We bring you the concluding part of our interview with Prof. Julius Okojie, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC). In this part, Okojie, with his trademark frankness explains, among other issues, why the Post-Universities Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) screening has become necessary. The interview was conducted by ROTIMI LAWRENCE OYEKANMI at the just concluded UNESCO General Conference held in Paris, France. Excerpts:THE Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, told the Senate Committee on Education recently that it was wrong for universities to conduct the post-UTME screening. What is NUC's position on the matter'We have already taken a position on this matter. When there were issues initially, the Federal Ministry of Education (FME), through the National Council on Education (NCE) admitted that, from the reports of vice chancellors, there was a need for the post-UTME,but that universities shouldn't charge more than N1,000. It was an issue that was discussed at the NCE.Don't forget that to enter the universities in those days, you had to take an entrance examination. You can't take the responsibility of the universities away from them. You want to tell the universities that they cannot determine the type of students they want, who they are going to train. No. If you look at the university laws, the Senate is the academic engine of the institution. Senate decides what to teach, how to teach, who to graduate. JAMB is not supposed to be admitting students for the universities. It is a clearinghouse, so JAMB cannot say universities are usurping its responsibilities.But JAMB is pointing to the Act setting it up to underscore its argumentWhich argument'That the universities are not supposed to admit students directly, except through its own process. No, no, no! If you also look at the university laws, they have the power to determine the type of students they want to admit.So, we now have a clash...There is no clash. JAMB has the mandate to administer examinations, but it doesn't admit students for the universities. Universities undertake their admission process and then take their lists to JAMB, just to ensure that the prescribed guidelines are followed.But sir, JAMB is insisting that its own examination should be the final one, and that it is wrong for the universities to conduct another examination for the same purpose of admission.Let me tell you something. It was because of the lack of integrity of the UTME that the post-UTME screening arose. Now, we are not blaming JAMB. People connive to establish special centres, but JAMB is not an investigating agency. However, this matter (examination fraud) is beyond JAMB. Candidates are desperate. We are now saying that the (UTME) results that JAMB releases, to a large extent, lack integrity. There are studies. Universities can prove that those who get high scores cannot justify them. This is something we have to look at thoroughly.In the United States, if a student wants to attend a university, he goes to visit the campus with his or her parents. So, it they (JAMB) are talking about the cost of the post-UTME to the candidates, it is an opportunity for the candidate to even see where he or she is going to. But we have been counseling our colleagues: Don't invite more that the required number of students.Now, we have discovered that one of the reasons why we have mass failure in the English Language is because students, science students especially, are no longer compelled to do English Literature. If you take Literature in English, you are compelled to read some books, which will enhance your performance. Now, you look at it: You say a candidates scored 300; he comes to you, no interaction, then in the first year, you find out that he cannot even write a word in English. He can't spell anything.So, the screening is to ensure that there is some level of interaction with the candidates. You will see the student physically. You will know if the candidate has been circulating in the system, either because of his or her age, or his or her composure. You will know if the student is problematic. Even the style of his or her hair will tell you something.But, the whole system is the way it is because government, during the military era, took more than it could cope with. It took over secondary schools and closed boarding houses. In those days when we had boarding houses, you knew who your mentors were. You did your homework and called on the seniors for the ones you couldn't tackle. There was good time management; you had time for siesta, time for everything. So, we need to go back to the old boarding house system.There appears to be no benchmarks anymore on the appointment of professors. Some universities seem to have equated the process to the way you give out chieftaincy titles. What is NUC's position'There are benchmarks. The University Councils are expected to uphold the integrity of the process. I expect a professor, who has gone through a system, to know what to do. At the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (UNAAB), we had Promotions Guidelines. Through that, you can assess yourself as an academic. There is a minimum waiting period of three years. If I take you as a Graduate Assistant, you must have had a Second Class Upper degree and above. Then, you are given three years to do your Master's. If you don't earn a Master's in those three years, you are no longer in that system. Once you have earned your Master's, you become an Assistant Lecturer, and they give you a period of time to get your Ph.D. Once you get your Ph.D., you become a Lecturer Grade Two (Lect. II). Then with publications, you have a minimum waiting period of three years, and you become a Senior Lecturer. At the University of Ibadan (UI), it used to take five years for you to move from Senior Lecturer to Reader. That was the tradition at UI, and we carried this tradition to UNAAB where I became the Vice Chancellor.We discovered that 61 per cent of our lecturers are in the rank of Lecturer I and below, so people are trying to cheat by building up that pyramidal structure of appointing professors when they are not ripe. But we are going to do staff and student audit. Not long ago, we sent a form to the universities asking for details on career progression. If you are a professor, or you hold a Ph.D., tell us how you made it. Some people didn't return it. We are going to make it a law now.What is the relationship now between the NUC and the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN)'There is a change. For the first time, the Open University has realised that it needs NUC's help. The former Vice Chancellor appears not to understand why I was putting pressure on him. A university is a university. The university is not a parastatal. There was a wrong notion when some people referred to it as a parastatal, until we asked the Vice Chancellor to be attending the Committee of Vice Chancellor's (CVC) meeting. The university is a good avenue for improving access, but the degrees it will award must be of the same good quality as others.Honourary degrees have become common place. Some people now argue that it is for sale. If you have the money, you get it. What advice do you have for universities'The issue is bordering on integrity. Even if a university wants to get money from somebody, not that the individual is being honoured for what he had done in the past...let me give you an example. When I was a Vice Chancellor, we honoured Chike Obi and the man, at that time, could hardly walk. We honored the Oyewole Twins who had made an impact in Physics and Chemistry. We honoured one woman from the North, a principal of a Federal Government College. The Oyewole Twins didn't know they were to be honoured until that day. We honoured Murtala Nyako, and you know what he is doing in Adamawa State, both as a farmer and governor.But if you look at the recent ones, people will look for those with political weight. For instance, I don't see why somebody would want to honour the President (Goodluck Jonathan) now. They know he will not accept it, he is still in office. They want to honour the Vice President, but how many places will he go' Then, they take on traditional rulers who are pro-chancellors and they already have honorary degrees.If you watch Ibadan (IU), Ife (Obafemi Awolowo University) and Ilorin (University of Ilorin), it's one honoree once in a while. But when you call powerful individuals, distinguished Nigerians and honour them the same day, you are not doing them any honour. Sometimes, honorary degree awardees will attract more attention than the graduating students, who are the primary reason for the convocation in the first place.
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