Academic excellence: NCAT staff, students demand better deal

Only recently, the Federal Ministry of Aviation set up a committee to visit the NCAT and investigate the circumstances that led to the sacking of one of its instructors.The setting up of the committee followed a petition filed by the sacked instructor, Bilyaminu Abba Usman, in which he alleged that the rector of the school, […]

Only recently, the Federal Ministry of Aviation set up a committee to visit the NCAT and investigate the circumstances that led to the sacking of one of its instructors.
The setting up of the committee followed a petition filed by the sacked instructor, Bilyaminu Abba Usman, in which he alleged that the rector of the school, Mrs Chinyere Kalu, was persecuting him because of his belief and origin, hence the decision to sack him.
One Mrs Hajara Modu, the Director of the ministry’s Human Resource Unit, announced the setting up of the six-man committee on behalf of the permanent secretary.
Although the report of the committee is not yet out, about three months after it was set up, however, protests staged by the students of the college on Monday, January 13 and Wednesday January 15, 2014, over decline in academic activities, accommodation challenges and feeding programme are other indications that the institution can ill-afford losing its instructors which is negatively affecting its academic performance.
The rector, Mrs Kalu, has also admitted in a press conference that shortage of manpower is one of the major challenges of the college, but refused to explain why her administration decided to sack many pilot-instructors since her assumption of office about two years ago.
“Yes, we don’t have all the manpower we need; we need more manpower and we are working at that. We are trying to find a way around it whereby we would be given approval to employ more instructors. Because we are having influx of students, there is therefore absolute need for us to improve our manpower to meet the need,” Mrs Kalu said during the press briefing.
However, a student of the college, who pleaded for anonymity, explained during their protest march thus; “You see, all of us here paid the same amount as tuition fee. For flying students like me we all paid N7.5 million. To our surprise, however, the management of the college is giving preferential treatment to some students. For example, some students are ahead of others in terms of training and not because those students are more intelligent but simply because of the people they know in the college.
“Another serious issue is the issue of training standard. The standard has fallen largely because the college has admitted high number of students that it cannot cater for. Some of our colleagues that have gone abroad have since completed their training while we are still here and we don’t know when we will finish. This issue of over admission brought up the problem of accommodation. The management is now planning to merge two students or more in the rooms that were meant for single student.
“This problem also brought up the issue of quality of food served to students. When we complained, they said they would be giving us our feeding money for us to source our food on our own. We are saying no because NCAT students are given food in-house for both security and safety reasons.”
Speaking on the problem facing NCAT, the youth of Palladan, the host community of the college, called on the Minister of Aviation to as a matter of justice and fairness look into their complaints.
In a letter jointly signed by the chairman and secretary of Palladan Youth Association (PAYA), Musa Balarabe and Ahmad Aliyu, respectively, the community urged the minister to come to their aid.
“NCAT today is frighteningly sitting on keg of gun powder because Mrs Chinyere has succeeded in segregating the college’s staff into religious and ethnic lines. While the rector employed and continue to employ her kinsmen, qualified members of the host community are left roaming the streets. The host community has been battling with the college authorities to admit some of its sons and daughters to study in the college without success. We are obedient youths waiting for our leaders to come to our rescue.
“We want to also use this opportunity to state that our attention has been drawn to a publication in circulation indicating that we the people of Palladan wrote to His Highness, the Emir of Zazzau, appreciating the current rector of the college, Mrs Chinyere Kalu.
“We consider that publication as cheap blackmail, mischief and malicious sponsored by Mrs Chinyere as the association that wrote the said letter has never existed.”
The PAYA letter also said, “The present site where NCAT is sited was originally the real location of Palladan before it was moved to the present location to allow the establishment of the college in 1963. It is embarrassing and worrisome that Palladan community has benefited almost nothing since the coming of the present college’s management. The establishment of the college in our community is denying us various things.”
However, while talking to our correspondent, Mrs. Kalu said as part of the college’s efforts to assist the Palladan community; two overhead boreholes were constructed for the people by the college among other intervention efforts.
Also responding to some of the issues resulting to students of the college embarking on a two-day protest, the rector said a new hostel would be commissioned very soon to meet their need for hostel accommodation.
She also said that the students would be allowed to choose between different caterers in getting their food.
“We have resolved everything with the students and we are at peace now. We have also mandated our staff to go to some organizations to ask for assistance that we are in dear need of hostel accommodation as well as classrooms because very soon classrooms would also become a problem because we have got accreditation to run HND programme, therefore we would have more influx of students,” Mrs. Kalu explained.
Some of the students of the college, who spoke to Daily Trust shortly after a chat with the Rector, confirmed that they were at peace with the management of the college. They said their problems have been addressed by the management of the college.
It is now left to be seen how NCAT would strive for academic excellence, which is the college’s motto, in the midst of students’ protest, over overstretched facilities, over admission of students and palpable anxiety among both staff and students of the college.