Rivers State University and the place of Farah Dagogo

When on January 26, this year, Hon. Doctor Farah Dagogo, House Committee Chairman on Education in the Rivers State House of Assembly proposed a change in nomenclature for the Rivers State University of Science and  Technology to bear Rivers State University as part of his contribution on the debate on the bill for the repeal and re-enactment of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology law, little did he know that he was  beckoning upon posterity for all the good reasons.

But on April 14th, 2017; around a little past 10am at the Rivers State Government House, Port Harcourt, when the State Governor, Chief ( Barr) Nyesom Wike assented to the bill and it becomes operational as law, history awarded and recorded Hon. Doctor Farah Dagogo a deserving seat in its annals, especially in relation to the Rivers State University.

So as Governor Wike takes his place as the Visitor to the Institution when such an historic milestone was achieved, so did Hon. Farah Dagogo, as the progenitor and other members of the Eighth Rivers State House of Assembly. They should all take a  vintage position. It is an occasion they should all savour, for their children and upcoming generation as well as the academic world will continue to shower them adulations.

You recall that Hon. Farah Dagogo had during that debate made a landmark contribution that is now a recurrent point of reference .

He had posited that the state has a lot to lose if the name is not changed, especially in the face of the National Universities Commission, NUC, recent directive that Universities should focus on their core mandate area of study. He warned that not only will Rivers State University of Science and Technology lose many of its accredited courses, it will put the fate of the institution's students on the balance.

"Mr. Speaker, every law has a spirit. The spirit behind the enactment of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, RSUST, no longer exist. A new spirit has taken over. That spirit to expand the University so that all can have access to it.

"The crucial point I am making is that the name of the University can no longer stand the test of time. The name of the University and its mandate, which tilt towards technology, has excluded many that who would have desired to gain admission into the University.

" I propose that the University should be called 'The Rivers State University '. By this name , all restrictions, limitations and hindrances would have been removed, besides change in nomenclature is not new to the University.

" You recall Mr. Speaker, recently, the National Universities Commission, NUC, asked universities to focus on their area of specialisation or risk de-accreditation. If this is enforced,then Rivers State University of Science and Technology will only focus on Science and Technology courses to the detrimental exclusion of Management, Law, Social Sciences and Humanities.

" What will be the fate of numerous students that have enrolled in these programmes in the institution and those that have been given admission by the Joint Admission Matriculation Board, JAMB, when NUC decides to make that announcement operational?

"I suggest we take the bull by the horn and act now by taking advantage of this Bill to adopt appropriate name for the University to serve our people and society better by so doing," he explained.

To the credit of the Lawmaker, change in name of the University is not new to the institution as some critics have been canvassing.

Infact, Since its creation as Rivers State College of Science and Technology in 1972, to when it was renamed Rivers State University of Science and Technology (1980- 2017) the institution has not lost its identity. Rather the process had contributed in strengthening the University.

However, the triggering factor for the passage of the bill was the report of the Hon. Doctor Farah Dagogo led Committee on Education. The Committee had conducted a public hearing where majority of participants agreed that a change of name is imperative on the basis of current realities.

Submitting the Committee's report, Hon. Doctor Farah explained that recommendation for the change in nomenclature was reliant on the observations from the Public Hearing as well as the National Universities Commission,NUC, directive that Universities should adhere to their core areas of mandate or risk the affected courses being de-accredited

" The Committee recommends that the name of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology be changed to the Rivers State University in order to avoid the NUU's policy from adversely affecting non-science and technology-based courses being run by the university," a part of the recommendations reads.

Furthermore, the Committee  recommended to the House that 'Section 2(a) should be re-couched to read thus: … to produce manpower of various levels in any field of human endeavour essential for development“and post-graduates” should be added in Section 3(l) to cover the entire spectrum of the student population in the University;'

" Since there is no Section 4(1a), the Bill should be re-numbered accordingly;

" 'Part-time programmes' should be included among the programmes the University could exercise its powers to bring to fruition, hence Section 4(1b) should now read: To establish such campuses, colleges, facilities, institutes, centres, schools, extra-mural departments, part-time programmes...

“ 'Guest houses and staff residential quarters' should be added as some of the structures for which the University has power to erect under Section 4(1a);

The Committee also pointed out that in 'order to forestall a stalemate in the absence of the Pro-Chancellor at meetings, Section 6(2) should therefore read: The Pro-Chancellor shall, when he is present, be the Chairman at all meetings of the Council and shall, in his absence, appoint any of the external members of Council to act in his stead '

" The word 'Counsel' should be substituted with the word “Council” in Section 7;Section 9(3) should be further divided into another subsection to read thus:
(3) The Provost/Dean of a College/School/Faculty shall exercise general superintendence over the academic and administrative affairs of the College/School/Faculty
(4)It shall be the function of the Provost/Dean to present to Congregation or Convocation for the conferment of degrees persons who have qualified for the degrees of the University at examinations held in the branches of learning for which responsibility is allocated to that College/School/Faculty.

" Since Sections 12(2) and 13(5) of the Bill, respectively, made reference to Sections 27(1) and 6(1) of the Interpretation Law despite the fact that such Sections do not exist in the Interpretation Law, such references should be discountenanced; the ouster clause in Section 15(2) should be removed and the Section re-couched to read thus: The decision of the Chancellor or the Visitor on any matter referred to him under this Section shall be binding upon the authorities, staff and students of the University.

" In order to prevent arbitrary exercise of power to suspend a member of staff accused of misconduct by the Vice-Chancellor, Section 18(2) should, therefore, read thus: The Vice Chancellor may, in a case of misconduct by a member of staff, which, in this opinion, is prejudicial to the interest of the University, cause a disciplinary committee to investigate the issues pertaining to the purported misconduct. If the committee establishes a preliminary case of misconduct, the Vice Chancellor, acting on behalf of the Council, may suspend such a staff and any such suspension, shall, forthwith, be reported to the Council.   

" The composition of the Council under Section 1 in the Second Schedules is unwieldy and should be tinkered with thus: Delete representatives of both Ministries of Commerce and Industry as well as Justice;

" Special consideration should be made relating to pension of Directors and other members of staff in the same manner it was made for professors, hence a sub-paragraph 2 should be added to read thus: Any other member of staff (whether academic or non-academic who retires will be dealt with in accordance with the Rivers State Contributory Pension Scheme for Employees in the Public Service Law, No. 7 of 2009, " the recommendations further reads.

The passage by the State Assembly and subsequent assent have no doubt douse tension in the university. For while Rivers State is heaving a huge sigh of relief, the same can not be said of Micheal Opara University of Agriculture in Abia State.

At the last count, the University has lost seven courses due to the implementation of the NUC policy.

The affected courses are Accounting, Banking and Finance, Marketing, Economics, Entrepreneurial Studies, Industrial Relations and Business Administration

JAMB has also delisted the courses from its brochure for the 2017 UTME as it concerns the Micheal Opara University of Agriculture.

The above is another reason why the foresightedness of Hon. Doctor Farah Dagogo and his colleagues should be commended because they were able to save the state from such hassles.