University senates should be allowed to admit students, choose VCs – Okojie

Julius Okojie, immediate past Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) has declared that University education in Nigeria would only be improved upon and taken to greater height if full autonomy is given to University senates to admit students and appoint Vice-Chancellors.

He said that the scrapping of post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) by various Universities in the country has allowed exploitation and bad conduct of the exams with the involvement of various bodies which bastardised admission exercises and standard of tertiary education.

Okojie, who spoke during reception held in his honour at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta after he had left FUNAAB 15 years ago, and served for 10 years at the NUC, before retiring on 31st July, 2016, said each university’s Senate should be free to exercise their autonomy on “when to admit, how to admit and who to admit.”

He said, “The post-UTME has come in different manners. It can be interview, it can be screening. But in all, Senate reserves the authority, the autonomy of the Senate is always there. They can decide when to admit, how to admit and who to admit.

“What government is saying is that there shouldn’t be too much divergent to the extent that we are stressing the students, ordinarily we should leave the universities to handle their issues.”

While explaining that he was not sacked by President Muhammadu Buhari as widely reported in the media as he disclosed that he is in good record of the Presidency, Okojie declared that he even reminded President Buhari through Minister of Education of the expiration of his tenure on July 31st, 2016.

He said, “I was surprised when I read in some media that I was sacked by the President. I had already disengaged myself myself on the 29th of July. Before that, I had written Mr President through the Minister of Education of my exit as Executive President of NUC on July 31st, 2016.”