Babalakin: A counter-narrative

 
A crisis that needs a critical intervention also calls for a crucial comprehension.  The seven-member special visitation panel set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to look into the crisis at University of Lagos (UNILAG) will have to comprehend the crisis before intervening in it.

A statement, on August 21, by the Director, Press and Public Relations, in the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Bem Goong, targeted the central characters in the drama. The statement was entitled: “FG directs Pro-Chancellor/Chairman of Governing Council of the University of Lagos, Dr B. O. Babalakin and the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin T. O. Ogundipe to recuse themselves from official duties, pending the outcome of the Special Visitation Panel set up by the President.”

UNILAG Governing Council had in a statement by its Registrar and Secretary, Oladejo Azeez, announced the removal of Ogundipe “based on investigation of serious acts of wrongdoing, gross misconduct, financial recklessness and abuse of office.” Prof. Theophilus Omololu Soyombo was announced as the acting vice chancellor of UNILAG. These actions have been undone by the Federal Government’s move.

Ogundipe had asked the public to disregard “the mischievous disinformation,” arguing that “the extant provisions of the law have not been complied with.”

The panel, which will be inaugurated this week and has two weeks to submit its report, is expected “to determine whether the process (if any) leading to the appointment of the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the university was consistent with the provisions of the enabling Act,” and make recommendations, including sanctions, for all those found culpable.

The statement also directed the Senate of the university to “nominate an acting vice-chancellor from amongst its members for confirmation by the Governing Council.”

The heart of the matter is whether Ogundipe’s removal was lawfully done. There are members of the public who answer this question in the negative, based on their interpretation of what the law says. Those who take this position do not take into consideration the fact that Babalakin, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN), is an experienced pro-chancellor, having occupied the same position at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) between 2009 and 2013.

Babalakin is not new to university administration. As Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of UNIMAID, he was also Chairman of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of Federal Universities in Nigeria. His tenures at these levels of administration were widely acclaimed as exemplary. “In my near four years in Maiduguri, there has never been any issue, no dispute, no quarrel…” he said of his years at UNIMAID.

Those who think that a man with such background and experience would self-servingly misinterpret the law concerning the removal of a vice chancellor fail to give credit where credit is due.  Would he consciously make himself open to public attack and discredit by acting unlawfully to remove Ogundipe?  That would be absurd.  ”I’m a lawyer. I’m not given to making loose statements. Whatever I say I must be able to back it up,” Babalakin said in an interview on the matter.

It is noteworthy that Babalakin was appointed Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of UNILAG in April 2017,  after his appointment in January 2017 as Chairman of the 16-member Federal Government Committee to Renegotiate the 2009 Agreement the government signed with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Associated and Allied Institutions (NASU).

A report said: “The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, in a statement then had said Babalakin merited the chairmanship of the committee because he was adjudged as the best Pro-Chancellor at the time of the negotiations in 2009 and headed the Agreement Implementation Committee.”

It is also noteworthy that Babalakin has been appointed pro-chancellor of two different federal universities under two different administrations run by two different political parties. This says a lot about his reputation for good performance.

It is food for thought that, contrary to the claim in some quarters that Ogundipe‘s removal was unlawful, Babalakin was quoted as saying: “If you read the Universities Miscellaneous Act, the visitor has no role in the removal of vice chancellors. It’s a decision of the council and if the vice chancellor believes that he hasn’t been removed properly, the appropriate thing to do is, as stated in the law, for him to write an appeal to the visitor.”

It is interesting that the visitor, President Buhari, did not wait to receive such a letter before his intervention.  It is also interesting that Ogundipe had initially gone to court, but later withdrew the case, which suggests that he was unfamiliar with the law concerning his office.

”Prof. Ogundipe was accused of financial recklessness and I can boldly say that you cannot find any action of Ogundipe that followed the proper process,” Babalakin explained.

“Prof. Ogundipe spent N49 million renovating his residence… without mentioning it to anybody. Without even mentioning it, not to talk of approval.

”It was a committee of the university that discovered it. Prof. Ogundipe in a very complicit manner gave N41 million to the bursar to renovate his premises. The bursar’s house can be built from scratch with N41 million. We struggled to have Prof. Ogundipe’s management to give us a proper account.”