Executive secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) Arc. Sonny Echono has called for the elimination of undue political interference and financial influence in the selection process of university vice chancellors to foster quality governance and educational progress in Nigeria.
Echono made the disclosure while delivering the convocation lecture of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) held at the university yesterday on the theme “The Impact of Leadership Selection on Governance in Public Universities in Nigeria”.
He said the appointment of vice chancellors of universities had been marred with politicization, corruption, ethnic and religious bias, lack of inclusiveness, transparency among others.
According to him, despite structural framework in appointing university VCs, the selection process, often times, is marred saying it hampered autonomy.
The TETFUND boss lamented over the wave of corruption which makes governors sponsor particular professors to become vice chancellors of universities who will in turn serve as returning officers during their governorship election for their state.
According to him, the rot in the academia is entrenched that contractors sponsor professors to become VCs so that they are guaranteed of contracts in the institution.
Furthermore, the TETFUND boss said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) involvement of university leaders in the conduct of elections had become counter productive, stressing that such has encouraged politicians to sponsor candidates for the position of vice-chancellor, “in anticipation of returning the favour either to them or their preferred candidates to various electoral offices.”
Echono also canvassed for autonomy and adequate funding of the public universities in order to minimise undue external influence, saying “The multi faceted nature of autonomy in public universities which is caught in a delicate balancing act between the need for government oversight, transparency/accountability, and the university’s need for academic freedom and self-governance”.
