UNIVERSITY OF ABUJA, ‘43 LECTURERS’  AND THE MEDIA

Aisha Sani Maikudi’s appointment as Vice-Chancellor of the University went through due process, contends ILLIYASU JIMOH

The battle for leadership in tertiary institutions, especially universities, is becoming increasingly interesting. Over the past year, no fewer than six universities, including the University

 of Maiduguri, Modibbo Adama Federal University of Technology, Yola, the University of Benin, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Nnamdi Azikiwe University (upturned) and the University of Abuja, have appointed new vice-chancellors.

While the transitions at institutions such as University of Maiduguri, Modibbo Adama Federal University of Technology, Yola, the University of Benin, Usmanu Danfodiyo University went on relatively well, and the defeated candidates  have since settled down to the reality of their loss, the same cannot be said about the University of Abuja which appointment of  Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi as  its  seventh substantive vice-chancellor has given rise to a contentious narrative propagated by a group that is now  graciously labeled as “43 Senate Members”,  “43 Professors”,  “over 40 academic staff,” in the media.

This group, composed mainly of individuals, such as one of the defeated candidates, Professor Abubakar Mashi, a member of the Governing Council; Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, and a few others, who were dissatisfied with the outcome of the appointment process and unwilling to accept the outcome of a fair and transparent selection process that led to the appointment of Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi.  

 They have therefore resorted to a series of orchestrated media campaigns aimed at discrediting the University’s leadership and governance structures.  

To start with, this number variously put at “43” “over 40” which they claim to have, is itself a hoax, and indisputably exaggerated. The Senate members at the University of Abuja who were at the postponed meeting of the Senate to find out why their representatives at the Joint Council and Senate Selection Board (JCSSB) decided to walk out on the Council, would always recall that a list of names was generated for attendance.  They are also certain that this list was later inflated and attached to media reports to create the illusion of widespread discontent within the University community.

Interestingly, many of the individuals whose names appeared on this list have since publicly and privately distanced themselves from the group and denied any association with its embarrassing activities.

A recent petition signed by over 109 members of the Senate of the University and submitted to the Ministry of Education clarified this fact, thus

exposing the tactics of those behind the misinformation campaign. So, the number “40 professors” is actually fewer than 10, and yet shrinking fast to five. 

 At the heart of the agitation by these few individuals is the desire to sustain a relentless media campaign through baseless allegations and fake stories against Maikudi, while also making case for dissolution of council and its related decisions.

The Council of the University of Abuja led by AVM Ismaila Sadik Kaita has since maintained that it went through a transparent and due process in the appointment of the current vice- chancellor, including advertising the position, constituting a Search Team, Joint Council/Senate Selection Board (JCSSB), setting criteria for shortlisting and scoring candidates, inviting candidates for interview and picking the best of them for the position. Since the facts to support the allegation of breach of due process has since lost steam, the group has of recent, devised another plot, feeding the media with false unverifiable information.

 For instance, they alleged that the Vice-Chancellor, unilaterally fixed a date for convocation ceremony. One online medium, which claimed that Maikudi wrote the government to choose between two dates for the convocation ceremony (15th or 22nd February 2025), said it “exclusively obtained a flyer” that showed that 6th February 2025 had been fixed for the convocation. Funny.  

Another baseless allegation involves claims that the vice-chancellor chartered an aircraft with “her entourage”   to visit the chancellor of the University and Emir of Bauchi, HRH Alhaji Rilwanu Adamu. Because the sources have no hard evidence to show that huge sums of money were expended to “charter an aircraft,” they simply threw the information out there for unsuspecting public to swallow.

They also referenced a N3.2 billion fraud they alleged was discovered by the Presidential Visitation Panel to the University in 2021 and the refusal of Council to implement the directive of the Visitor on the matter, in a failed bid to rope in  Maikudi’s father,  whose tenure as  Council chairman instituted a probe and discovered some irregularities, in the first place, and even ordered Edutech’s contract to be terminated.

But in all of these, one is worried about the integrity of some of the media houses that have made themselves willing tool in the hands of this group. Agreed that one of the Council members, Akinfeleye who is part of the group, is close to some media houses, but it should concern professionals how a section of the media have unwittingly become platforms for fake news in the hands of this group, by amplifying their baseless claims without proper verification and fact-checking.

The crises and discontents that the group is labouring to create is far away from the campus of the University of Abuja. They exist only in the figment of imagination of the group and some sections of the media.

A visit to the University of Abuja, for instance, would reveal that a lot of activities are going on. Students have resumed lectures, staff are carrying out their academic and administrative responsibilities, under a peaceful atmosphere.  Last week, there was a handover of key projects in the University to their  end users, ambassadors are vising the University to discuss partnership and collaborations, and many more activities are being lined up as measures to add value to the system.

These are part of what is infuriating the group.

My advice to the remaining few members of this group is that it is time to let go of their smear campaigns and continuous attempts to blackmail the leadership of the University as well as the government, which representatives in the Council, have reported that all went well concerning the appointment of Maikudi as the vice -chancellor of University of Abuja.

Under the leadership of AVM Ismaila Kaita, rtd,  the Governing Council and management of the University,  we are sure that the institution has great opportunity and potential to consolidate its gains and chart a path toward sustainable development. No matter how relenting any group is in orchestrating their campaign of calumny against them to rubbish the system, the University is ever determined to fly and not be tied down by the desperations of a few self-serving individuals.

 Jimoh, PhD writes from Faculty of Education, University of Abuja

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