Why is it called Federal University?

There is no doubt; the concept of federal university in Nigeria was a creation of military authoritarianism. In hindsight, there is nothing patently wrong with it, except that as is supposed in adhoc situations such as this, it should have a termination time line. But like everything else about us, we hardly realise that an intervention is an intervention. We have a way of insisting that an ad-hoc arrangement to solve an immediate problem becomes a culture, in fact, becomes a religion. In the process, the interventionist programme begins to lose its salt, instead of making a detour, we continue on the wrong route until every atom of good in the project becomes bile.

After the establishment of the University College Ibadan in 1948 as an outpost campus of the University of London, United Kingdom by the colonial establishment, the school was more or less owned by England. England is a unitary regime. Nigeria practices federal system of government. As at the time the British overloads left Nigeria, naturally the University College Ibadan, reverted to University of Ibadan. The roles that school played in educating our first set of Nigerian homegrown intellectuals are well documented but not the relevance of this piece. However, the university’s apron strings were now tied to the Western Region government. Then came the University of Nigeria, established partly by Nigeria’s first president, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and the Eastern Nigeria government in 1960. So called because, it was the first indigenous university in sub-Saharan Africa.

Subsequently, other universities came along. At the time, these federal universities attracted personnel from different parts of the country. Even the leadership of these universities, especially after they were taken over by the federal government were seen in reality as national assets. It didn’t take long before things began to deteriorate. For example, it became a taboo for vice chancellors and other top management positions in a federal university to appoint individuals from outside a particular contiguous region to the university. The more painful one is these admission procedure. It is flawed to the extent of exclusion of qualified applicants and something needs to be done and urgently too. Soon we began to hear through the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB of why Nigerians must be discriminated against based on where they come from even in a federal university.

I can understand if a state or local government sets up tertiary institution and because of high application by individuals resident in the state and because of the taxes their parents or guardians pay within that state, offer preference to kids resident in that state as a result of contributions by their parents; however I find it incomprehensible that a federal university will also practice preferential admissions on the basis of where you come from. Why should a federal university for example, admit a student simply because she comes from the university’s catchment area, which is usually four to six states adjoining the particular university? Why should a university refuse to admit a child into a federal university even where the child scored high entrance marks, specifically because of “educationally advantaged area” status? Like I explained earlier, it will make sense if the preference is in a state owned university.

A federal university must be such that unites rather than divide. A federal university, since it is funded by “all of us” must be open to all of us; a federal university or even at that a federal polytechnic or college of education must be a place of equality, opportunity and equity. It must not pander to ethnic pressures or become a show-glass for our faultiness. We cannot have a federal university in the mould of the University of Nigeria for example, which turns out to give preference to states located around Enugu state; then why does it have Nigeria in its name? Why should a self-respecting University of “Nigeria” in reality at the same time prefer applicants on the basis of where they come from? Then change the name to University of Nsukka! The same way I will question why a University of Ilorin be collecting over 90 percent of its budget from Abuja, yet prefer to admit students from around Kwara. For me, this kind of policy should be done away with.

The reason we have state and private universities is to ensure that irrespective of where you come from or the level of formal education in the area, everyone who desires can find tertiary education best suited for her. It is not until you attend a federal school that you know you are in a university. Therefore, a federal school, no matter the location must pursue their admission based on merit, only. So long as you are a Nigerian, then that’s the preference and none other. There is therefore nothing like catchment area. That to me should be scrapped. The same way appointment of vice chancellors or rectors or provosts must be based on merit. Although, governing councils pretend to preach merit, but what they recommend at the end of their screening clearly show where they are pointing at. It is on that basis that I like the appointments into the recently established federal universities. VCs were appointed by then president to head schools outside of their “roots”. Everything is good about that.

It is gestures like that that help to erase our fissures. Where a Yagba man in Kogi, who tops an interview in University of Maiduguri is instantly appointed the VC in that school; the same for an Ikwere man, who tops an interview in Ilorin, who will then be appointed to head the University of Ilorin. Therefore, let us scrap the catchment area nonsense; scrap the educationally disadvantaged areas pretence and introduce leadership of federal tertiary institutions based not on where you come from. Let us run Nigeria like when Kenneth Dike was the first indigenous Principal (vice chancellor) of University of Ibadan. It made more sense, and more importantly, it made common sense.

#uppercrust