The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilesa, Osun State, Professor Taiwo Asaolu, has said many vice-chancellors of Nigerian universities are facing numerous challenges in the administration of their institutions.
He said vice-chancellors are particularly confronted with diverse and conflicting interests among stakeholders, which often place pressure on administrators.
Asaolu, a professor of Accounting, stated this during the Second Bursary and Internal Audit Annual Lecture of Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State, on Wednesday.
A copy of the lecture, titled “Ethics under pressure: Managing financial risk and integrity in university governance,” was sighted by our correspondent on Friday.
The don noted that the administration of a university is not an easy task, adding that some former vice-chancellors of Nigerian universities had been sentenced to various jail terms due to improper handling of issues during their respective tenures.
Citing his own university as an example, Asaolu stated that he had been facing a series of challenges ranging from land grabbing to illegal occupation of campus land and pressure from other stakeholders.
He said, “As I’m speaking with you, we have illegal residents on our campus, rearing goats, chickens and others. We have taken the Osun Rangers (local security operatives) there to chase them, but they are still there.
“We have land grabbers whose fathers have collected compensation. They said they didn’t know anything about it, so they want to retrieve the land. Not only do they want to retrieve the land, but they have also started construction, only to know that they mean business, and these are people who are bold enough to take us to court.
“So, if we are talking about the university, you can know what is in there. In Ijesa land, we have traditional rulers, so many of them, and when you talk about the University of Ilesa, of course, the university belongs to them, so whatever you are doing, recruitment, admission, and all others, you must reckon with them.
“Also, you have diverse and conflicting stakeholders’ interests. The University of Ilesa is a new university. We have recruited from other student unions. But you have us, as you have said here. We have recruited from student unions, tutors and staff. Academic, non-teaching technologists, and so many of them. But I will tell you it is not easy. We are dealing with the students, parents, management, staff, teachers and other stakeholders”
He, however, called on university governing councils to “establish an independent audit and risk committee with external experts,” in order to enhance objective oversight of financial management systems in their institutions.
The don also charged school managements “to implement a comprehensive whistleblowing policy and ethical training for the purpose of early detection of fraud and culture of accountability.”
In her remarks, the Chairman of the occasion and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Prof. Adenike Oladiji, commended the guest lecturer, saying the topic of the lecture was apt in view of the pressures university administrators face.
“I think it’s just the best thing to do at a time like this. I salute the courage of the person who came up with this topic because I’m sure they know that we are under a lot of pressure, as was said during the lecture”, she said.
She urged stakeholders to always be guided by the law for the proper administration of universities.
“We must be guided by our law in dealing with all of these pressures because you are always right when you’re on the part of the law. Then number two is for us to create sensitisation. The university community must also know that there are stakeholders whose expectations and interests at times can be conflicting, but with a lot of education, I believe we can resolve all of these things”, the don noted.
Speaking earlier, the Bursar of Elizade University, Mr Ajeigbe Samuel, said the choice of the lecture topic was appropriate “now that there are confronting social, financial and political pressures contending with professionalism in the management of finances of universities and corporate entities.”
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