Both committees had earlier been constituted on the 8th of June 2022 and 15th of August, 2022, respectively.
At the inauguration ceremony which was held simultaneously, the Executive Secretary told the Committee on the review of submissions on the procedures, criteria and records of professorial promotion by some Non-Degree Awarding Institutions in Nigeria that NUC had found it as nauseating the manner in which some academics were now desperate to be addressed as Professors. This, he said, has been rampant among lecturers in private universities and called for scrutiny to safeguard the integrity of the Nigerian University System (NUS).
According to him, to stem the tide, the Commission had to send a list of Professors to Vice-Chancellors of Universities for verification so as to ascertain who actually qualified as Professors in the system.
Prof. Rasheed also mentioned the case of some agencies such as the Nigerian Institute of Advance Legal Studies (NIALS); National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) as well as the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPRC) who conferred Professorial title to some of their members and resource persons.
He said the Nigerian French Language Village, Topo Badagry and the National Institute of Nigerian Languages (NINLAN), Aba, were both guilty of this act as they conferred Professorships to their members.
He wondered how it was possible for some people to run away from the Universities and without anything in the academics by sheer joining of these agencies becomes Professors.
He lamented that some Institutions and Agencies go as far as the National Assembly to get a law that will endorse fake Professorship on their members.
The NUC Scribe charged the committee members to follow due process in their assignment to diligently bring to fore and advice NUC on international best practices and guidelines on the promotion of professorial titles to deserving Academics.
He advised the Committee to be proactive in their approach to save the Commission from entertaining any court cases against it. He promised NUC’s assistance in whatever capacity possible in order to aid the committees to fulfill their assignment and also to avoid them dragging themselves for too long.
He also advised the Committee members to brainstorm even if it means setting up zoom meetings and explore other meaningful ways to write to the agencies to stop such nefarious activities. He pointed out that while carrying out their duties, they should define clearly who qualify to be addressed as Professor, explaining that even the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) would be interested in the matter.
He expressed confidence in the teams, and hoped that what they would submit to the Commission at the end of their exercise would be of immense benefit to the universities and the country at large.
Harping on the second Committee on the Development of Guidelines for Mentoring New Universities, Prof. Rasheed stated that it had become obvious that NUC in the process of issuing licenses to private university operators also outlines 14-step procedure they were to follow which most public universities do not seem to have clear have understanding. This, according to him, had affected their relationship as mentoring institutions to some of these private universities and now exerting much pressure on them.
Against this backdrop, he informed the team that the Commission frown at such situation where the bigger public universities exert such undue pressure on mostly newly established private universities by as far as demanding a number of Professors they must have.
The expectation of the NUC was to supervise the new private universities and properly mentor them to fruition. The Executive Secretary Stated that a good private university can mentor another new university. He urged the Committee to help NUC by looking at the current private universities guidelines and advise appropriately on how the mentor and mentee university relationship should subsist.
In their separate remarks the Chairmen of both Committees, Profs. Ribadu Abdullahi and Muhammed Yahuza Bello, respectively, thanked the Commission for the privilege accorded to them to carry out the assignment and also for finding them worthy to serve the country at this time. They promised the Executive Secretary that they would do their utmost best to deliver a quality assignment stressing that the issue of quality assurance remains sacrosanct in the delivery of quality education for nation building.
Meanwhile, in the constituted committee on the review of submissions on the procedures, criteria and records of professorial promotion by some Non-Degree Awarding Institutions in Nigeria are; Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu – Chairman; Prof. Chinedu Nwajiuba; Prof. Adebola Ekanola; Prof. Joseph Ahaneku; Prof. Angela Freeman Miri; Prof. Fatima Batul Mukhtar and Prof. Mohammed Yahuza Bello as member/Secretary. The Committee’s Terms of Reference include to: Critically review the various submission by the identified Institutions and advice the Commission as appropriate, taking into consideration extant guidelines on the promotion of Nigerian Academics to the rank of a Professor, as well as the Institutions laws; Carefully review the guidelines on visiting, sabbatical and adjunct appointment in Nigerian universities and advise the Commission as appropriate; and Make any other recommendations that would further improve the process for the promotion/ appointment of Professors, as well as sabbatical/ visiting adjunct appointments in the Nigerian university system.
The other Committee has their membership as Prof. Mohammed Yahuza Bello-Chairman; Prof. Alhassan Gani; Prof. Adebola Ekanola; Dr. Noel B. Saliu; Mrs. Constance Goddy –Nnadi; Mrs. Lydia I. Imoroa and Barrister Pascal Eruaga, as Secretary.
Its Terms of Reference included: Critically review the commission’s extant policy on monitoring newly established private universities in Nigeria, taking into consideration global best practices; Develop standard guidelines for monitoring newly established universities in Nigeria, irrespective of proprietorship; and Make any recommendations that would engender harmonious relationship between the newly established universities and their mentoring Institutions, towards the realization of the stated objectives.