Appointment of varsity vice chancellors

The institution’s governing council is reported to have begun the procedure for the appointment of new Vice Chancellor to succeed Professor James Adelabu, whose tenure ends at the end of this month. Academic staff members have complained about an alleged lack of transparency in the process and have been on strike. The university was thereafter […]

The institution’s governing council is reported to have begun the procedure for the appointment of new Vice Chancellor to succeed Professor James Adelabu, whose tenure ends at the end of this month. Academic staff members have complained about an alleged lack of transparency in the process and have been on strike. The university was thereafter plunged into crisis; the authorities ordered the school closed indefinitely and students, who were preparing for semester examinations that should begin early next month, sent home.
Reports of irregularities have often trailed the appointment of heads of some of the nation’s tertiary institutions. Candidates for appointments as vice chancellor are expected by regulation to meet specified criteria, after which a shortlist of three is made from which one would emerge as successful.
Crises begin to manifest when other criteria other than those laid-down, and upon which candidates had made their intentions known, are brought to bear after the selection process. Sometimes this happens when communities inject themselves into the selection process, by insisting that because an institution is located in their area its head must be a member from that community. It may also occur in a case where the candidate who may score the highest in the final selection process, may be considered unsuitable by the council for other reasons. It simply does not make any sense when the highest scorer fails to clinch the post.
The University of Abuja was faced with a similar problem in the process that led to the emergence of Professor Adelabu as Vice Chancellor, because the academic community there insisted the product of the university, not an ‘outsider’, should get the job, although he came third in the shortlist.
Only recently, the appointment of a new vice chancellor for the University of Maiduguri was mired in controversy. The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the university’s governing council reportedly walked out of the selection meeting over differences with other members, and thereafter disowned the entire process.
Part of the problem is that a purely academic and administrative position has been politicised such that appointment into it has become a political football. Merit has been devalued and political affiliations and even ethnic sentiments have now become extraneous but crucial factors in the selection process. The federal government-owned University of Port Harcourt is a case in point. Following the advertisement of the position of vice chancellor, staff and students of Ikwerre (Rivers State) origin, turning it into a tribal issue, protested in the streets against the 8-year post-professorial experience included in the requisite conditions of candidates vying for the post. According to them, such a stipulation was a plot to deny their kinsman from getting the position.
The Universities Autonomy Act of 2003 provides for independence in the management of universities. The composition, role and powers of the Search Team and of the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board (called Joint Board) that the law recognises are clearly defined. The Search Team draws a shortlist of suitably qualified candidates for consideration for interview by the Joint Board, which is guided by specified criteria. The Joint Board under the headship of the Council’s Chairman recommends three names to the council from which one is finally selected, and the Visitor to the university, which is the President of Nigeria, is duly informed.
Given the current crisis in the University of Abuja, and the fact that the tenure of the vice chancellor expires in three days’ time, the Governing Council should hasten and ensure that the selection process for a new one is transparent and completed in time to enable academic activities resume in earnest without further delay.
In doing that, the council should however not sacrifice due process for speed by ignoring, or circumventing provisions of the law in regard to the selection process. The best candidate may not necessarily satisfy certain political interests, but the larger interests of the university community should be the deciding factor. A flawed or corrupt process will only mean that the instability that has bedevilled the University of Abuja for many years would likely not find closure from this process.