- ‘Some people are not happy I became provost the first time‘
There is uncertainty over the appointment of the provost of the Federal College of Education (FCE), Zaria, also two weeks after the expiration of the incumbent’s tenure.
The failure of the Federal Government to decide on who steers the affairs of the Federal College of Education (FCE), Zaria, is causing anxiety in the institution.
The tenure of Dr. Abdullahi A. Ladan, expired on 4th February, 2021. Since there was no formal communication reappointing Dr. Ladan for a second term, the Deputy Provost of the college, Dr. Suleiman Balarabe, is now discharging the duties of the provost.
Investigation by Dateline Nigeria, however, revealed that Dr. Ladan was the one who asked Dr. Balarabe “to oversee the affairs of the college” pending the final decision of the federal government on who becomes the next helmsman.
While many staff of the college expressed their happiness over the refusal of the federal government to allow Dr. Ladan to continue as the provost of the college, there is however palpable anxiety among the staff that the federal government may rescind its decision to reappoint him against the wishes of the majority of the college’s staff.
Based on conventions and procedures, the government considers recommendations, including from the staff unions, before deciding on the reappointment of provosts.
Our correspondent established that the unions had refused to write this recommendation owing to the alleged “poor performance” of the former provost while in office, perhaps that was among the factors that informed the decision of the federal government to delay the reappointment of Dr. Ladan, “envisaging a possible disruption of peace in the school.”
The chairman of the Senior Staff Union in Colleges of Education, Nigeria (SSUCOEN), Comrade Abdullahi Ibrahim, said majority of his members are against the coming back of Dr. Ladan as provost of the college.
“We were approached on many occasions to write the recommendation, but we refused for the fact that majority of our members are against it. Over 90 per cent of our members are against the reappointment of Dr. Ladan. They have been categorical in our interactions with them.
“Many reasons are behind this development. The first is the issue of welfare of staff. Some staff are owed many allowances; some running to over a year. During his tenure, ordinary night allowances for staff on official duty were not paid. Some of these allowances are languishing in the Bursary for over one year.
“We are not even talking about staff training, which was made to become something like family-relative-friends affairs. Some staff have spent years without training, while others are being sent frequently,” Ibrahim said.
In the event that the federal government refuses to work with the majority sentiment and reappoints Dr. Ladan, Ibrahim vowed that his union would do everything within its powers to ensure that they “fight the mismanagement that characterised Dr. Ladan’s first tenure if repeated in the second tenure.”
On his part, the chairman of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Comrade Halliru Musa, said his union is waiting for the arrival of the Visitation Panel set up recently by the federal government.
“We are just waiting for the Visitation Panel to start work. We would go and table our grievances. When the Governing Council is formed, we will also ensure that we present our grievances. We have many issues and our members are not happy; this is the truth,” he said.
A staff, who pleaded for anonymity, said: “Before his ascension to office, for example, the college had over 400 security casual staff with monthly salary of N18,000. He reduced these security workers to 110 and slashed their salary to N10,000. Yet, he refused to pay them for about six months.
“This, in my view, brought about the rampant cases of stealing of the college’s properties, because he has starved those that supposed to guard these properties. This is just one of the many injustices meted on us.
“Wallahi (I swear to Allah), if this man returns as the provost, the college will collapse. Presently, there is no water in the college. The college has been without tap water for over a year, until the last one week. In fact, there was massive corruption and mismanagement and because of these, the college is at standstill. These are facts that anyone can go and verify.”
A driver in the college said some of them are owed travelling allowance (DTA) for about three years.
Another staff said: “From what I know, since his assumption as the provost, he has never worked in his office from Monday to Friday. He was always out of office. The few times he comes around, he does not stay in office for up to five hours. In a nutshell, things are in shamble and the college needs someone to rescue it.”
Dateline Nigeria also learnt that other complaints against Dr Ladan include deplorable nature of classes and students’ hostels.
“It baffles many of us when we hear the amount taken out from the college’s coffers in the name of examination and the school cannot provide examination booklets not to talk of other necessities like reagents for laboratories et cetera. The position we find ourselves is an unfortunate one that needs urgent action,” another staff said.
When contacted, the outgoing provost, Dr. Ladan, said like every human being, he has his admirers and those against his system of leadership.
He said: “Those that said over 90 percent of staff are against me, which criteria did they employ to arrive at that conclusion? Have they conducted opinion poll among the staff or which data did they use? Some people are not happy that I became provost for the first time. I have maintained sealed lips since I asked my deputy to oversee the affairs of the college pending the decision of the federal government and I would continue to maintain that position.”
As the Federal Government dillydallies on as to who heads the institution, there seems to be an uneasy calm among staff of the college.
