Dr Aliyu Salisu Barau
1. Yesterday, in response to Atiku Abubakar’s purported statement on de-federalisation of the Nigerian higher education sector if he becomes the next president, one of my friends said: Atiku yara sa kuri’ummu (meaning Atiku has lost our votes). Seeing the backlash, his media guards deconstructed the well quoted statement saying, it was reported out of context and malice. However, the language on the intention to transfer federal tertiary institutions to states is very clear.
2. Let me share the story of my favourite scholar late Ali Mazrui and his encounter with two state governors in the United States. By American racial and class standards, Mazrui as a Muslim, Black, and African is just another other. Yet, Governor Mario Cuomo of New York and his counterpart Governor James Blanchard of Michigan made personal phone calls to convince Ali Mazrui to teach in their states. In fact, the two were almost at a duel point over Ali Mazrui. That’s where state governors know the value of scholars and scholarship. Mazrui decided to be with Binghamton University in NY. Some of the best universities in the US are state-owned e.g. Arizona State University.
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3. Atiku Abubakar’s unhidden tongue slip and spit of incorrectness shows him as a rush-character and potentially a big threat to national unity and integration. The first mistake in the purported statement was that regional universities and higher education institutions were transferred to states after the collapse of the first republic in 1966. I never know the history of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Nigeria Nsukka, or University of Lagos owned and controlled by Northwestern State, Western State, Lagos State or South Eastern State respectively. These universities to the best of my knowledge were retained by the federal government since then and this has continued to date. The same applies to their satellite campuses such as Abdullahi Bayero College (now Bayero University Kano), Advanced Teachers College (now Federal College of Education, Kano), University of Jos, University of Maiduguri and the rest.
4. Is Atiku Abubakar really interested in de-federalising the higher education institutions after winning the 2023 election or selling them to cronies? At the moment, do we have any state governor with indicator-based agenda and vision for education and development? Does Atiku really understand the implications of his statement on national unity and security? One of my trades is on seeing and planning for the future. Hence, I want to simulate what will happen to my university BUK in the event of actualization of Atiku’s de-federalisation agenda.
5. I foresee that when Kano State Governor becomes a new visitor to BUK he will appoint his men into its governing council. The actors in council will one day argue that UK universities such as Cambridge, and Oxford have fragmented campuses. So, BUK’s campus should be decoupled and in that way they will propose to proportion its land to businesses as in the UK. Then, its vast and highly priced landmass will be a kind of Eldorado for the Kano land sharks. Then, youth NEETs (not in education, employment or training) will react simply by kidnapping the new owners or blasting the structures out of frustration with inequalities.
6. Sadly, the de-federalisation agenda will cause serious national disunity. I will eventually miss many of my colleagues at departmental and faculty levels. Many will be harassed, frustrated and intimidated by the state ministry of education or their boys in BUK. Some will be told, ‘look, England is not Scotland’ so better leave for your state. These are possibilities considering the fabric of our social and ethnic chasms.
7. If truly Atiku wants to try his proposed model, why not try with one university, college or polytechnic and allow the model to work for at least ten years to see how it works.
8. On this and more, I think Atiku needs to go tortoise way rather than hare’s.
Dr Aliyu Barau writes from Kano
