who would champion the cause of educational development in Nigeria, particularly in university education. I also consider myself to play a key role because of my background and experience, and also because I always find myself highly challenged if given any public responsibility. I have never failed in the past and with this assignment, I want to be seen as one who would champion the cause of good governance in higher education.
For me to be at FUD, I see it as a familiar terrain because it is quite easy for me to relate with the environment in which the university is situated. It has also been worthwhile because I met on ground a very visionary Vice Chancellor, Professor Jibril Dahiru Aminu, who was the VC at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), where I started as a lecturer. I also met a very committed Registrar of the university with whom we worked together at the Bayero University, Kano. Also, the Emir of Dutse, Dr Muhammed Sanusi, happens to be a friend and my senior while at Kano’s Teachers College. The environment is really conducive for me and more so, Jigawa is one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria.
As a young institution, what are the achievements recorded so far?
The university was established in 2011 as one of the 12 federal universities established in states where there are no federal universities. They were established in order to provide access to education for youths that otherwise would not have had university education.
So, with a very solid management on ground, that has driven the university to where it is today, FUD will soon be rated among world-class universities. The institution will be five years old by February next year, and right now, it has very good foundations of Faculties of Arts, Social Sciences, Management, Agriculture, and of course, the Faculty of Medicine, which will be starting in October.
The university also has a very good relationship with the Jigawa State government, which voluntarily gave a massive piece of land to the university to take off. The Jigawa State General Hospital has also been conceded to the university as the Teaching Hospital of its Faculty of Medicine, which is taking off next year. So it is a university that has the potential for growth.
What are the efforts being made to generate revenue for the university, and what are your expectations from the government?
The Federal Government as the owner of the university has to play its role in terms of funding. But looking at the number of federal universities in Nigeria, numbering about 40, it is becoming increasingly impossible for the government to provide the kind of resources needed to take the universities to where they are supposed to be in terms of infrastructure, teaching lab equipment, and also in terms of research facilities.
FUD would provide the necessary environment for generating Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), to the extent that the university would make room for the required leadership in the area of IGR, particularly in the area of food production and agro allied businesses, which is already in the pipeline. And the end of the day, the FUD would be rated topmost in terms of IGR.
However, any university in Nigeria would require some incentives, provided there is evidence of judicious utilisation of fund and financial transparency in the project execution. The university would require incentives from the government in terms of grants. There will also be a special partnership between various state governments and the university.
FUD in the space of three years would also be rated as one of the best, if not the best university in Nigeria that would attract talented sportsmen and women from all over the country, who would be given adequate recognition, conducive environment and innovative scholarship. We are going to provide an enabling environment for various sporting competitions within and outside the country. And this move would be private sector driven, and not through government’s support.
Where lies the university’s strength, in terms of the academic curriculum?
Going by the indices that are considered for rating universities to attain world-class standard, such as the ability to attract research fund from the international community, FUD will soon come up with a research model that will be one of the best in this country because the university has on ground a highly qualified academic staff members, and also we have a Faculty of Agriculture that will soon be the best in Nigeria.
How do you intend to attract and assure prospective students, considering security generally in the North?
The university is almost five years now, and it has not had any case of students’ riot or strike, partly because of the conducive environment provided. Why do students strike? It is because of the environment that is not conducive for them. The hostel accommodation here is so conducive that any student anywhere in the world would want to come.
Also because of the serenity of the state, Jigawa now attracts companies that are ready to settle in the state. Even from Ibadan, there are daily flights to Dutse three times a week.
What is the population of students right now?
At the moment,we have a total number of 1, 200 students, with five faculties: the Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences, Management, Agriculture, and Languages. The second phase would include other faculties such as Medicine, Education and Environmental Sciences.
How would you react to the clamours for the scrapping of JAMB and what solutions would you proffer to the issues on ground?
The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) was established to streamline the process of admission in Nigerian universities, in order to maintain minimum standard for entry into universities, so that University A will not admit substandard students as against University B or C that will not open its doors to some students for one reason or the other. JAMB is aimed at the standardisation of university admissions in Nigeria.
Admissions into universities in Nigeria have become highly competitive because of the number of students who desire university education. Nigeria with a population of a little above 180 million, has on ground 40 federal universities, 39 state universities and about 50 private universities. All combined will never be sufficient, compared with the USA, which we see as a model in educational development, which has 300 million plus population, and 2,300 degree awarding institutions.
People are clamouring in recent times that JAMB should be scrapped because of it challenges, but I don’t subscribe to that at all. I believe that virtually all sectors of the educational system in Nigeria as a whole require a review.
The national policy on education in Nigeria has not been reviewed since 1977. So the issue is not about JAMB, it is about reviewing the entire educational policy in Nigeria. The national policy on education as far as higher education, secondary education and primary education is concerned; Nigeria’s vision, mission, and objectives for education have never been reviewed. So this should be considered based on the economic reality.
Should government also assist private universities?
Private universities are also providing access to education for thousands of Nigerian youths. So it is a wrong perception that government should not assist private universities.
They are playing strategic roles in providing education for the youth, so there is need for them to be assisted by the government also. That a university is private does not mean that it should be denied government access to competitive grants for research.
I don’t own or jointly-own any private university, but I believe there must be a review on the terms of assisting the private sector to survive. Also, there is need for an Education Development Bank to be set up, where anyone who is interested in developing education can access loans.
How do you think the issue of mass unemployment can be tackled?
Unemployment for many countries is as a result of different factors. Going by the model of other countries, although, sometimes I don’t feel comfortable using the United States as an example, because it has its own challenges, but I refer to it because I schooled in the US, and also because many people are familiar with its system all over the world. I believe skill acquisition, industrialisation and the private sector is key to employment issue anywhere in the world.
In many scenarios today, nobody wants to examine your certificates anymore; they are more interested in what you can do. In most places of employment in the US, the method of writing CVs is now different. Sometimes you don’t even put your gender or your qualification anymore; they don’t want your qualification. What interests them is what you can do or what you have done.
So I think we should start to play down on paper qualification on Nigeria.
No comments:
Post a Comment