The Registrar of the University of Ilorin, Mansur Adeleke Alfanla, has appealed to the Federal Government to designate an agency that would be saddled with the responsibility of oversighting the finances of public-owned universities in the country.
He explained that having different government establishments to perform such function is retrogressive and could cause inconsistencies in their findings.
Alfanla, in an interview with journalists in Ilorin over the weekend, said setting up a centralised body for that function would stave off the inconsistencies that often arise due to divergent positions of the agencies.
He said: “Multiple agencies performing financial oversight function is very displeasing and retrogressive. If the government establishes a centralised body for that function, it will get rid of the inconsistencies that often arise due to divergent views of the agencies.
“One problem is the oversight function of different agencies performing one singular function. Honestly, it is very displeasing to have different agencies doing that. It is not too good at all. It is retrogressive and drawing the hands of the clock backward.
We need to say the truth and the whole world is supposed to see us. “We have government institutions with overlapping functions. The National Assembly will come to look into our financial books, accountant-general will come, auditor-general will come, National Universities Commission (NUC) will come and Federal Ministry of Education will come.
That is a duplication of duty. “I think there should be a designated body that will be doing this for and on behalf of the Federal Government so that it will be one body rather than multiplying such functions which often lead to inconsistencies.
“These agencies often have divergent views. What an agency acknowledges to have been done rightly, another one will come to say it has been done wrongly.
So, let them come up with uniform policies and to be monitored by one body.” Alfanla lamented the lack of funding for the public institutions, noting: “Another problem we are facing is finance. Our universities, University of Ilorin inclusive, are lacking funds; but I’m certain things will improve.”
On the security situation in the University of Ilorin, Alfanla bemoaned the activities of cattle herders who stray into the school campus and destroy farmlands and other valuables.
His words: “Another challenge is the issue of security. We have the cattle rearers coming into the campus, destroying property of people – their farm lands.
They go there, they destroy; they herd their cattle into the farmlands to eat. “In fact, I was once a victim. About five of us cultivated eight hectares of land for beans. The plantation flourished but during the time of harvesting, these people came and destroyed everything with their cattle.”
The varsity scribe expressed dissatisfaction over prevalence of brain drain across the public institutions in the country. He said: “Part of the challenges we are having is this issue of brain drain. People abandon their work going elsewhere by way of ‘japa’.
It is affecting not only the University of Ilorin, but many universities in Nigeria, and it is something that should be looked into by the Federal national Assembly to conduct and publish comprehensive human rights impact assessments of the bills, and amend the bills to include robust data protection measures, judicial oversight, and accountability mechanisms.
The human rights group also wants the National Assembly to ensure public participation in the legislative process to foster transparency and inclusivity.
The organisation also called for a resolution directing the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to investigate state governors’ handling of tax revenues since 2015 and recover mismanaged funds. SERAP argued that a rights-aligned tax system is essential for combating poverty, funding essential public services, and ensuring sustainable development.
The group expressed concerns that corruption and mismanagement of tax revenues disproportionately affect vulnerable Nigerians, many of whom lack access to basic services like water, sanitation, and education. “The National Assembly Government.”
Admitting that the government has its share of the blame for the problems, Alfanla urged the lecturers to be patient, saying, “We need to sacrifice for this country before this country can get back on the right track. I’m not saying that the government, too, does not have its own share of the blame.
It does. “We don’t need to run elsewhere. Those that we ran to didn’t call another place. Unfortunately, these people go there to build the economy of that place, and they are running down the economy of Nigeria.”
The registrar lauded the management of the University of Ilorin for actively engaging labour unions in the institution and placing a high premium on the welfare of staff, adding: “I want to say the university in the present is quite blessed, and it is very rare to have the crop of leadership we are having presently at the University of Ilorin anywhere in the world.”
