Must Read: THE CONCEPT OF VC’s BOYS IN THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM

[Toyin Falola]

THE CONCEPT OF VC’s BOYS IN THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM

BY

PROF B. CHIMA ONUOHA

In the political lexicon and life of this country, it is common to read or hear about the cabal in the Presidency, Kaduna Mafia, Langtan Mafia, Magu Boys (or the Chairman’s team), the General Overseer’s Boys (GO’s Boys), etc.

The cabal in the Presidency consists of very few individuals close to the President. They make or influence all the strategic decisions in the country. And by extension, how the nation’s resources are shared or used. Kaduna Mafia consists of highly astute northern politicians and technocrats. Their main job is to ensure that the strategic interests of northern Nigeria are protected or secured. During the military era, Langtan in present Plateau state was known to have produced a good number of top military officers who were also occupying strategic positions in government and the armed forces. They were the Langtan Mafia. The actions and inactions of Magu – the former Ag.Chairman of EFCC and his boys (or the chairman’s team) are currently under investigation by Justice Salami Panel. So I won’t comment further on that.

The ‘GO’s Boys’ are the children, relations, in-laws and few favoured pastors of the General Overseer – the founder or owner of a church. They are often posted to strategic, visible and rich parishes or stations (mainly in the big cities) including overseas. They head important and more rewarding units in the church headquarters. The non-GO’s boys are posted to rural or less visible cum poor areas. When you see these GO’s boys, their wives and children, you will see a remarkable difference in appearance with the non-GO’s boys and their own families. I was discussing informally with a colleague who was wondering why all the younger brothers of a popular church owner in this country should be pastors. And working in his church. I then asked him what type of employment in Nigeria (either in the private or public sector) given the prosperity-seeking nature and emphasis of the church can give these young men the kind of wealth they have? Favouritism also takes place in the orthodox churches like the Anglican and Catholic churches, but to a very limited extent. This is because they have very long history of administrative structure, which helps to reduce idiosyncrasies. Again, their orientation and emphasis are on soul-winning and eternity, as against prosperity. The celibacy vow of the Catholic Reverend Fathers also makes the tendency for acquisitiveness unnecessary. I hope that I am not derailing…

It is always desirable to have a small group of persons in an organization to advice the CEO, or map out strategies for success for him or her. The overall intention is to leave the organization better and stronger than the CEO met it. This body of advisors must be made up of contended, independent minded and trustworthy persons. Better still, it should be made up of CEO’s previous superiors, or very smart and intelligent younger colleagues – those that have been tested in terms of principles, expertise, objectivity, experience and not clannish. That explains why corporate organizations have board of directors and councils for tertiary institutions.

There is a new trend that has crept into the nation’s university system. It is the concept of Vice Chancellor’s Boys (VC’s Boys). The term ‘VC’s boys’ is used in generic form for those a Vice Chancellor surrounds himself or herself with, and wish to work with throughout his/her tenure. It also includes ladies/women. The achievements of the Vice Chancellor’s tenure depend on his/her personality (those in organizational behaviour talk about personality traits); his/her administrative capability and lastly; on the quality of his/her boys. It also depends on the quality of advice (wise counsels) given and utilized. My worry in this article is how this concept is currently being abused particularly, by unpopular Vice Chancellors to the detriment of the university system in Nigeria.

The question to ask is if I can justify the existence of this malady in the university system. My answer is yes. Having spent more than 33 years as an academic staff in the university system; starting as a graduate assistant; rose through the ranks; held many administrative and labour positions; been a member of the university governing council; held tenured, visiting and adjunct-ship appointments/professorships in many universities; have first-hand experiences and an ardent student of history; I am qualified enough to write on this topic.

I have closely studied some universities where this concept has been practiced. And have tried to identify the remote and immediate factors leading to the concept. The factors include:

*1).* Where there was a bitter contest to the position of Vice Chancellor and an unpopular person eventually emerged. This person is ascending the throne with a baggage and probably with vendetta in mind. All contestants and senior Professors are suspects and must be avoided or ‘quarantined’. All local ASUU leaders are enemies, where a referendum is required to ascertain the acceptable candidate in the university community, is required. There was a case in one particular state university.

*2).* Where the VC blackmailed the Council and other contestants to emerge. This happened in a particular federal university.

*3).* Where an appointed Vice Chancellor rightly or wrongly feels that he knows it all, cannot take wise counsels from his/her seniors/superiors, is highly egoistic, has dictatorial disposition or vengeance driven. This is the case in a federal university.

*4).* Where a total ‘stranger’ is imposed on a university. He or she will naturally feel resented and unaccepted. This have happened in few other universities. This tendency is most pronounced in state universities where the Governors, as Visitors, double as Emperors. Such a Vice Chancellor is not accountable to the internal stakeholders of the university. Hero-worshipping the Governor is enough.

Any chief executive that so much crave for ‘banana’ boys – unquestioning boys, is also suffering from the ‘social reproduction theory’. In a nutshell, this theory talks about the tendency of entities or persons to significantly reproduce the qualities they personify. In this case, to reproduce personalities who are all-knowing, vendetta-driven, greedy, pugnacious, empire-building, power drunk and suppressed complex. A popular saying has it thus: “put a small man in a big office, he has two choices: to shrink the office to his size or grow to the size of the office”.

Where can VC’s boys be recruited from? Mostly from lecturers 1 and senior lecturers or from those who feel marginalized by the system like delayed promotions. The senior lecturers among this group are quickly promoted to Readers and Professors. They are too fresh as senior academics to oppose or contradict the Vice Chancellor. In fact, they are perpetually grateful to their benefactor – the Vice Chancellor. There may be few older professors that need serious rehabilitation, or who have not done well for themselves materially or career wise, maybe very eager to be VC’s boys (not men). Having mortgaged their seniority or status, they are also treated like boys. For example, in a particular university, there was violent students’ riot. The school was closed down. The almighty VC gathered his boys in his lodge and arrogantly told them that he doesn’t need students to survive or run a university. No single ‘boy’ had the gut to correct that erroneous statement. That without students, there wouldn’t be any university or there is no need for the services of university workers – academic and non-teaching. How about the adverse effects of school closure on the economy of the host communities and other stakeholders? The boys were all hailing him. Can someone like me be there without educating him on the far reaching implications of school closure on all strategic stakeholders of the university including himself and lecturers. In any case, this man has little or no knowledge about the economy or development.

The VC’s boys often assign themselves certain duties and responsibilities, in addition to the mundane ones by their boss. These include:

*1).* They are the gossip machine of the Vice Chancellor. They make effective use of gossips if they have studied the oga and found out that he or she likes and makes use of gossips. They also ‘fabricate’ stories against their rivals or enemies to the VC.

*2).* They are ever ready to ‘attack’ real or perceived enemies of the ‘oga at the top’.

*3).* They regularly and religiously defend the actions and inactions of the VC. The VC cannot make mistakes even when his decisions are having negative impacts on the system. The defense is done everywhere – on campus, radio and television stations, newspaper publications, etc. He or she is infallible.

*4).* They are readily available to be used to sabotage unions’ efforts, if not in the narrow interest of the VC. They do all these things to show total (if not blind) loyalty to the chief executive. The boys’ actions, sometimes, self-serving create more problems and needless enemies for the chief executive officer.

*5).* They mobilize themselves for the IPPIS saga.

What are the benefits of being a VC’s boy or in the camp of VC’s boys? They are many and include:

*a).* Rapid promotion I mentioned earlier. Sometimes, promotions are ‘packaged’ for the boys. One can fail promotion interviews two or three times, no problem, the person will still be promoted or converted from non-teaching to academic. Someone not from the lecturer’s field/discipline or research area can be ‘arranged’ to interview the boys. Against extant regulation or policy of the university, someone can be both external examiner and promotion interviewer, simultaneously.

*b).* The boys are those posted to all the strategic units, agencies and institutes of the university.

*c).* It is only the VC’s boys that are entitled to renewal of appointments in their various positions/institutes (not based on performance or competence) or arbitrary elongation of tenure at the expiration of their statutory periods.

*d).* In a university where there are many senior and competent professors, some of the more favoured, or ingratiated VC’s boys may hold multiple appointments or positions. And they are flaunted brazenly to the resentment of the university community.

*e).* Employment, contracts and other favours can be secured through the boys. They are also involved in admission racketeering for themselves and their boss.

*f).* The VC’s boys and their own loyal boys are mostly the beneficiaries of TETFUND and other staff development programmes.

*g).* They can get university accommodation faster than others. The list of applicants in the Housing unit is irrelevant. They can be given accommodation above their status/ranks. In other words, they are given accommodations designed for their senior/superior colleagues. In everything or policy, there are exceptions. Where there are security issues or challenge, I support that a university can provide accommodation to staff in this category. Human lives are sacrosanct and irreplaceable. Another exception is when an expatriate is being engaged.

*h).* If there are disciplinary issues hanging on their heads, these can be overlooked. Sometimes, they become untouchables – not attending lectures, submitting results very late, do anything with impunity, etc.

*i).* Some of the most powerful boys, for their own ‘strategic’ selfish goals, can influence who to promote and who not to; when papers for external assessments will be sent out and those to be dumped or disappeared; whose employment will be regularized, delayed and who will not; who to give official positions above their superiors; can also make frantic efforts to determine people’s destinies; etc. In all, they overlook the role of God in other people’s lives.

What are the demerits of VC’s boys in the university system? They are many and highly dysfunctional.

If a university is unlucky to have a gossip-listening Vice Chancellor or one on a vendetta mission, or suffering from any form of complex, some of his or her vicious boys, will take that opportunity to run down their rivals or enemies, to their own advantage.

VC’s boys exhibit blind loyalty, to the point of ‘ass licking’. They don’t think through any instruction given to them by an empire-building Vice Chancellor, however absurd. They are ready tools in sabotaging their union – NASU/SSANU/ASUU. Any person that had attained the exalted rank of a professor before the emergence of a Vice Chancellor, begged to be VC’s boy cannot be a role model or good academic leader to the younger or junior colleagues. Imagine a senior professor being asked to sabotage ASUU by joining a splinter group/union sponsored by the vice chancellor! And you see him or her sitting in front roll like a primary school pupil in their meeting. Or sitting at the back roll and covering his/her face like a thief caught in the market square. A professor should have some honour; should not be a rubber stamp to any administration. It is even funny that a Professor will be ready to answer a patron of a splinter union.

The blind loyalty from his or her boys often leads to a Vice Chancellor to suffer from ‘messiah complex’ or ‘superiority complex’. In a particular university, a Vice Chancellor had a 20-year succession plan – his own 5-year tenure and three other tenures of 5 years for three of his boys. It is either he erroneously assumed that there are no other men in that university; or he was playing god. If this plan succeeds, the university system will start having its equivalent of political god-fatherism.

The existence of VC’s boys in the university system negatively affects work ethics. Instead of engaging in serious research and development; publishing outstanding articles; taking their teaching or work seriously; or impacting the environment/society positively; enormous efforts are expended in the rat race to belong to that ‘privileged’, or ‘immune’ group.

The awareness that some staff are holding multiple appointments while other equally qualified (if not more qualified) persons have none create resentment, poor attitude to work, and other wasteful organizational practices in the system. Some of the elements of wasteful organizational practices include: avoiding responsibility, spreading accountability, hoarding authority, formalism and ritualism, bureaucratic sabotage, and stalemate. For lack of space, detailed discussion of these wasteful practices and their managerial, morale/performance implications is outside the scope of this article. The other preferential treatments given to them like – TETFUND programmes – scholarships, research grants, and conference sponsorships, sabbatical approvals, money to publish books, etc, have debilitating effects on the system.

Few years ago, it was almost impossible for those being assessed for the professorial cadre (Readers and Professors) to know their external assessors. As an external assessor to over 10 universities, it is embarrassing to get calls from those being assessed, thus:

*a).* “Sir have you received my papers”.

*b).* "Sir I am told that you are my external assessor, kindly help me”.

*c).* "Sir can I know the outcome of my assessment”, etc.

Some may even go into a subtle religious blackmail of praying for you and your family if you assess them positively. What is really going on in the system? Be sure that these are the VC’s boys or cronies. Who gave them the names and phone numbers of their assessors?

For those of us who had no godfathers, worse still, were labour activists; very vocal and courageous; had not worked in our home states; abhor hero worshipping or sycophancy; had no political strings to pull (powerful traditional rulers, senators, Rep members, ministers – to intervene for us); or blackmailing instruments to fall back on (no alibi or sentiments, like - nativity, locality, state of origin, catchment area); etc, we never cared to know our external assessors. We were just prepared, since it was unlikely to get undeserved favours. In other words, the concept of VC’s boys is diluting or polluting the external assessment processes. This definitely is not god for the system.

This concept encourages what Abraham Nwankwo called Top-Tropism. This is the inordinate quest or penchant by young people to get to the top (very rapidly) without adequate grounding or experiences in their previous ranks. This is aided by an empire-building chief executive or weak system. A good number of VC’s boys suffer from the Peter Principle, propagated by Lawrence J. Peter. It states “in a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence”. This principle applies to all organizations. Most universities have income-yielding units, particularly institutes or centres. Regrettably, these ‘boys’ are often appointed as heads of these revenue-generating units. Top-Tropism and Peter Principle, combined, are leading to the running down of these units in most universities. Instead of baking bigger cakes, they are only interested in eating the available cake. Ab initio, they don’t even have the skills to bake any cake – small or big. They also don’t have any marketing strategy to sell the products/services given to them. In one university, the director and his deputy (all VC’s boys) of a viable academic centre were known members of two opposing leading political parties in this country. Unfortunately, they could not take the advantage of their political connections to grow the place, in terms of attracting more students. Rather, the population of the students they inherited continued to reduce year in, year out for a period of 4 years. In another academic centre, allocation of courses was not based on merit or competence, but on a very narrow ethnic consideration. Being a high profile academic centre, in terms of the caliber of the students, and the huge school fees, of course, these students complained and resisted these ethnic cum weak lecturers. Surely, they want value for their money.

Some of the vicious ones sponsor the disappearance of colleagues’ documents (assessment documents) and personal files.

Another inanity which the concept of VC’s boys has introduced into the university system is ‘morbid loyalty’. Someone, say a Dean or director will see a colleague, mostly junior colleagues, and say

"Look, you have not come to my office for two weeks now, you are not loyal”.

“I saw you in the company of that other Professor, you are not loyal”.

"I didn’t get your birthday message on my birthday, you are not loyal”.

"If you comment on that Professor’s write-ups again, you are not loyal”.

"If you don’t vote my anointed candidate, it means that you are not loyal, and I will never forgive you in my life”.

“If you don’t convene the meeting to rectify the list of candidates for employment in your department, you are not loyal”, etc.

Being loyal also means bringing negative reports or stories about rivals or enemies.
Why all the quest to dominate the environment or craze for lordship?

They openly antagonize or threaten any person not supporting their candidate(s) in any election or contest. It does not really matter if the person one is supporting is a long-time friend, benefactor or relation. What kind of self-centered or greedy persons are these? Not only that it is unfortunate that they do this brazenly, but the tragedy is that adults (enlightened minds like lecturers) succumb to these empty threats. Are they your God? When they are not threatening, they are making promises, which from day one, they don’t intend to honour. Again, people fall into this power cum fake trap. It is pathetic!

In a particular federal university, there was a long-term succession plan at the entire university level. Efforts were also made by some of the boys to replicate such long-term succession plan in their faculties. This is strategic positioning akin to the Berlin Conference of 1884/1885. In that conference, European countries partitioned Africa among themselves. Some of the boys became so audacious by such prospects because to them the whole university is populated by ‘banana’ men and women. They will always overlook providence, divinity, destinies, environmental influences and other persons’ capacities or strategies, etc. Just raw greed …

Some institutes or academic centres have external funding or joint funding with the host universities. These external funding organizations, expectedly, insist on competent and renown Professors as the directors of these institutes, and often withhold their funds if less qualified persons are put forward. We have instances where if no suitable VC’s boy is qualified to hold such high calibre positions, some tyrannical or less visionary Vice-chancellors preferred that these funding organizations keep their money. Sometimes, the money runs into millions or billions of naira.

Regrettably, the facilities in those units remain idle, under-utilized, or start to deteriorate, and the society is denied of their services. We keep talking of universities impacting the environment positively. How can this happen with such backward mindset of some Vice Chancellors?

It amounts to arrogance, insensitivity, or stupidity that while many Vice Chancellors are working very hard to attract more funds to their organizations, others because of his/her un-qualified boys, are rejecting funds, and mortgaging future funding prospects.

In addition to administrative prowess, one of the major criteria for appointing Presidents of American universities is ability to attract enormous goodwill and funding to their organizations. It is therefore, not surprising that many notable American universities (Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, MIT, Penn, Columbia, just to mention a few) have huge endowment funds running into billions of Dollars. For example, Harvard university alone has about $40 billion endowment fund (2020). The huge financial resources, in turn enable these institutions to impact the environment and society positively. Check out the role of Stanford university in the emergence, visibility and prominence of Silicon Valley in California, USA. In a particular university, the Vice Chancellor was in logger head with virtually all the stakeholders of the university. Where will the goodwill and funding come from?

For three and half years, I was the Director of Consultancy, Linkages and Revenue Mobilization (COLIREMU) in my former university – Abia State University, Uturu. My experience showed that the willingness of individuals and corporate bodies to assist any university depends on the perception and respect they have for the chief executive of the organization. Luckily, my boss – the Vice Chancellor, Prof Ogwo E. Ogwo, was held in high esteem by all and sundry. Having a cantankerous, capricious or highly legalistic chief executive will be a big minus in this direction. So to attract goodwill and funding, Vice Chancellors and potential ones should take note of this fact.

Some outstanding scholars with research prowess have the knack for attracting research grants, equipment, fellowship and exchange programmes to their institution. If unfortunately, these scholars fall into real or perceived enemies of a vicious Vice Chancellor, rather than take the credit, the university will be ready to forfeit them. Meanwhile, there is no evidence in most universities, for obvious reasons, that most VC’s boys attracted funds, equipment (like generators, vehicles), scholarships, grants or professorial endowments to their universities.

Some institutes and academic centres run courses or programmes that are domiciled in certain faculties. It is therefore, natural and the practice that the directors, and deputy directors come from the servicing faculties. Currently, some empire-building Vice Chancellors and their greedy boys are now taking these positions to other departments or faculties that have no courses or programmes offered in these institutes or centres. Where the servicing faculty has many Professors or senior academics, this usually creates disaffection or low morale in the system. The main tragedy is that these Professors and their faculties for whatever reason could not protest or resist this administrative recklessness. It appears to me that the spirit of ‘banana-ness’ is being entrenched in the university system. We are beginning to have emperors as Vice Chancellors. They can do anything they like and get away with it.

Given the many shortcomings of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), ASUU instructed her members not to enlist. Unfortunately, in many departments and faculties, the VC’s boys were coercing and intimidating their colleagues to register into IPPIS. In my faculty, I advised my boys not to register. I told them that in addition to having honour, they don’t have much to lose. My prediction came to pass. How can an ASUU leader like myself disobey my union. It will be infragid. Today, everybody is crying. Many lecturers are not paid for months, those paid receive about 50% of their salaries. With this dislocation in financial planning, many university staff are unable to meet their loan and other financial commitments. Meanwhile, majority of the proponents of IPPIS have salary as their only source of income.

The Igbos will always say that the heart is a bag, full of deceits. When an ‘oga-at-the-top’ leaves office, most of his or her boys will abandon him or her and start moving towards the new oga. That explains why people are lonely, if not in melancholy, when they leave exalted positions. They will realize belatedly that most people flocking around them are fakes or these so for entirely personal benefits.

On closer observation, the VC’s boys should know, though they may pretend, that at end of the day, because they would have stepped on many toes, knowingly and brazenly, they will have more enemies than friends. They will also have damaged reputation. They will inherit all their oga’s known and hidden enemies. And whatever benefits they got, with time, patience, ako-na-uche, God’s grace, others will surely get them. So what the heck?

Before I am completely misunderstood … It is important to emphasize that not all the VC’s boys gloat or suffer from ‘arrival syndrome’ or ready to insult people including their superiors. Some have been able to manage the privilege of being close to or direct beneficiaries of the powers that be. They are conscious that every position and power are transient. I know in one university, where one VC’s boy was so careful, intelligent and humble that he effectively managed all his relationships with people. He was the Dean of Student Affairs. He treated everyone equitably, respectfully, and unassumingly. He didn’t step on anybody’s toe. He did not block anyone’s chances of getting his/her privileges or rights. He didn’t need to make enemies for himself or inherit another persons’ enemy. That is wisdom. He is just a good Christian – a Catholic. Of course, everybody observed these special qualities and love him.

For many years, I was also a VC’s boy like few others. We were restricted to the responsibilities of our offices, teaching, research and publications. We were bold enough to say our minds. We were never involved in admission racketeering, contracts, employments, the process of appointing Vice Chancellors, legal tussles. Promotions were not packaged for us. We were not used to destabilize ASUU. Let me quickly add, we were radical and courageous enough to resist such unwholesome request or order. We worked under a hard-working, highly disciplined, unassuming, non-acquisitive and incorruptible Vice Chancellor – Prof Ogwo E. Ogwo.

If I am a CEO of any organization like a university, I will surround myself with research-oriented persons, those that have a pedigree in administrative prowess, superb inter-personal relations and entrepreneurial mindset. Those courageous enough to point out my mistakes or excesses. I will be very careful with those only interested in sharing available cake. I need those with wealth creating abilities – helping to bake bigger cakes for all and sundry.

In conclusion … my little wise counsel. If you have been a victim of these over-zealous VC’s boys, be a man. Learn how to persevere or carry cross. Expect undeserved persecutions. Be like the Jews. For me, I am born and trained into toughness – ability to withstand pressures, vicissitudes of life and persecutions. I am always happy. I dance regularly. I don’t give my traducers or persecutors cause to be happier than me. Rather, it is the other way round. My gregarious nature and peace of mind give them great concerns/worries. I will continue to adore God throughout my life for His mercies and grace.

All victims should take solace in the fact that all positions and power are transient in nature. Refer to my article – Spiritual Angle to Development, early April 2020. Murder is not only physical killing. If any of these boys can identify those they deliberately (through set ups, lies, fabrication of stories) contributed to their suspension or sack; played roles in their delayed or non-promotion; disappearance of their documents including personal files; delayed or non-regularization of their appointments; denied employments or contracts; etc, they should go personally to them and seek forgiveness. If they cannot identify all, they should go to those they could and fervently continue to pray to Almighty God for forgiveness for the others. This spiritual cleansing or atonement is also applicable to every other sector of our national life. This is my innocuous advice, which they are free to take or leave. I guess that it will be in their best interest to listen to me – the favoured son of God. I am still thinking aloud …

Prof. Onuoha wrote from University of Port Harcourt.


Sent from my iPhone

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Wow.

Wonderful essay.

Only that "favoured son of God" line at the end was not particularly helpful.

The essay suggests, ironically, the great potential of the Nigerian university system, in terms of it's structures, if these structures are well run.

Takes my mind to another terrible problem, ethnicisation in Nigerian universities, represented for me by those I know best about, my alma mater, the University of Benin, and the University of Ibadan, one of the creators of the field of African Studies in it's global impact.

Some years ago, there was a desperate fight to have a Benin indigene as VC of the University of Benin for the first time in it's history.

All kinds of weapons were invoked, including, if I recall correctly, the mobilisation of the office of the Oba of Benin,  and magical weapons from Benin spirituality, represented particularly by the dreaded Ayelala cult, instruments of which were publicly placed at the entrance to the university at the conclusion of a loud protest procession, as  an invocation of  spiritual power against the university if it went  against the wishes of the pro-Benin VC movement.

At the conclusion of the next or ongoing VC selection round, the pro-Benin VC movement got their VC.

The VC after that, the current VC, is also a Benin indigene, to the best of my knowledge.

Particularly horrible is the recent emergence of the same orientation from the University of Ibadan, where a very vocal group of eminent persons within and perhaps outside the university, academics, primarily and perhaps non-academics, insisted that the next VC must be an Ibadan man, the first in the university's history, if I recall correctly.

In the university once headed by Kenneth Dike, the university of Ade Ajayi, Abiola Irele, Isidor Okpewho,  Dan Izevbaye and Uli Beier,  among others forever luminous in the humanities, people  who are not  even Yoruba though UI, as it is familiarly and reverently known, is in Yorubaland, yet figures central to making  UI the globally strategic centre of knowledge it once was before the great exodus of a good number  of the most prominent Nigerian academics to the US, a university once central to creating and leading the global agenda in African Studies, scholars were not arguing that the VC selection process had been historically rigged against Ibadan indigenes, but simply that an Ibadan person must be the next VC.

I concluded that a vital core in the Nigerian public University system had been horribly corroded or perhaps even destroyed.

If UI had held out for so long against a cancer that ensures that any university that lives by this cancer, applying perhaps to most Nigerian universities, will never become a front line university in a global sense, and yet had succumbed at last, what remains?

Who will the private universities look up to? What will be their standard for best practices?

Ethnicisation, racism, favouritism, privileged positioning, is everywhere.The degree to which it is managed, hopefully leading to complete eradication, makes all the difference.

The day a Black person becomes Harvard President, or President of any of the foremost US universities, will be a historic day. The day it happens at Oxford or Cambridge, will also be historic. I don't think any of this has happened yet.

But in these places, Africans are thriving to various degrees, Africans, who have no racial or  ethnic connection with the populations that largely built these places through centuries of effort.

If the White Man, using that controversial term for it's associative value, can absorb our best as he is doing and use that best in improving a system they built, why should we be so mean as to insist on using our narrow ethniciities in shaping institutions that should attract the best from across the world?

Thanks

Toyin

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[Emeagwali, Gloria (History)]

“But in these places, Africans are thriving to various 

degrees, Africans, who have no racial or  ethnic 

connection with the populations that largely 

built these places through centuries of effort.”TA

Note the economic connections through

Capital accumulated by these institutions 

from  human trafficking activities. Oxford 

University has publicly acknowledged its 

financial gains from the dirty business:

Cambridge University and slavery legacy

https://www.v-c.admin.cam.ac.uk/projects/legacies-of-enslavement

Oxford University and slavery legacy

https://amp.theguardian.com/education/

2017/nov/10/oxford-all-souls-college-

scholarship-slavery-legacy-caribbean-

christopher-codrington

Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association

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From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovde...@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2022 1:23 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Must Read: THE CONCEPT OF VC’s BOYS IN THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM

 

Please be cautious: **External Email**

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAGBtzfNMB-N%3Djqp%2BnS_K-7%2BQBb4VZwn-7FkMgxkhbjSOh%3DiFYg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Thanks, Gloria.

I had that at the back of my mind but was not clear on how to use it in modifying the sentence.

In my view, though, does the fact that those universities benefited from slavery mean that Africans have a connection with the builders of those systems?

I don't think so.

Has slavery of Africans in the West done anything to advance their presence in those universities, since the question here is the issue of who has a fundamental stake in a university and should therefore benefit from it, the scholar whose presence is purely on merit, the indigene of the land where the university is built etc?

African presence in Western universities is based largely on merit, an approach Nigerians need more of in Nigeria.

Thanks

Toyin

Thanks

Toyin

[Emeagwali, Gloria (History)]

You have raised some interesting

 questions, Toyin. 

You seemed to downplay the impact

of external resources and input in

the building of these universities, however,

and  I decided to fill the gap. I hope

you don’t have a problem with that.

Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association

---

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovde...@gmail.com>

Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2022 8:37 AM
To: usaafricadialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAGBtzfOw-W0r-N5nVN0W6tj07V0k6xYmt1mHppse8b0dGu6h1g%40mail.gmail.com.

[Moses Ochonu]

“The day a Black person becomes Harvard President, or President of any of the foremost US universities, will be a historic day“

Toyin Adepoju:

A Haitian-America “Black person” was just elected President of Rice University, which clearly fits your definition of “foremost US university.”

Ruth Simmons, an African America scholar, was President of the Ivy League Brown University for 11 years between 2001 and 2012.

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 23, 2022, at 7:58 AM, 'Emeagwali, Gloria (History)' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



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[Toyin Falola]

Moses:

Does an exception disproves a theory?

and

Perception, in politics, may be closer to reality.

 

As an aside, Ruth is still a university president, two hours away from me, and before brown she was at smith. If gore had won the election, she would have become education secretary.

 

The bigger question---do such examples of representation advance the project of blackness?

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[Moses Ebe Ochonu]

Oga Falola, you're preaching to the converted here. I'm a critic of both talented tenth symbolism and tokenism. Mine was just a correction of the factual error in Toyin Adepoju's post. I just wanted to tell him (and others who may be misled by his assertion) that Black people have already been Presidents of, as he put it, "foremost US universities."

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/SN7PR06MB7247078ACB5E5058E4EA4D82F83C9%40SN7PR06MB7247.namprd06.prod.outlook.com.

[Toyin Falola]

Apologies

I was not following the thread..

And I only respond to those who do critical analysis and not personal abuses.

TF

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[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Thanks, Moses.

Great to know.

To laypeople like myself, outside the intricacies of assessments of US universities, the names we come across, in order of relationships between entrenched tradition and status are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford and MIT. After those are such universities as Cornell.

This is what I understand as a generalist perception, not a reflection of precise reality.

 It might also represent seeing the limitations of my own generalist perception in terms of the views of  others outside the US and of precise knowledge about the relative prestige of it's universities.

The issue of Harvard, however, is particularly significant, in this context, on account of what I understand as the socio-religious and class contexts of it's founding and it's sustence in it's earlier decades, in relation to a particular aristocracy in Boston, thereby evoking the idea of ethno-religious foundations suggestive of the Nigerian situation.

This ethno-religious thrust also relates to the fact, if I recollect correctly, that Harvard once placed a quota on Jewish students admissions, perhaps beceause they were seen as becoming too many.

I was also responding to my exposure through reading,  to some of the decision making processes that have gone into the choosing of some Harvard Presidents, specifically Charles William Elliot, whose reforms are described as making  Harvard an innovative undergraduate and a great research university; James Conant, President at a particularly high point of the university's prestige and  Larry Summers, after leaving his work in US govt, along with the controversies he inspired. 

Even after his high profile work with Robert Rubin as Tresasury Secretary and Alan Greenspan as Fed chairman, a position  in which TIME did a cover story describing them as "The Commitee to Save the World", the article I read treated his Harvard Presidency as an ascension from his work at almost the highest levels of US govt, at the heart of the global economy, stating that his getting the Harvard  job was assisted by a recommendation from Rubin. 

This and other readings suggested to me that Harvard might  be seen by some  infiuential segments of  US society, not  simply a great university, but as an embodiment of national values and prestige.

Such attitudes are obvious in relation to Oxford and Cambridge, for centuries the only universities in England, spaces profoundly identified till today with the political aristocracy, so much so that studentship at these universities is a common feature among the country's Prime Ministers, an orientation that has partly crossed over to the US in relatively recent times, particularly in relation to the Presidency,  Princeton for Woodrow Wilson and later Yale and Harvard, for others, with Trump being an exception, for various reasons.

  I'm not claiming this in an absolute sense, since I can't say I have looked into the alma mater of all US Presidents after formal education became highly valued  after emphasis shifted from the frontier, self made and military cultures from George Washington to Lincoln, but that, within the 20th century and beyond, an aristocracy of schooling has been part of the highest levels of US  politics, and that this aristocracy of education has revolved around a handful of institutions, with Yale and Harvard at the centre.

I suspect, that even among the topmost US universities, certain developments in some, might be more resonant than in others. That is likely to hold for Harvard and perhaps the other unis I mentioned as being among the best  known of US universities.

Thanks

Toyin

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[Owojecho Omoha]

What a professorial experience of  the university system in Nigeria!

This article brings to light the cancerous concept of "VC' boys" long ignored in our universities. It is a treatise on how to be a wise and reputable Vice Chancellor in Nigeria. This article upholds the immediacy of a working committee system in university administration, and not the enthronement of "VC Boys" used by Vice Chancellors to humble the Ivory Tower.  

It's a well researched article worthy of attention of every worthy academic in Nigerian universities.

OMOHA