On November 23, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, was installed the Sixth Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University(ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State. The event attracted the crème de la crème, among them, monarchs, politicians, industrialists and military officers. TONY AKOWE reports.
A staccato of gun shots heralded his arrival. As guests wondered who was coming, he walked in majestically, with a retinue of aides in his trail.
With a white turban flowing down his dress, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, was on hand to keep a date with history. He was travelling the road once traversed by his revered Saraduna of Sokoto, and pioneer chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State, the late Sir Ahmadu Bello.
Coincidentally, Sultan Abubakar was installed chancellor on November 23, the same day 48 years ago, that Bello, who founded ABU, assumed the chancellorship seat. The date is tagged the institution’s founder’s day.
As guests filled into the Maman Kontagora Square, venue of the event, the Sultan’s drummers and praise singers chanted his cognomen to the delight of all. For some time, ABU had been without a chancellor since the death of the Lamido of Adamawa, who last occupied the office.
The Sultan’s choice as chancellor is believed to be apt because he is respected and well connected.
Welcoming guests, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Abdulallahi Mustapha described the installation as historic. He expressed confidence that the Sultan would bring his experience to bear on the running of the institution.
He argued that the monarch would ensure that the vision and mission of the institution are realised under a conducive atmosphere of teaching, learning and research.
Mustapha said: “Already, the university is enjoying this privilege, judging from the stability it has enjoyed since your appointment.”
He said ABU is, indeed, “fortunate to have a man endowed with humility, tolerance, forthrightness and open mindedness, among others, at the helm of affairs”.
To the Sultan, the university’s consent to the date for the installation was gratifying because it evoked a sense of history “which I believe expresses the administration’s ardent desire and determination not only to honour the indelible memory of its founder, but to re-establish this veritable institution on its proper foundations. May I further propose that the university look into the possibility of maintaining this date for its convocation, if only to underscore the need to reconnect the university with the dream of its founding fathers.”
According to him, beside the symbolism of the date, “we must also venture to state that ABU is, in itself, symbolic of our educational vision and development, especially here in the northern states. Ahmadu Bello was seen, at least, by its founding fathers as the culmination of years of toil and struggle to establish a robust educational system in the northern part of the country.”
Quoting the late Sir Ahmadu Bello at his investiture as the first chancellor of the university in 1963, the Sultan said: “The creation of our university is symbolic of the momentous development that has taken place throughout Northern Nigeria and the federation as a whole… We live so close to this development that it is difficult sometimes to realise how great the achievement is. There must have been very few who… have believed it possible that there should be not only soon a university here in Zaria, but one with northern Nigerians among the senior members of its staff…”
He said the rebuilding of the institution must begin by re-establishing the basic principles and recapturing the noble vision for which it was founded.
His words:“The founding fathers of this institution laboured hard to bequeath to us a veritable institution, which provided the sturdy foundations of our national development. We must not fail them. We must apply ourselves with all seriousness and sincerity to sustaining these institutions and put them in a shape that could be best useful to the future generation of Nigerians.”
He decried corruption, poverty and unemployment, saying that, despite the unprecedented resources at the nation’s disposal, its development has failed to match its national wealth. He challenged all tiers of government, especially northern governors, to rise to the challenges facing the education sector and take urgent steps to address them. He said the ongoing reform in the education sector will not be complete without a progressive development in basic and secondary education.
While arguing that corruption has emasculated the nation’s progress, with poverty and unemployment pushing the people to the brinks, fueling and confounding social conflicts, the Sultan said inter-communal crises have exerted a toil on human and social property, while persistent insecurity has generated panic and anxiety. Social and physical infrastructure are far from meeting the needs of the nation, while the country appears to be drifting, he added.
While noting that many nations of the world have had to pass through similar trying times in the course of their growth, the Sultan said “at the core of all these is ignorance and moral decay.” He implored universities to rise to the challenge.
“Our leaders,” he said, “must provide these institutions the necessary resources and latitude to rise to the challenge.”
He continued: “We must all join hands to fix our country as no one will do it for us and we have no other country but this one. I am confident that leaders at every level will appreciate the need to close ranks and work together as a national priority. Some two decades ago, however, all these began to change; these moral and academic standards eroded away, facilities and infrastructure enervated and naturally, the quality of products started to dwindle and the esteem of the university started to wane. We must ask the question, where did we start to derail and what exactly went wrong? Next year, this university will be celebrating its golden jubilee. We must use this opportunity to do a thorough introspection so that we get to the bottom of these problems, resolve these problems, return the university to course and reinvent its vision and mission so that it can play the role it was established to play…
“My message is, therefore, a simple one. The largest university in sub-Saharan Africa must be transformed into the biggest university in Africa… We cannot build a first rate university without building a reasonable consensus on how to move the university forward. Our vision for this great institution must be a collective one where all major shareholders take responsibility for their actions and take pride in discharging their roles. Whenever we allow factionalism and primordial sentiments to dictate our attitudes and actions, we are telling the whole world that we are not ready to discharge this historic responsibility. We cannot expect to establish the best university in Africa without embracing the ethos of excellence and hard work. We must value excellence and hard work and be willing to recognise and reward those who excel. Our processes and procedures must be transparent and fair enough to ensure equity and justice for all.
“We must appreciate the fact that the cultivation of excellence is an expensive undertaking. Government should do its part and discharge timely and adequately its financial commitments to the university. We must acknowledge the basic fact that the reform of the tertiary education sector cannot be effective and complete without putting in place the progressive development required in the basic and Senior Secondary education sector. Our state governments, especially here in the northern states, must begin to realise the enormity of the challenges facing the education sector and take the urgent and necessary steps to address these challenges.”