KadPoly Crisis: Open Letter To Education Minister (Part 2)

BY MOHAMMED ABDULLAHI

Hon. Minster, you may recall that I wrote you the first letter on February 28, 2022 after subterranean efforts were deployed by the Kaduna Polytechnic Governing Council to justify the exclusion of Professor Muhammad Sani Yahaya from the recruitment exercise through recommending the appointment of the Acting Rector, Dr Suleiman Umar, as the substantive rector for the institution.

The exclusion of Professor Yahaya, a teacher with the Kaduna State University, from the recruitment exercise had sparked off outrage among members of the polytechnic community, following a deliberate ploy not to invite academics of professorial status. Despite protests and a press conference called by the don, the Governing Council still went ahead to recommend Umar for appointment as substantive rector.

Aware that the Governing Council was not willing to revisit his exclusion from the interview, Prof Yahaya approached the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) for adjudication over the matter. As it is, both sides have commenced legal fireworks, thus invalidating any planned appointment of a new substantive rector until determination of the case.

With the illegal tenure of Dr. Umar ending next week, May 18, 2o22, plans are already afoot to procure yet another illegal tenure extension for Dr. Umar who has so far spent over year in acting capacity; an act that is not only illegal in civil service rules, but also prohibited by the Polytechnic (Amendment) Act 2019. Those behind the illegality of renewing six-month extension for Dr Umar on November 17, 2021 are hell-bent in repeating their ignoble act. The circumstances under which Dr Umar’s extension of six-month tenure was renewed in November 2021, contrary to the provision of the Polytechnic (Amendment) Act 2019, is suspect as the tenure extension was procured on the altar of financial  inducements.

Despite a letter from the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) warning against a renewal of tenure for Dr. Umar whose leadership is now the subject matter of anti-graft agencies, members of the Governing Council closed their eyes on November 17, 2021 and renewed the appointment for another term of six months

With the current illegal tenure extension expiring on May 18, 2022, subtle plans have already been concluded to secure yet another illegal extension in order to perpetuate the cabal’s riotous disposition. Frightened by the likelihood that Dr Umar’s appointment as the substantive rector may turn out an elusive dream, the Registrar, Dr Muhammad Sani Musa, who is the real brain behind the crisis, is contriving yet another illegal extension.

 In a move that is causing outrage and tension amongst members of the polytechnic, the Registrar on May 09, 2022 wrote to both the Chairman and Members of the Governing Council to approve yet another illegal renewal of six-month tenure for Dr Umar to continue in office as the Acting Rector. If the Council approves such a reprehensible recommendation, it will not only be a subversion of the Polytechnic (Amendment) Act 2019, but also a clear case of enthroning embarrassing impunity.

Hon Minister, let me remind you that as the Minister of Education, and someone who has demonstrated unblemished integrity in public service, the non-resolution of the crisis rocking Kaduna Polytechnic over the appointment of a substantive rector is an avoidable stain in your headship of Nigeria’s education sector. I am aware of how you rejected hundreds of millions from a questionable source ahead of the 2015 polls just to keep your integrity. Your uprightness shone the brightest as an uncommon Nigerian patriot committed to genuineness and truthfulness. Your unyielding character to truth stands above corruption.

As stated in my last letter, anyone conversant with your antecedents must be at a loss on why you have not beamed your searchlight on the corruption-ridden Kaduna Polytechnic and the many infractions that have gone uninvestigated. From the news and commentaries trailing the narratives on this matter, it is clear that allowing Dr Umar to continue serving as Ag. Rector is illegal and a violation of the Polytechnic (Amendment) Act 2019 which states: “In the case of vacancy in the office of the rector, the council shall appoint an acting rector who should not be in office for more than six months”.

It is only in Kaduna Polytechnic that the tenure of an Ag. Rector was renewed beyond the approved six-month as enshrined in the Polytechnic Act. There are scenarios in Mubi and Auchi polytechnics where acting rectors never had their tenures renewed after the expiration of the six-month period as enshrined in the law. The question on many lips is: Why is Dr Umar’ case different?

The answer to this is very easy to make sense of. The tenure of Dr Umar has given right to an exclusive club of a privileged cabal to limitlessly access the financial vault of the institution.  Over 100 IGR contracts, running into hundreds of millions have been awarded to cronies of the Dr Umar-led management, with less emphasis on academic development. The new people on the platforms of power believe that with money, anyone can be compromised. A glimpse of the man who now serves as the Chairman of the Contract Committee of Kaduna Polytechnic will give the Hon. Minister the clue on why the Registrar remains the force behind the lawlessness tearing the school apart.

The Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris Bugaje, who is the immediate rector of the polytechnic, has been unjustifiably accused of being behind the travail of Dr Umar. As Executive Secretary of NBTE, he cannot be seen to be quiet when things are wrongly done. Besides being a constant victim of blackmail through a faceless group called KadPoly Forum, Prof Bugaje has refused to be cowed in remaining silent in the face of a campaign of calumny unleashed on him.

Happily, the KadPoly Forum has been exposed as a fictional platform created by those who are committed to helping themselves in sustaining the despicable illegality for pecuniary reasons.  Mallam Musa Muhammed and Joseph Kazachan, previously taunted as the chairman and secretary of the Forum, are only fictional personalities deployed to fight the principled stance of Prof Bugaje who has remained relentless in standing up against lawlessness in the polytechnic system.

Grimly worrisome is the deliberate act of excluding an erudite professor who, by dint of academic excellence, was excluded from participating in the interview exercise.  The current legal fireworks at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) should serve as a red flag in cleaning the Augean stable created by the Dr Umar-led management. There is the urgent need to undertake a total overhaul of the school in order to extricate commercially minded academics whose leadership of the polytechnic is deepening the rot that now engulfs the institution.

For this crisis rocking the polytechnic to be resolved, the illegal extension of another tenure being sought for Dr Umar should be denied. A new panel for the recruitment of a new rector should be set up under the watch of the Ministry, NBTE and incorruptible technocrats in order to conduct an interview for a new rector. All cases of corruption alleged against the Dr Umar-led management, especially in the award of IGR contracts ruling into hundreds of millions of naira, should be investigated. A new Acting Rector should be appointed for a period of six months in order to take over the affairs of the polytechnic. The Governing Council should not be exclusively allowed to conduct the recruitment interview for a new rector as the Council has not demonstrated the type of impartiality expected of it.

Honourable Minister, you have demonstrated an amazing track record in public service. Many are alleging that your failure to act on the Kaduna Polytechnic’s crisis is not unconnected with your resolve never to hurt a fellow Bauchi man who chairs the Governing Council. I have never been in agreement with such a view. I thoroughly believe that while your office should speedily act fast to avoid justifying people’s interpretation over your inaction, let me inform you that Kaduna Polytechnic is being destroyed. Only you as the Minister of Education can stop this and save the school for the future.

I know you as someone who is above approach.  For once, I plead with you to turn your searchlight on Kaduna Polytechnic and end this unfathomable lawlessness wreaking the institution that was once the pride of the North. Those who love opulence more than academics should not be allowed to diminish the excellence of this premier polytechnic. For now, the Governing Council has become an interested party and Dr Umar should not be renewed for another six months. Renewing Dr Umar’s for another illegal tenure amounts to drilling a hole in the path of transparency.

I pray to the Almighty Allah to grant you the wisdom and strength to end the hawkish manipulations of those determined to destroy Kaduna Polytechnic.

Abdullahi, a public commentator, writes from Minna, Niger state