The Registrar of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Mr. Mansur Adeleke Alfanla, has urged the federal government to designate an agency to oversee the finances of public universities in the country.
He argued that having different government establishments performing this function, as it is now, is retrogressive and could cause inconsistencies in their findings.
Alfanla, in an interview with journalists in Ilorin at the weekend, said setting up a special body for this purpose would stave off the inconsistencies that often arise due to the divergent positions of the agencies.
“Multiple agencies performing financial oversight functions is very displeasing and retrogressive. If the government establishes a centralized body for that function, it will eliminate the inconsistencies that often accompany such divergent views.
“One problem is the oversight function of different agencies performing one singular function. Honestly, it is very displeasing to have different agencies doing that. It is not too good at all. It is retrogressive and draws the hands of the clock backward. We need to speak the truth and the whole world should see us.
“We have government institutions with overlapping functions. The National Assembly will come to look into our financial books, the Accountant General will come, the Auditor General will come, the NUC will come, and the Federal Ministry of Education will come. That is a duplication of duties.
“I think there should be a designated body that will be doing this for and on behalf of the federal government so that it will be one body rather than multiplying such functions, which often lead to inconsistencies.
“These agencies often have divergent views. What one agency acknowledges as done correctly, another will say is done wrongly. So, let them come up with uniform policies to be monitored by one body,” he lamented.
Alfanla also lamented the lack of funding for public institutions, saying that another problem we are facing is finance.
He noted, “Our universities lack funds, but I’m certain things will improve.”
On the security situation at the University of Ilorin, he bemoaned the activities of some cattle herders who stray into the campus to destroy crops, farmlands, and other valuables.
“Another challenge is the issue of security. We have cattle rearers coming into the campus, destroying people’s property by way of their farmlands. They go there, destroy, and herd their cattle into the farmlands to plunder.
“In fact, I was once a victim. About five of us cultivated eight hectares of land for beans.
The plantation flourished, but during harvest time, these people came and destroyed everything with their cattle,” he recalled.
He, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the prevalence of brain drain in public institutions across the country and urged the government to find a way to stem the tide.
He said, “Part of the challenges we are having is the issue of brain drain. People abandon their work and go elsewhere by way of ‘Japa’. It is affecting not only the University of Ilorin but many universities in Nigeria, and it is something the federal government should look into.”
Admitting that the government has its share of the blame for the problems, Alfanla urged lecturers to be patient, saying, “We need to sacrifice for this country before it can get back on the right track. I’m not saying the government doesn’t have its own share of the blame—it does.
“We don’t need to run elsewhere. Those we ran to didn’t call us there. Unfortunately, these people go there to build the economy of that place, while they are running down the economy of Nigeria.”
The Registrar lauded the management of the University of Ilorin for actively engaging labor unions at the institution and placing a high premium on staff welfare, adding that this has led to optimum service delivery and uninterrupted academic sessions.
He said, “I want to say the university is quite blessed at present, and it is very rare to have the kind of leadership we are having here at the University of Ilorin anywhere in the world.
“We engage our union leaders, and let me tell you, at times, even when a strike is declared nationally, the local branch will need to look back and say, ‘Are we going, or are we not going?’ for obvious reasons.
“Is there anywhere in Nigeria, in any Nigerian university, where staff members were given about a 25% waiver on their biological children’s school fees? It has never been done anywhere. It started last year at the University of Ilorin, and we are maintaining it this year as well—that’s welfare.
“Staff are also sent for various forms of training, locally and internationally, and of course, when the leadership of our unions has issues and presents them, we give them a listening ear.
“That is what is happening. If the government is doing that, there will be nobody saying, ‘I’m going on strike.”
