What is currently playing out at the Plateau State-owned Solomon Lar University, Bokkos, has continued to leave a sour taste in the mouths of many concerned people.

The recent suspension of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Danjuma Sheni; rancour over the reappointment of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Daniel Dabi, and the no love lost between the VC and the Pro-Chancellor, Prof. Sam Ale, among others, have continued to elicit anxiety and negative comments from members of the public.

Even the fate of the students remains unknown since the ivory tower founded by former Governor Joshua Dariye opened its gates for the first set of students in 2005. Curiously, nine years after, no student has graduated from the university.

For example, the pioneer VC, who has been watching the unfolding drama at a distance, Prof. John Wade, says what is happening in the institution confounds imagination. Breaking his silence on what he describes as the impunity going on, Wade, who chaired the Implementation Committee of the institution, says, “In my clear conscience as the pioneer VC, I cannot keep silence in the face of what this university, which I nurtured, is going through. The undue interference by the Pro-chancellor and Visitor is one too many. The overzealousness in the appointment and re-appointment of principal officers of the university is shameful.

“I see the issue as that of ludicrous vanity taking centre stage – than the pursuit of development goals with a patriotic zeal. I foresaw these negative tendencies, hence could not tolerate undue interferences and once sued the government, won the case and got the university reopened. The judgment remains a judicial precedence, along with consent agreement, which does not give room for anybody to interfere with the running of the university.”

Wade adds that based on his personal assessment and observations, the university only got working properly, in terms of purposeful leadership, with the coming of Sheni, in March 2013.

He says, “Sheni was pursuing the vision we passionately laid down before this unwarranted assault on the young university. Nine years after its establishment and since infrastructure put down by the pioneer VC, as well as the support of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, there is not much to show on the side of the government towards ensuring that programmes run in the university receive accreditation. This is shameful and worrisome.

“When the bazaar is over and the fight for the soul of the tender board, as to who chairs it is over, Sheni may be called to return to his duty post. All eyes are watching if the acting VC, Malo, will be a mere stooge or he will assert himself and do the needful against very powerful interests.”

Asking the management of TETFund to safeguard the institution’s funds, Wade notes, “But it remains to be seen if TETFund will ever release any fund to the university in the face of the crisis that has even attracted the attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which has been investigating allegations against the pro-chancellor.”

Advising the new administration of the university to toe the line of sanity, he says, “It remains to be seen whether Malo, the acting VC, will be able to resolve any crisis or stabilise the place.”

Apart from the pioneer VC, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Jos chapter, also says it is watching the development on the Plateau State University with keen interest.

According to the ASUU UNIJOS Chairman, Dr. Chris Piwuna, and the Secretary, Dr. Noel Wannang, in a statement, the union will not stand hands akimbo and watch the university it helped to nurture and facilitate the receiving of funds from the Federal Government through the NEEDS assessment being subjected to ridicule and shame.

UNIJOS ASUU particularly picked holes with the reappointment of the deputy vice-chancellor, saying the act is against the laws of the university.

The union notes, “Following directly from this, this branch is constrained to make the following observations. Academic activities in the university are threatened by the action of the Visitor to the university, especially by his purported unilateral removal of the VC and the reappointment of a DVC. These actions are clearly a breach of the extant rules establishing the university.

“ASUU UNIJOS notes with serious concern the fact that only recently the state university was reopened after a long closure. There is no doubt that the current state of affairs will jeopardise the accreditation of the university’s courses and programmes. As a union, it is our responsibility to protect the integrity of the statute establishing the university and thus, draw attention to these breaches and urge the Visitor to reverse the actions and allow for peace and academic work that is being threatened,” the statement concludes.

Besides Wade and ASUU, a member of the university council, Mr. Amos Dombin, who filed a suit against the reappointment of the DVC, describes what is happening in the citadel as abnormal. He says despite a court order restraining the DVC from attending council meetings, he has been doing so.

For a former chairman of the investigative panel in the university, Prof. Dakum Shown, the ongoing development paints a very disappointing picture. Shown attributes it to power play and the excesses of some power brokers. According to him, the governor has humiliated some experienced vice-chancellors that served the university in the past.

For instance, he faults the governor’s appointment of Ale as the pro-chancellor, saying the university would have fared better if the Prof. Daniel Saror-led council had not been humiliated out of office. Shown thus canvasses the immediate reinstatement of Sheni.



http://www.punchng.com/education/nine-years-after-solomon-lar-varsity-cant-graduate-students/

Choi