How successive governments in Nigeria destroyed the university system
By Ayo Arowolo
While I was reflecting on my 60th birthday yesterday,
especially after reading the endless flow of goodwill messages from people, it
just dawned on me that apart from God who has continued to hide me under his
wings and shield, the real people who should be celebrated are those
individuals who stood behind the scenes to ensure I was not consumed by raging
waters of life. So in the process, I came with the list of 60 people God had
lined up on my path to assist me to this very point I am now.
MY TOP 10 DESTINY HELPERS
On the top 10 of that list is Tim Akano (I call him
KAYODE), a friend since 1989 two years after we both graduated from the
University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife.
Many people on both the THISDAY LIFE LESSONS and
WEALTH IN HIS PRESENCE, ( two of the whatsApp platforms I created ) know
Tim as "professor" and "mystery writer" on account of
his highly cerebral articles regularly dished out.
I was with Prince Yemisi SHYLLON, (a friend of over 25
years and one of the prominent members of the THISDAY LIFE LESSONS platform )
in his house two Thursdays ago. The first question he asked was: ‘Who is that
Tim Akano? He is a damned good writer’.
Tim, not a trained journalist nor an established
author, has worked himself into the consciousness of many Nigerians through his
seminal articles, which sometimes stretch into several pages. Yet his admirers
consume them once they get hold of them.
A BIG TEST CASE FOR MY NEW RESOLVE
One other individual on the top 10 of my 60 destiny
helpers was my former lecturer at the department of Political Science between
1983 and 1986 , Professor OYE OGUNBADEJO, who apart from being my project
supervisor , also did other things that made his name to remain
permanently in my memory.
Around January last year , I got to know that he
was seriously sick. His junior brother was a senior cartoonist with THISDAY.
I was able to get his contact after many searches and checks
with some of my colleagues who were his students then.
I got him on phone after several attempts and he tried to
explain the nature of his sickness to me .
The seriousness of the ailment was not immediately obvious
as the prof during our conversations, was always as jovial as he used to
be while he was in classes with us at ife .
Apart from sending some amount to him from time to time , I
also tried to reach out to some of my classmates then who were also his
students, to throw in their support. Among those who responded was TUNDE
Oluwatudimu, a retiring director of NTA. He collected his account number and
sent in his widow’s mite which the prof promptly reported back to me. I tried
to reach other colleagues at Ife then some of who are now prominent Nigerians
in different areas of endearvours but the responses from them were not
encouraging .
I WANTED TO SEE THINGS FOR MYSELF
We kept communicating . But in October last year , I decided
to take a step further to see things myself.
On October 1, 2023 , I attended the 40th (1983) reunion
meeting of my former secondary school, Gbongan ODEOMU Anglican Grammer School,
GOAGS, Gbongan held in Ibadan: ( see some of the photos at the event)
October 1 was a Sunday. While in Lagos, I had communicated
my plan to visit him at Ile Ife in the company of my videographer and a
reporter. I had also asked him to send me his drug list. I told a friend who is
a mutual friend of Tim and I about my mission to Ife. Immediately, he wired
N100,000 to me. I added it to the money I had put together and headed straight
to the shop of a pharmacist friend who also happened to be a great Ife. I added
my friend’s money to the one I had set aside and bought all the drugs on the
list except the ones that were not available.
Mission accomplished in the afternoon of October 2nd, I
headed straight to Ile Ife with my driver and my team to the address described
to me by my lecturer.
I planned to interview him and get his story published in my
column in THISDAY and also possibly share it with my colleague at Arise
Television for possible use.
But what I saw on arrival broke my heart. My once ebullient
lecturer was in a terrible state. He had been paralysed and had not been able
to move from his bed for three years. He lost his wife in the process. Even
though he sounded very jovial, I was convinced there was trouble.
I had to abandon the original plan of interviewing him and
putting him on camera; I simply handed over his drugs to him and also mentioned
the contribution of my friend, who had insisted I should leave out his name. I
headed back to my hotel room in Ibadan in a very depressed mood. I kept asking
myself questions: what went wrong? Did he not have a pension contribution? Why
would a lecturer who left a lucrative lecturing job in the United States to
serve his country would be left to decay by the same country he had served
diligently? Why? I could not come up with any reasonable answers on my own. So,
I asked my former lecturer to document what happened and share it with me. Here
is what he sent:
HOW SUCCESSIVE GOVERNMENT IN NIGERIAN DESTROY THE UNIVERSITY
SYSTEM AND LEAVE THE LECTURERS IN RUINS AND PENURY
PART OF MY FORMER LECTURER’S STORY
“Regarding post-retirement finance, this can be unstable and
unpredictable, depending on the prevailing circumstances.
Here, I will use my experience as a case study. I retired
under the OLD PENSION SCHEME in June 2007.
Before that date, the general impression that was often
given to the academic staff was that once a lecturer had 15 years of experience
as a professor, he would be entitled to full benefits for life.
The new pension scheme that replaced the old pension
arrangement is contributory, while the old one was non-contributory.
Given this reality, several professors felt it was in their
interest to retire before the new contributory pension came into force,
especially if they had put in the required 15 years of service.
In my case, I had over 20 years of experience, having
attained the full professorial position on October 1, 1984. It took quite a
while for me to complete the detailed clearance formalities from the various
key units of the university.
When the relevant papers were signed, I took part in the
appropriate verification exercise with all the stipulated documents.
Thereafter, I was approved for pension entitlements. I did not realise in time
that my university had, through its remissness, placed me in the NEW PENSION
SCHEME, to which I did not belong. I pointed out the obvious error to the Vice
Chancellor, who took up the issue. Eventually, in 2015, he directed the
university bursar to regularise my status, by placing me in the OLD
NON-CONTRIBUTORY PENSION SCHEME.
Kindly note, for emphasis, the date of the directive, namely
2015.
Due to some tardiness and unbridled incompetence, the Vice
Chancellor’s instruction was never implemented. In the meantime, since I did
not belong to the NEW PENSION SCHEME, the monthly pension payments soon ran
out.
Embarrassed, marooned, and astonished beyond measure, I took
the case up with the sitting Vice Chancellor. He said he was new on the job and
would like to study the case.
Although the University Pension Desk Officer, pointed out to
him that insofar as much backlog of unpaid arrears was involved, the Bursar
should calculate what I ought to have received under the old system, deduct
what I had received under the wrongly placed scheme, and restore me fully to my
normal OLD PENSION SCHEME.
The Bursar argued that the case could not be resolved
locally and that he would have to go to Abuja to table the case for necessary
and appropriate directives. Amazingly, if not disingenuously, he argued that
the university had no funds to sponsor such a trip. At that point, I
volunteered to raise the required funds to sponsor the said trip, to enable the
university to resolve the issue.
From that point onwards, the vice chancellor began to avoid
me and some of the notable former colleagues who had developed an interest in
the case. Reportedly, he had told these senior colleagues that insofar as his
immediate predecessor had been arrested by the EFCC, for awarding himself a
generous unprocessed furniture allowance, he would not want to take my case to
Abuja, apparently sensing that the gross negligence of the university over my
case might be exposed.
In the event, all pleadings from all quarters that he should
accept my offer to sponsor the bursar to take the case to Abuja for resolution
failed, and no action was taken on the issue throughout his tenure in office.
Needless to say, once I was no longer getting pension
payments, it became increasingly difficult for me to meet the basic necessities
of life, including the procurement of ESSENTIAL MEDICATIONS.
It was at this juncture of severe lack and dire straits,
that my father in the Lord, along with a few dedicated friends and former
students, began to assist me in doing some of the critical and essential
things.
Looking back with hindsight, I always feel so pained in my
heart that after serving the country creditably and meritoriously for over
thirty years, including over 20 years as a full professor, in one of the
leading federal universities, I have been abandoned in old age, to be sourcing
for assistance and support from well-wishers.
This is a very sad commentary on how the country treats its
university staff in retirement. In essence, the life lesson is that staff in
public universities should begin in earnest to prepare for retirement about 10 years
ahead, and not be deceived by the rosy picture that once one has served and
retired as a professor, he would live happily thereafter. Nothing could be
farther from the truth. It is high-level propaganda by successive governments
akin to a futile quest to put credibility on the tales of the Arabian Nights.
Speaking from experience then, post-retirement finance could
serve as a testimony of human resilience and the ability to thrive even in the
most challenging circumstances.
HIS CURRENT STATE
I later learnt that his condition got worse and he had to be
evacuated to Lagos late last November into the residence of his eldest
daughter, who is now saddled with the responsibility of caring for her dad. The
last contact I had with the daughter was when I got my assistant to get the
remaining part of his drug supply to him, and I have also linked him with my
pharmacist friend who now supplies his drugs on request.
WHY I HAD TO TAKE EXTRA INTEREST IN MY FORMER LECTURER
During one of our conversations, my former lecturer wanted
to know why I had taken more than keen interest in his predicament. Here was my
reply in a whatsApp chat after he had provided me with more information on his
drug requirement.
YOU IMPACTED MY LIFE SIR
“Very many thanks for the information provided . I am
excited that you are still in high spirit .
In addition to the small token am sending , I will also like
you to share with me:
1. The names of your regular drugs . I intend to get some of
them in Lagos while coming to you in Ife.
2. Let me also know if you have HMO that takes care of your
health insurance . If you don’t, let me know so that I can make general
arrangement .
3. Even though we have been chatting online and I am
reasonably persuaded that you are generally in top form , I cannot claim to
know your state of health in reality . So when I come , I will be able to
ascertain what else you need and I will be able to mobilize my other fellow old
students to make them happen.
HERE IS WHY IAM INTEREESTED IN YOUR CONDITION
SIR
You may not fully understand the impact you made on my
life while at Ife”.
“I remember the day you got to know that I was a junior
brother to PROFESSOR OLADELE AROWOLO, you got so excited and ran to Dr
Yomi Durotoye’s office with me and exclaimed: ‘do you know Ayo is Dele’s
junior brother?’ From that time I became close to the two of you
and you volunteered to be my supervisor for my final year project which was on
the Modakeke and Ife conflicts.
You may also not remember that when I was in my final
semester I missed one of the papers as I did not know the time had been
changed to an earlier time . Dr. Bode Alalade was the course lecturer .
So while I was reading in Fajuyi hall preparing for my exam my colleagues were
already writing the exams. I missed that paper even though I had the best
result in the continuous assessment .
When you got to know as the head of our department you rose
up in my DEFENCE, did a letter to the Dean giving reasons why I must be allowed
to write the paper immediately including the fact that I was your best
graduating part four student in the department ( the political science had
given me a prize for that). But inspite of your efforts and for reasons I later
found out to be divinely orchestrated ( I will share this when I come) I still
missed graduating with my colleagues . So I did an extra semester and it was
while preparing for my reseat that God ordered my steps into journalism as I
started writing for papers while in the campus after reading an article in the
NEWSWATCH written by DELE Olojede who is also from Modakeke and whose father
incidentally was a business partner to my dad who was a building contractor to
the government of Western Nigeria.
Journalism has taken me to different parts of the world
including being a US Scholar that took me to seven states in the United States
of America in 1996 . and Reuter’s Award winner which also took me to the
Reuter’s office in London in 1999 where I joined other financial journalists
from different parts of the world to be trained on financial reporting for
three weeks. I have attached my profile for you to see what the Lord has done
with my life.
More importantly , you drew me closer to God and
spirituality when you introduced me to the Christian Science Monitor by sharing
with me some of their literature .
I have taken time to explain this length to let you know the
impact your intervention made in my life.
So whatever I am now able to do from now on should be seen
as my own small attempt to pay back your acts of kindness.
I pray that Jehovah will now begin to intervene in your
health situation and give you supernatural healing .
So far…”
MY PLAN: INITIATING PROF OYE OGUNBADEJO RESCUE FUND
As part of my 60th birthday celebration, I am opening
an account with which we will mobilise funds to take care of my ailing
lecturer.
I am asking all my friends, who believe in me, to join
in and let us make it happen.
The fundraising will be coordinated by Fund Quest, a
fund management company managed by my good friend, Bisi Oni, a friend of over
20 years, who is also an advisor on both the LLS and WIHP platforms.
Fund Quest will create the account and share the details
here. 100% of the funds raised will go to rescuing my former lecturer.
All donations will be acknowledged. We are also
involving his daughter as a signatory. I will share here as events unfold on
the project.
I am putting in my own N50,000 immediately to
kick-start the fundraising process.
Since we are still working out the exact amount
required, if you are interested in being part of this project, all you need to
do at this stage is to send this note to me privately on WhatsApp
(+2348086447494):
"AA, I AM INTERESTED IN BEING PART OF THE PROF
OYE OGUNBADEJO’S FUNDRAISING PROJECT. PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR MY CONTRIBUTION
WHEN IT IS SET. THANK YOU."
I trust that together; we can make it happen. Thank
you in advance.
MY PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO WOULD BE PART OF THIS PROJECT
My prayer is that as you step out , through your
contribution, to rescue a fellow human being from destruction, God will line
helpers in your path on any areas you may need interventions. So shall it be.
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