In the twilight of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, four colleges of education were upgraded to university of education. But, rumour has it that President Muhammadu Buhari has allegedly ordered the suspension of the new status of the institutions; a development that is generating tension between workers and their managements. Our reporters LEKE AKEREDOLU (Akure) KOLADE ADEYEMI (Kano) OKODILI NDIDI (Owerri) and ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWEW (Kaduna) report. •Workers accuse provosts, elements in government of sabotage •Four provosts cannot be greater than the people, says managment •Govt urged to conduct national debate before verdict Last May, the administration of former President
Goodluck Jonathan took some last-minute
decisions, among which was the upgrading of
four colleges of education to university status. The institutions are: Adeyemi College of
Education, Ondo (now Adeyemi University of
Education, Ondo); Federal College of Education,
Zaria (now Federal University of Education,
Zaria); Federal College of Education, Kano (now
Federal University of Education, Kano); and Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri (now
Alvan Ikoku University of Education, Owerri). However, reports in some social mediums had it
that the Federal Government, last week
suspended the new status of the institutions,
fuelling fresh protests and stiff resistance by
workers. Many of them are pointing accusing
fingers at provosts of the institutions, saying they connived with certain elements in the
government to bring about the reversal. Genesis The new government of President Muhammadu
Buhari had hardly settled down for business
when reactions from various quarters on
whether to retain the new status of the
institutions or revert them to their old status
began to pour in.  Those opposed to their new status felt the upgrade was politically motivated,
and that the four institutions were better off as
colleges of education.  Some also wondered
why the sudden move in less than two months
to Jonathan’s exit from office. Others,
particularly workers, who were favourably disposed to the university idea, held the view
that aside being the oldest colleges of education
nationwide, the institutions have the
infrastructure and faculty staff to transform to
universities. In addition, some of them, prior to their
upgrade, were running degree programmes
and Post-Graduate Diplomas (PGD) in affiliation
with some universities. To the host communities
of the institutions, who had long craved for the
new status, it was a welcome development and they were a lot happier. Protest rocks Adeyemi University of Education, Ondo But there were mixed feelings about the new
status. While some members of staff were happy
with the host communities, others were not.
And those not favourably disposed to the new
status allegedly worked against it. Although their identities are not known and
some workers have refused to disclose those
allegedly behind the move, investigations
revealed that some lecturers, who had spent
many years in the system, worked with some
prominent people in the society to reverse the schools’ status. It was further learnt that the alleged sponsors
have refused to improve themselves, especially
in attaining their Ph.D degrees, and were afraid
the new status of their institutions might either
choke them, or make them inferior. The Nation reporters gathered that the ‘anti-
university’ promoters secretly formed a group in
the four affected colleges of education, using
the platform to push their demands. The group was alleged to have been in touch
with some highly connected people in
government to get their message to the
Presidency. Their agitation was anchored on the fact that
majority of the teachers in the four institutions
have no Ph.D degrees, raising the fear that they
might be sent back to the labour market that is
replete with unemployed. However, their argument was at variance with
that of the  non-teaching staff of the institutions. The non-teaching staff, through their unions –
Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), Senior Staff
Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU),
and National Association of Academic
Technologists (NAAT), also formed a joint union
called ‘Joint Non-Teaching Staff Action Committee’ (JNTSAC) to work against the
planned reversal. The President of the Senior Staff Association of
Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Comrade Femi
Lademikan, was made their chairman at an
emergency congress at an occassion  which
held at the institution’s premises in Ondo State. Some of the aggrieved workers, who stormed
the congress venue, were armed with canes,
ostensibly to go straight to the offices of those
pushing for the reversal to flog them.
Nonetheless, they were prevailed upon by
leaders of the unions, who admonished them not to be violent in pressing for their demands. Addressing the workers at the congress,
Lademikan said union leaders had not gone to
bed, adding that they had been seeking
assistance, particularly from prominent
indigenes of the Ondo kingdom. “Immediately we heard about this (reversal to
old status), we rushed to Osemawe of Ondo, Oba
Victor Kiladejo, but, unfortunately, the monarch
was not in the country. That took us to his
second in command; the Lisa of Ondo, Chief,
Simeon Oguntimehin. “He expressed sadness on the issue and
immediately called the Vice President, Prof. Yemi
Osinbajo, his wife, Dolapo and President
Muhammadu Buhari’s media aide, Mr. Femi
Adesina on the issue.They all said the news was
strange to them and that there was no such plan in the Presidency. “We told him of our plan to stage a protest to the
Osemawe’s palace and also the Governor’s
Office, but Chief Oguntimehin appealed against
the idea, fearing that some unscrupulous
elements might hijack the process,” he said. But the aggrieved workers insisted that, despite
Oguntimehin’s appeal, they must march to the
gate of their institution on Ondo-Ore-Lagos
Expressway. They displayed placards with various
inscriptions, such as “Mr President take away
corruption, not our university”; “University
status, no going back”; “Forward ever,
backward never”. Their action caused a gridlock on the route for
about an hour. Addressing reporters, Lademikan said: “We
want our university to remain, and we are
appealing to the government through this
peaceful demonstration. “We are telling President Muhammadu Buhari
that we have everything- manpower, people,
structures and resources that it will take to
maintain the new status of this institution. We
are peaceful and cooperative. Mr. President must
not listen to people, who don’t love him, sycophants and those enemies of progress. “There are so many publications in the media
that the institution should be returned to
college, but because of this forum, we won’t
mention names. We know them and we are
waiting for them.” Teachers in the institution, under the umbrella of
Lecturers’ Union of Adeyemi University, had
quickly aligned with JNTSAC, describing the
upgrade to university as a step in the right
direction. A statement signed by its Public Relations Officer
(PRO), Mr. Olaolu Olaniyan, said: “The union
notes with utter dismay and outright
displeasure, the rumour making the rounds
about the purported reversal of the hard-
earned university status of Adeyemi Federal University of Education and three other newly
upgraded universities of education. “We want to emphatically express our rejection
of such a reversal which is only capable of
creating avoidable tension in the new university
community and the host community by
extension. “The upgrading of the institution into a full
fledged university was premised on several
factors, chiefly, the high quality of academic
staff, who have worked assiduously over the
years to produce an array of trained teachers for
the primary and secondary school components. The institution also runs Post-Graduate Diploma
in Education programme. ” It is, therefore, in the light of the foregoing that
the union rejects in absolute terms any attempt
whatsoever to truncate the upgrading of the
institution to a full fledged university status. It is
an ill wind that blows nobody no good, and
capable of precipitating crisis in the immediate university community and the host community.” Also, the President, Students’ Union Government
of Adeyemi Federal University of Education.
Isiaka Kamarudeen, lent his voice. “We have celebrated this and that is how it
should be. Nobody should reverse our status. It
will look so bad on the side of workers and
students of the institution if such negative
decision is taken. Government must not take
any decision that can cause students’ unrest,” Kamarudeen said. But a member of the management, who
preferred anonymity, expressed shock over the
development. He said “I was surprised that some of our
lecturers were fingered in this plot and I don’t
know why people will be against good thing? I
still remember the efforts of the former ACE
Provost, Prof. Idowu Adeyemi, the Osemawe of
Ondo and other prominent people in the state in this drive.  How come some few people will now
be planning to scuttle what a large number of
people had laboured for? “The former Provost gave room for lecturers to
develop themselves and through that many of
them got their Ph.D, and I don’t know why some
people will now complain that we have fewer
Ph.D holders? It’s one week warning strike at the Federal University of Education, Kano Members of the Academic Staff of the Federal
College of Education, Kano, on Monday, shut
down the institution paralysing academic
activities. The development followed their one
week warning strike made known to members
last week. The workers’ aim was to ask the government to
clarify issues on the alleged controversial
 reversal, based on the circular forwarded to the
institution. The aggrieved workers alleged that the Provost,
Dr Rabi Jubirila,  doctored the memo signed by
the Acting Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry
of Education, Hajia Hindatu Umar Abdullahai, for
her selfish interest. The Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of the
institution, Dr Abubakar Sadeeq Haruna,
accused Jubirila of saying that the said memo
directed the institution to revert to the status
quo, which, according to him, was contrary to
the contents of the memo. Haruna said government only directed that the
institution put everything on hold pending
further instructions, and not to immediately
revert to the former status. But, speaking to The Nation, Dr Jubirila
confirmed the purported letter. “The memo received from the Federal
Government specifically cited two major issues,
saying that by the copy of this memo, you are
directed to revert the school to its original
status,” she said, quoting a part of the memo. She continued: “In addition, you are directed to
continue to administer the college as Federal
College of Education and as the Provost of the
college with all right and privilege.” Nonetheless, Jubrilla denied allegations that
provosts of the four affected colleges were the
architect of the reversal.  “Four provosts cannot
be too powerful to influence the Federal
Government’s decision,” she protested. However, Haruna described the reversal as ‘too
hasty’, and failed to comply with due process. He lamented that, despite an earlier memo sent
to the government, highlighting the advantages
of the upgrade to university, and the negative
consequences its reversal may generate, the
latter still stuck to its guns. The union urged the government to toe the line
of due process, and subject the planned reversal
to a national debate before jumping to
conclusion. Another strike at Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education On Tuesday, joint academic bodies of Alvan
Ikoku Federal University of Education,
comprising the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of
Nigeria Universities (SSANU), the Students’ Union
Government (SUG) and National Association of Technologists (NAT) began a one-week
warning strike against the plot. The aggrieved protesters displayed placards
with various inscriptions such as: “Welcome to
Alvan Ikoku University of Education, Owerri;
farewell to Alvan Ikoku Federal College of
Education, Owerri'; ‘We want a Vice Chancellor.
We reject a Provost'; ‘Forward ever, backward never! We can never go back to Egypt,’, among
others. The ASUU Chairman, Comrade Okachi
Wachukwu, who led the protest, said Dr Ijeoma
intimated her of the reversal on Friday last week. Wachukwu said: “Even if we have been told that
it was going to be reversed, the status quo
should have been maintained while
deliberations are on.” The workers alleged that Dr Ijeoma, whom they
said lost out in a bid to clinch the position of the
Vice Chancellor, in conjunction with some
lecturers, who were relieved of their duties
because they lacked the requisite qualifications,
were behind the move. However, Dr Ijeoma declined comments. “I don’t want to say anything on this issue,” she
politely told our reporter. Fed Govt ill-advised, insist workers at the Federal University of Education, Kaduna In Zaria, the combined unions, which have
already metamorphosed into Joint Unions of
Federal University of Education (FUE) Zaria, said
President Buhari was ill-advised. The unions, comprising the Academic Staff
Union of Universities of Education (ASUUE), Non
Academic Staff Union (NASU) and SSANU, argued
that the new role of the institution could not be
underestimated. Speaking on behalf of the three unions in Zaria,
ASUUE Chairman, Zaria, Malam Yahuza Salmanu,
said: “Mr President, our attention has been
drawn to a purported move by the Federal
Government to revert the four federal
universities of education recently upgraded to university status. “ASUUE- FUE, Zaria considers the move as
retrogressive, ill-advised, counterproductive
and totally out of tune with international best
practices in teacher education programme.” Salmanu said ASUUE feared the move would
further draw teacher education backward. “At present, degree holders are being
clamoured for to teach right from nursery
school. Why then should the government be
thinking of reverting universities to institutions
that would produce only NCE teachers? “The four universities of education are not new
per se; they have structures, personnel, and
have been teaching undergraduates and this
should not be derailed,” he pleaded. Meanwhile our correspondent, who visited the
institution last week, observed that a circular
containing the Federal Government’s directive to
put the conversion on hold littered the
institution. When contacted, Head of Public Relations Unit of
the institution, Hajia Rakiya Sidi, said the
management did not have any choice other
than to comply with Federal Government’s
directive.