Just like yesterday,the trouble for the leadership of Kogi State Univeristy Anyigba,under Professor M.S. Abdulkadir had come and gone,the rest is left for history.
Professor M.S .Abdulkadir,a seasoned academician combined with University administrator resumed into the turbulent water of the state University Anyigba when the image both academically and adminstratively was at a low ebb,but needed to be repositioned.
The versed Professor of Economic history was armed with dual challenge of coming to serve his immediate community and to also prove a point that his profession and constituency as an academic,does not suffer irredeemable humiliation.
Highly succesful in his field and job placement both in the far Northern part of the country in a Federal institution of Bayero Univeristy Kano, and with unrivaled experience and sojourn for similar program abroad, known for many years,alas position to take the mantle of leadership in that order in the same institution.
Professor Abdulkadir accepted to serve when the basic requirements of an ivory tower was lacking,having domesticated the idea of Univeristy administration by the previous and immediate management and council of the institution.
The former Vice Chancellor was left to contend with so many challenges from funding,staffing ,motivation, students conduct and many myriads of issues that almost led him into throwing the towel.
As an experience administrator,efforts to bring on board new ideas and evolution face alot of resistance from the both internal and external incursions.
Infact,during his stint, Univeristy autonomy was thrown to the wind, interms of management, appointements and promotion in the highly revered state institution, known for high quality programs.
Abdulkadir who resumed in 2015,at the twilight of the previous administration,met a policy of an institution been ran with both internally generated revenue from students accounts and grants from each of the 21 local government areas on monthly basis.
Making efforts to diversify and create both wealth and assets,another civilian adminstration came on board in 2016,that made the school susceptible to non salary payment in arears, irregular monthly grants from local councils and faced with inability of students to pay school fees as at when due,yet dreaded with instructions to operate full unimaginable Treasury Single account (TSA),channelling all payments into the state government coffers.
This was an institution that staffers were already conversant with regular salary payment penultimate,but not forthcoming after the new administration in January 2016,the leadership under Professor Abdulkadir devise wisdom to advance workers to mitigate lack of regular payments,and at the same avoid mass industrial action in the ivory tower.
This was view as an offence by the visitor of the institution,in addition to hijacking funds meant for developement of the institution in grants from Education Tax Fund ( ETF),and others.
The new administration after all efforts to force the management to resign their appointements under Professor Abdulkadir,set up a visitation panel that later exonerated the outgoing VC,even though targeted at him.
The management and administration of once revered institution became porous that some academic and non academic staffs were managing the affairs of the institution by proxy from the seat of government in Lokoja,doing anything humanly possible to indict the VC,but as the driver he was conscious of all the gimmicks of the goverrment and it’s cohorts.
All the ones cherised processes of the institution became so uncontrollable that it had degenerated to asymetrical social and other students related problems in the institution,as some of the staffers who ordinarily were supposed to be answerable to the university management,constituted themselves as pararel leadership of the institution.
Yet, Professor M.S. Abdulkadir kept faith with his term and his decision to bring to bare sane Univeristy administration to the university, at a point he forfeited arears of salaries and allowances.
Owing to crises from one issue to the other involving academic and non-academic,his wisdom was to keep to his professional ideas of ensuring good leadership and his team .
On many occasions,the management under Abdulkadir was rendered toothless,as some appointments were made from lokoja, ordinarily what was meant to be at the whims and caprices of the management of the Univeristy.
Pressing issues that boardered on securtiy,maintanance,research, payments to contractors engaged by the institution became too visible to manage,hence a means was devised to mitigate these activities, to avoid motion and no movement into the program of the Univeristy.
This became the rallying point by the state government to ambush the distinct nature of the former VC, Professor Momoh Sanni Abdulkadir,who was a known disciplinarian and strict in management of public funds while in office to exit him.
Professor Abdulkadir is not unaware of such gimmicks in government circles particularly at the state level,where politics had infiltrate the good policies of goverment even in schools.
But alas,all said and done,this action does not preclude the erudite scholar from continuing to prosecute his efforts to salvage the educational problems at other levels,as he will be readily available to serve like his contemporaries in any given responsibility in the nearest future at the Federal level.
His stint in Kogi state Univeristy,not minding the coloration was believed to be the best thing that happened to the progress and developement of Education in Kogi and it’s neighbouring states in Nigeria.
Posterity we say,remain the final judge,your well wishers bid you farewell back to Bayero Univeristy Kano.