I never attended the great University of Lagos (UNILAG) as a student, but all of my three siblings: Femi (God rests his soul), Bolade and Olabisi, did. So, from 1991 to 2000 that they were students, I took keen interest in the affairs of that institution, particularly the tenure of Professor Jelili Omotola as the Vice Chancellor.
Omotola was, arguably, the most flamboyant and controversial VC UNILAG ever had. But I liked his personality. He turned the institution around by floating quite a number of self- sustaining businesses: bakery, sachet water factory, a car wash, a real estate firm etc. These businesses generated huge revenue for the school. His reason for embarking on these ventures was simple: “UNILAG cannot have a huge population comprising of students, academic and non-academic staff who would be buying basic needs they need outside the campus.”
By the time he was winding down his first term, UNILAG had become less dependent on government subvention. Omotola’s vision was to completely make the institution self-sustaining in his second term. But guess what? He was stopped in his tracks. His tenure was not renewed by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, no thanks to the deluge of petitions written against Omotola by some Professors, accusing him of sundry “crimes.” The man died few years after he left as VC.
Another VC in the mould of Omotola was Prof. Fatiu Akesode of the Lagos State University (LASU). Sadly too, the man died “mysteriously,” leaving almost nothing for his family. Some key professors who hated his guts were fingered. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the then governor, reportedly took over the responsibility of the deceased’s family.
So, what’s my point? Universities can substantially fend for themselves without too much of a burden on students and the govt.
Most universities sit on a vast expanse of land lying fallow. Landed property remains an invaluable, money spinning asset, but our university administrators are not maximizing on this leverage.
This is just one side of it. The rich intellectual endowments in the nation’s ivory towers are also another veritable means to earn billions of naira in revenue. This is a no-brainer. We all know this, don’t we?
Let lecturers through ASUU stop being ridiculous with their outrageous demands. Those demands are, ab initio, unrealistic and unrealisable in the medium to long term.
Going forward, the universities can generate revenue to take care of its recurrent expenditure, while the FG should concentrate on physical infrastructure, an area TETFUND has handled averagely in the last decade.
Addendum: this post was inspired by Kay Lord and Olajide Abiola who both posted enlightening articles on same subject matter about a week ago and today, respectively.
Culled from the Facebook Timeline of Remi Adelowo
