University Security: Former VC calls for all-inclusive, internal collaboration

The Secretary to the Gombe State Government, Prof. Ibrahim Njodi, has urged the Federal University of Kashere, as well as other universities in the North East to collaborate with everybody to help reduce the chances of a terrorist attack.

Prof. Njodi, a former Vice-Chancellor, University of Maiduguri, Borno State, who made the plea during a public lecture at the Federal University, Kashere, said the strategy of carrying everyone along, was part of the strategies he adopted in the university at the heat of the Boko Haram insurgency to protect the institution.

He said the managing of Universities should apply an all-inclusive approach during crises times, like insurgency, by carrying every individual, groups, unions and associations along. “You cannot afford any dissent or divergence. My office as well as my official residence was kept widely open to unions and associations. This singular gesture helped to contain any misunderstanding and distractions in managing our situation,” Prof. Njodi said.

Speaking during the lecture with the theme, University Management in an Insurgency Ridden Environment: Experiences of University of Maiduguri during the Boko Haram Uprising, Prof. Njodi said the lecture relayed his experiences and the strategies adopted to safeguard the university from attacks.

He said everyone, both students and staff should be on the lookout for unattended suitcases or bags or someone with a conspicuous level of interest in specific buildings, such as lecture halls/theatres, hostels, staff quarters and so on.

He said he placed the welfare of the students as a number one priority, through periodic routine and personal visits to them in their hostels, such that it endeared him to them.

 “I took turns in engaging some of them in conversation. I deliberately choose to dress in jeans, T-shirts and face caps as means of showing to most of the students,” said Prof. Njodi.

He said that made them be part of the fight against insurgency, supporting it jealously and reporting any suspicious person that could harm the system, thereby affecting the academic calendar.

“I make bold to say that my students were my greatest assets in my resolve to courageously defy the Boko Haram antics. The thought of my students was akin to the thought of my biological children.”

He called on the students of Federal University, Kashere, to guard the comprehensive and cost-effective experiences learnt from the University of Maiduguri, productively and jealously.

Prof. Njodi said such would provide the much-needed synergy among all interest groups in the University and served as one of the most potent and productive surveillance initiatives.

According to him, the effect of the Boko Haram insurgency activities had taken its toll on the living standards of the people in the North-East region, consequently leading to what Prof. Njodi said was a new normal emerging in the governance of higher institutions in the North- East region.

He said such developments required far-reaching paradigm shifts in the process of selecting and appointing University administrators.

“University governance requires an extraordinary understanding of all the dynamics of evolving trends in the society, and most importantly, thinking outside the box,” said Prof. Njodi.

Sharing his experiences in the University of Maiduguri, Prof. Njodi said governing the university under an insurgence-ridden environment was like “Changing tyres on a moving vehicle” or “Erecting canopies in the vortex of a cyclone”.

He said it compelled the University management to evolve new means of addressing the challenges, through the creation of new policies and strategies.

The former Vice-Chancellor, University of Maiduguri said war-like situations required some unusually painful and drastic measures to save lives and property.

 “We took unusually drastic measures to ensure that the University operates and functions. Some of these measures include:- All Governing Council meetings/functions were held in Abuja, Senate resolved to keep the University open and functioning, A decision adjudged to be as a result of doggedness, resilience and suicidal commitment,” Prof. Njodi said.

According to him, the institution refused to close amidst un-abating deadly attacks on the campus by the insurgents, by maintaining a stable academic calendar, suspending all social gatherings, all extra-curricula academic activities, and the inauguration of a Senate Business Committee constituted and mandated to handle all Senate Business matters in place of Senate meetings.

Similarly, Prof. Njodi said university management mandated the closure of all major and pedestrians entry gates into the University, except one, banned all staff members going out with their vehicles, while students and visitors were equally banned from coming into the campus with their cars or any means of transportation.

Equally so, Prof. Njodi said cars parked outside the campus and all pedestrians were thoroughly searched for any suspicious items in pockets, clothes and bags, while the use of big veils and khimaar were temporarily banned.

The former Vice-Chancellor said the university also sought the conventional security personnel, which was added to the internal security of the University, to beef up the security network on campus.

“The soldiers, mobile policemen, DSS, and even the Air force numbering over 300, were brought into patrol and man the perimeter fences of the University. The University is on a 9-kilometre radius piece of land, most of which was porous, without fence. We discovered that Boko Haram used the immediate bushes close to the University as their routes to and from Sambisa Forest,” said Prof. Njodi.

He said his major preoccupation at that time was how to ensure the safety of staff members and students, to allow for smooth academic operations, while regular reports were periodically sent to the relevant government authorities and the Borno State Government for notification and necessary directives.

The Vice-Chancellor, Federal University, Kashere, Prof. Umar Pate, said the choice of Professor Njodi was the best in tackling the management of a university during times of security challenges because he successfully secured and protected the institution.

In the same vein, Prof. Pate gave the assurances of his commitment to promoting the academic and physical development of the university, staff and student welfare, as well as maintaining and sustaining of quality assurance of the university and enhance community relations.

He appreciated Prof. Njodi for accepting to speak on the relevant issue of managing an academic institution in times of insecurity.

 

Nnenna.O