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| AWOYEMI OLUMIDE AKA LUMBITE Following the directive of the Visitor that the university senate convenes a meeting to nominate an acting vice chancellor, I have found myself in a deep moral quandary as I reflect on the probable evolution of scenarios and their implications for the sanity of an environment otherwise consecrated for learning. It is a dilemmabetween my idealistic love of democracy and the practicality of deliberate gerontocracy as we rummage through this mud; it is a huge shame that the university finds itself dancing shoki naked in the village square. |
The unprecedented nature of this challenge in the annals of university
administration in Nigeria and the particularities of Obafemi Awolowo University
senate incite fear and anxiety that the whole exercise could turn out to be the
beginning of another journey through a labyrinth. It offends one’s republican ideal.
That most of the decisions that have almost brought the university to its knees are
democratically taken in avowedly democratic institution constituted by men of
highest learning. The senate of the university as I know it takes many of her
decisions through a democratic process of nomination and voting, presided over by
the chairman(The VC) who has the prerogative to recognize members on the floor
as he deems fit. The narratives about how this inevitable democratic prerogative
has been deployed by the chairman are preserved in many campus myths and
legends. One version believes that he holds a caucus meeting with motley of
mediocre academics who seek refuge in a vertical patron- clientelistic relationship
with him to settle some narrow agenda. Such academic clients obligingly attend the
senate assured of recognition by their sponsor.
Permanently, the chairman has his
way no matter how reactionary or nasty his agenda. The senate of the university
has not demonstrated reliable resilience and sublime courage; it has proven
vulnerable to dark machinations by determined reactionary forces and abuse of
“administrative powers”. Given that the senate is an institution with such an
abysmal record in genuine democratic performance, the responsibility to nominate
a vice chancellor democratically in its purest form might be a costly gamble that
could over-stretch and otherwise compromised institution.
The crude power and disturbing privileges of the office of the vice chancellor, its
many leverages and several incentives to bleed the university treasury
unencumbered, the numerous opportunities to dole out patronage to mediocre
academics who are ever willing to seek refuge in a vertical patron- clientelistic
relationship, and the newly granted power to act like an emperor unchallenged,
make the stake really volatile and combustible. Voting to grant anyone such
opportunity will be voting like no other. Besides, given the naked ambition of the
so organized reactionary forces, the aimlessness and formlessness that has plagued
the progressive for so long, the less than idealistic motivations of most academics
tainted with aims so sordid and passions so petty ,allowing such process play out
purely democratically might be really combustible. I suspect the order that brought
us here will make attempt to perpetuate itself democratically. After all, they have
been democratically lording their evil machination on the campus community
More so, coming up with a modality that is carefully shielded from opportunistic
maneuvering and eventual litigious acrimony might be prohibitively expensive in
time. Given that so many precious lives are placed on hold, the senate had better
leverage on a solution that relies on fast and frugal heuristic to make this urgently
needed adaptive decisions like we all do in real life with a limitation of time,
knowledge and permutation. The senate must not at this time be tempted to assume
the role of classical demons that are boundless in their rationality. To perfect the
collapse of the bankrupt moral order that brought us this low, gerontocracy might
be a good option .It will be time effective for the senate to throw their weight
behind the most senior academic in their ranks by years of service. This
impersonal alternative forecloses the door for any dirty political jockeying in the
interim; stabilize the tensed atmosphere on campus.
Such a candidate uses his
remaining year of service to coordinate a seamless transition. Hopefully, by then
the arrow head of the reactionary camp will have politically bled to death, while
their ranks are systematically decimated.
It is very likely that the visitor redirected autonomy as a detour from his earlier
decision with a probable intention of using the full might of his office should the
university proves hopelessly irresponsible and utterly incapable of internal self-
steering. The senate could go ahead to stage a genuinely democratic nomination
process, and wake up the following day to realize that she has made a self-
sabotaging error. This kind of momentary gerontocracy might be our only hope to
usher in new administrative order- with a morality that arises from a deeper well
than religion, and once again remind the nation who we truly are.
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