AWAU’s intervention

Last week, from November 22 to 26, Vice-Chancellors and other stakeholders from 11 countries, chiefly from West Africa, converged on the Nigerian Turkish Nile University, Abuja, for the third annual conference of the Association of West Africa Universities (AWAU). The conference, themed “Turbulence in University Education in West Africa: Quality, Mentorship and Access”, was declared open by the AWAU Chairman and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. D. D. Kuupole, supported by the Vice-Chairman and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali (OON), and the Secretary-General and former President of the Association of African Universities (AAU), Prof. Is-haq O. Oloyede (OFR).

The conference drew a distinguished array of participants. The Chairman of the opening ceremony was the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, represented by Mallam Adamu Adamu, Honourable Minister of Education. Keynote speakers included former President Olusegun Obasanjo, represented by Prof. Peter Okebukola; former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega; and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana, Prof. Clifford N. B. Tagoe.

Four lead papers were presented, among several others. The Secretary General of the Association of African Universities (AAU), Prof. E. E. Ehile, addressed the conference theme while the Secretary General of AWAU, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, examined “Thinking without the Box: Dismantling the Laboratory for Progress”. The former President of the General Conference of UNESCO, Prof. Michael Omolewa, discussed the “Roles of Universities in the Promotion of Good Governance, Democracy and Development in West Africa.” Then, a former Minister of Education, Togo, Prof. Yao Florent Maganawe, focused on “The Role of Universities in Post-2015 Development Agenda”.

The intervention of the conference was in many crucial areas especially those bordering on quality assurance, mentoring of students and staff as well as increasing the capacity of universities to give more access to qualified applicants. Yet, I want to focus on four areas of the conference outcome, which I think are generally representative of the measures needed to restore calm and peace against the backdrop of the current “turbulence”.

First, though higher education holds the key to a developed society and Nelson Mandela famously said education is the most powerful weapon to change the world, governments in West Africa do not appreciate the need to invest massively in it. Therefore, the Economic Community of the West African States (ECOWAS) was urged to encourage governments to appreciate the role of education in deepening democracy and scaling up development by funding it sufficiently. Then, universities too are to explore innovative ways of generating funds.

Second, the purpose of university education was found to be in sync with that of the historic Timbuktu University, started as Sankore Madrasah and funded by a wealthy Tuareg woman: “To breed leaders that are God fearing, just, honest, trustworthy and of excellent moral character.” Therefore, to bring about calm, universities are to supposed to be driven by that purpose and steer themselves away from such vices as forgery, examination malpractices, admission racketeering, plagiarism, cultism, phony/inflated contracts and fraudulent practices which happen in some universities, against the ideal expected from the academia.

Third, the essence of university education ultimately lies in serving and benefiting the society. However, the impacts of many academics are not felt in their immediate environments because of their fixation with the classroom, the laboratory and their elitist status. The conference then sought an increase to 20% (from the current 10% in many universities) the value allotted to relevant community service in the assessment of academics as a way of boosting more community-based interventions by scholars.

Fourth, there is a tendency towards compartmentalisation, over-specialisation and individualisation of academic efforts whereas it is transdisciplinarity, team work and interconnectedness of knowledge that bring development. Just as there is a need for a broad-based education, not limiting oneself to the narrow confines of one’s discipline, there is need for interdisciplinarity.

The last point above is especially important for the graduates of the 21^st century who are supposed to be dynamic. The world is relatively no longer keen about certificates but is interested in competence and value. This explains why multidisciplinary knowledge and hand-on skills are fundamental today.

I think the AWAU’s intervention through the outcome of its recent conference deserves serious attention by the Nigerian authorities and their other West African counterparts. This is especially important because those who made the intervention are experts, the cream of the West African intelligentsia, who have deep insights in the issues at stake.

About the Author

Aptly described by the Independent newspaper as “a man of many parts”, Prof. Mahfouz A. Adedimeji is a Fulbright scholar, interdisciplinary researcher, university don, public affairs analyst, communication consultant, peace advocate, interfaith worker and public intellectual. He obtained his academic degrees from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, where he was a Professor of English (Pragmatics and Applied Linguistics) before his appointment as Vice Chancellor as the pioneer Vice Chancellor of Ahman Patigi, Nigeria, in February 2021. He started his academic career in 2000 at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, shortly after which he joined the services of his alma mater, the University of Ilorin. A man of eclectic academic background, Prof. Adedimeji was educated in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Markaz Shabaabil Islam, Iwo, Osun State and Markaz Ta’aleemil Araby, Agege, Lagos. He obtained advanced training in Education, Political Science, Communication and Media, Research and Peace Studies at the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) Virtual Institute for Higher Education Pedagogy (VIHEP); the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) Virtual Institute for Higher Education in Africa (VIHEAF); Governors State University, University Park, Illinois, USA; University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana; and Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, USA. Apart from serving as a cultural ambassador to the US under the auspices of the Institute of International Education (IIE), New York, Prof. Adedimeji had won or co-won the research and conference awards/grants of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) of the National Research Council, Nigeria, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). He has written extensively for a wide range of newspapers and periodicals including “Unilorin Bulletin”, “Unilorin Watch”, “DeLight”, “National Pilot”, “Daily Independent”, “Daily Newswatch”, “New York Parrot” and “New Telegraph”, among others. A versatile academic and award-winning scholar, Prof. Adedimeji has attended academic conferences and undertaken research in several universities across Nigeria as well as in Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Malaysia, Sierra Leone, Australia, France and United States of America, among others. His hundreds of academic, Islamic and general/opinion articles have been published across outlets in Nigeria and beyond. He has also facilitated and participated in seminars and workshops both nationally and internationally. A former Head of the Directorate of Corporate Affairs of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Adedimeji was the Director of the Centre for Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, between 2013 and 2017. Apart from serving as Rapporteur-General to the Presidential Committee that organised the 2017 Federal Executive Council’s Retreat on Education in Nigeria, he has consulted for the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence and Corps (NSCDC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). For years, he was a Coordinator and Facilitator of the Executive Management Course of the Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC) and Editor-in-Chief of the “Journal of Peace, Security and Development”, University of Ilorin. He has also served as a resource person to agencies like the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Orientation Agency (NOA), National Institute for Security Studies as well as a number of Civil Society Organisations. He is a recipient of several awards and honours including those of the International Chartered World Learned Society, American Biographical Institute, National Congress of Nigerian Students (NACONS), Union of Campus Journalists, University of Ilorin, the Nigerian Army Education Corps, Postgraduate Students Association, UNILORIN, Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), UNILORIN, Students’ Union, UNILORIN, and National Association of Osun State Students (NAOSS), just to mention a few. A Fellow of bodies like the International Association of Research Scholars and Administrators (FIARSA), Institute of Corporate Administration, Nigeria, (FICAN), Society for Peace Studies and Practice (fspsp) and World Institute for Peace (FWIP) , Prof. Adedimeji is a former Member of the Governing Council of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) and until recently a Member of the Executive Council of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN). He is a member of the Editorial Boards of Research in Pragmatics, journal of the Pragmatics Association of Nigeria (PrAN) and ANUJAT, an international multidisciplinary journal of the All Nations University, Koforidua, Ghana. He has about 15 books to his credit as author, co-author, editor and co-editor.