How I transform FUDMA despite challenges …Prof. Bichi

INTERVIEW WITH PROF. ARMAYAU HAMISU BICHI, OON, Ffs. he pointed out how he started as a CV of FUDMA and how he transform the place ( University)

ANSWER: I thank Almighty Allah for taking me this far. The past five years were wonderfully well and by the grace of God, I have done well. When I assumed office, the University has only three Faculties and twenty programmes and also only three of the programmes have full accreditation from the National Universities Commission (NUC). But, when I came in, I made approached NUC and they came for resource assessment and then all the remaining seventeen programmes got full accreditation. These accreditations made me to request NUC to give us the approval to open the School of Postgraduate Studies (SPGS), which we did, and they came again for resource visit and all our programmes scored high marks and the NUC gave us the go ahead to start running Postgraduate programmes and then after two years, they came for accreditation and all the programmes in Postgraduate were accredited and got full accreditation.

 After that, I approached the NUC again to increase the quarter of our students, which they did, from five hundred students to one thousand eight hundred students as possible quarters that the University can admit. And then I also asked all the Departments to develop new programmes because we have only twenty programmes which were fully accredited. At the end and as of today, we have more than eighty programmes which are currently running in the University that have full accreditation from the NUC. All these were done within the space of five years and the three Faculties now have been increased to fourteen Faculties, the latest are the Faculties of Health Sciences and Technology and Nursing Sciences.

Even the Postgraduate programmes, which are running in the University because of the number of programmes, we have more than hundred programmes in the school. So, the Management decided to upgrade the School of Postgraduate Studies to College of Postgraduate Studies. We also established the Continuing Education Centre (CEC), for those people who may not have the opportunity to come to FUDMA for normal or regular classes. We started with less than hundred people and the Centre kept on improving and increasing in the number of students, so we decided to ask the Senate of the University for approval to convert it to, first, a School and now College of Professional and Continuing Studies and as of today, when the University held the Colleges 6th Matriculation ceremony, there are more than seven thousand students in the College.

All these were achieved within the five years of my tenure and now The College has branches in four states of Katsina, Kano, Kaduna and Abuja. This is really an achievement we have gotten and it is so fruitful that many people are approaching the University for it to also open Study Centres for them in their various states or local governments. Also, when the University started, we had less than two thousand students and as of now, we have more than forty thousand students, including the Postgraduate and College of Professional Continuing Studies students.

For the number to increase from barely two thousand to forty thousand, it means people are appreciating what the University is doing. Every student wants to come to the University because FUDMA is the only Federal University that has maintained its academic calendar. For the past five years, the University has not had a break that would warrant skipping of any Academic session and also the University is the only one, when students come, they know when they would graduate and also the University is the only one also which go along with its Academic calendar.

These are some of the things we have achieved in my tenure and also in terms of resources, we have established many resources or built them during the course of five years. We also were able to construct the College of Medical and Health Sciences, Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Engineering. The Faculty of Social Sciences is also under construction.

We have also constructed the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, Faculty of Agriculture and also many classes and lecture theatres. We have also constructed two hostels and several others are under construction with almost eighty percent at completion stage and I am hopeful that by the next two to three months, before my tenure elapses, we will be able to complete and furnish and put them to effective use. I definitely think we have done well.

QUESTION: FROM THE INTERVIEWS WE HAVE CONDUCTED, MOST STAFF OF FUDMA ARE SHOWERING COMMENDATION ON YOU FOR PROMPT PROMOTION AND INCREASED STAFF WELFARE. WHAT INFORMS YOUR DECISION TO DO THAT?

ANSWER: When I came on board, I met a lot of backlogs of promotions. So, I made sure all those two to three years backlog of promotions was done in record time. And in my two to three months in office, the backlogs were cleared. When I put more pressure on our staff to work hard and maintain our Academic calendar, I found out that the only thing that will make them work, is to motivate them. What is the motivation? When were paying salaries, we made sure we do it regularly. But when it moved to IPPIS, there was nothing we could do on salaries. What is next is the promotion which the staff want and demand and for anybody that works hard, we make sure that his/her promotion is done as at when due. So, this makes us to make sure that before three months to October, we finish with all the internal applications or processes of promotion and await only those that will go for external assessments. But those that dont go for external assessments, we make sure that on the 2nd October of each year, we have the A & PC (Appointments & Promotions Committee) meeting, which confirms the promotion and that is how we were able to make them work hard. I think 80% of the Professors that are in this University got their promotions during the course of my five years in office and as at now, I cant say the numbers because even this year, we have fifty people that are going for the Professorial cadre and 95% of them have come back positive. Only remaining 5% that we are awaiting and I am hopeful that they too will come back positive.

QUESTION: ASIDE FROM STAFF PROMOTION, THERE IS THIS ISSUE OF YOU INSTITUTING A SOFT LOAN FOR STAFF SO THAT THEY CAN REFURBISH THEIR VEHICLES. YOU ALSO MADE SURE TO PROVIDE SUBSIDY FOR THE BIOLOGICAL CHILDREN OF STAFF OF FUDMA WHO ARE STUDYING IN THE UNIVERSITY. WHAT INFORMS ALL THESE?

ANSWER: These are also part of motivation measures for our staff to work hard. We know the economic situation in the country; not only the country but its almost all over the world. So, we are keen to find out how we can be able to assist our staffs, one of which is for them to enjoy this subsidy in the form of paying school fees for the biological children of staff. We know the problems we have anytime it comes to paying school fees and some can’t go to some schools because of school fees. This is really unfortunate that and thats why I said lets us pay half for any staff that has his/her children in the University. This will help them and ease their burden and also help them to pay regularly as at when due. On the issue of loan, we found out that the increase in the fuel price and many other factors make staff to sometimes abandon their vehicles and if you want someone to come to work early you have to make sure he has a form of transport that is most convenient to him or her. So we started paying the loan but for sometimes now, we couldnt continue to pay. But I assure you, by next week, we will continue with the payment and this will continue to be done regularly by the grace of God.

QUESTION: SIR, WITH ALL THESE ACHIEVEMENTS THAT TOU MENTIONED HOW DID YOU GET FUNDS TO ACCOMPLISH THEM?

ANSWER: When I came on board, we found out many areas we can generate more money for the University, especially by opening our Consultancy unit, which we give some of our works to do that generate money. Opening of the University farm also help us to generate money. Now, with our Entrepreneurship Development Centre, we are trying to turn it to something that will generate money for the University. We have started with sachet water production and now we want to start bottling it; we have the University farm that is also generating money and then the main source of the IGR is the students registration fees; the Postgraduate, College of Professional Continuing Studies and SIPS as well as the Undergraduates students. Although our university has one of the lowest school fees, that notwithstanding, we utilize what we generate to build most of the resources I have mentioned earlier, which I said we have constructed during these five years. We also get intervention from TETFund and also from the yearly budgetary allocation. All of this we enhance them for the developmental aspects of the University.

QUESTION: WHAT INFORMS YOUR DECISION NOW TO PURSUE ARBITRATION AND NEGOTIATIONS TO DISPOSE OFF LITIGATION CASES AGAINST THE UNIVERSITY? PRIOR TO YOUR COMING, THERE WERE A LOT OF STAFF AND STUDENTS THAT HAVE TAKEN THE UNIVERSITY TO COURT. WE UNDERSTAND THAT NOW YOU HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DISPOSE OFF OF ABOUT 90% OF THOSE CASES AND EVEN FACILITATED THE RE-ENSTATEMENT OF SACKED STAFFS. WHAT INFORMS THIS DECISION THAT HAS BROUGHT HARMONY AND GOODWILL TO THE UNIVERSITY?

ANSWER: When I took over, there were a lot of crises in the University. The University has been polarized; this is with these people and those are with those people and so on and so forth. So, when I came on board, the first thing I did is to make sure that we brought everyone under the same roof. I taught them all to profess one FUDMA as FUDMA is our university and we have no other University than FUDMA. So, we must stay here and celebrate FUDMA and make it work. Many of our staff forgot most of the issues and concentrated on moving FUDMA forward. Then on the aspect of people that are aggrieved and have taken the University to court, from students to staff, I invited the Legal Directorate headed by the University Legal and Industrial Relations Officer, which advised the University on the best way to go with the cases. We made sure to call all the other people that are involved and dialogued with them. Dialogue is the main weapon that we can use to achieve or win even wars. If you sit down, on a table and discuss, you can understand much better each others grievances than going to court. So under the leadership of Director Legal, we were able to sort out more than 95% of the cases, which were all settled out of court and the remaining, we have won many of them in court and this is a very great achievement. Now, we have very few cases remaining which by the grace of God, before I leave office, we will be able to finish with them.

QUESTION: AS THE ONLY VICE CHANCELLOR SO FAR THAT HAS WORKED WITH MANY GOVERNING COUNCILS, RANGING FROM THE LATE PROF. MARLIYA ZAYYAD TO ALH. UBA NANA TO ALH. MUHAMMAD KARI AND NOW RTD. COL. ABDULMUMINI AMINU, IN WHICH YOU HAVE WORKED HARMONIOUSLY WITH THEM. WHAT IS THE MAGIC WAND?

ANSWER: The (Governing) Councils are headed by great leaders and have great people among them as members, who have wide and varied experiences about the University system. So, anyone that comes, we sit together and discuss the vision and mission of the University, and what has been done and also what can be done to transform the University to the greater height. They listen well and provide advice and also as the Vice-Chancellor, I give them advice as well. We work mutually together and we respect each other, and the main cardinal aspect of anything you do is to respect whoever is involved with you because when you respect them, definitely they will also reciprocate and respect you. Once you attain this, whatever you tell them, what you want, they will easily do it.

 By this, we have a smooth working relationship; together with all the Council chairmen and their members that you have mentioned. They have been very great, even this present Council that we have now, we do well together and we are moving forward. We never have any issues.

QUESTION: THE SAME CORDIAL RELATIONSHIP YOU HAVE WITH THE GOVERNING COUNCIL, APPEARS TO ME, TO BE IN EVEN BETTER AND STRONGER WITH MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT. CAN YOU SAY WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO RELATE WELL WITH THE COUNCIL IS THE SAME WITH THE MANAGEMENT?

ANSWER: Yes, it is the same ideals and prospects, because the Management advice the Vice Chancellor on what he should do; so definitely, he must respect them for them to be willing to give advice sincerely. And on the issue of expanding the membership of the University Management, we felt the need to bring in more members.

We are now benefitting from it, as the saying goes, Two heads are better than one”. If people come with different ideas and share them, you discuss and take the best and work on it. Members of the Management have been working hard and harmoniously. There is no untoward issue that has occurred for the last five years that I have presided as the Vice Chancellor. Since inception, we have been working wonderfully well and all can bear me witness. Whatever we have been able to achieve, the credit goes to all members of the Management.

If you are free and sincere, people will come and give you advice and also receive from you; but if you are acting as too bossy, people will not want to come closer to you, nobody will approach you for anything.

QUESTION: THERE IS A KIND OF RESTRUCTURING GOING ON IN THE UNIVERSITY AT THE MOMENT. WHAT MAKES YOU OR THE MANAGEMENT TO DO EMBARK ON THAT? WHY DID YOU WAIT UNTIL THE END OF YOUR TENURE?

ANSWER: This is not the only time we did restructuring in the University. When I came on board, we did restructure.

When you restructure, you observe to see the success you have and any other things which may not bring that success; because anything that you do, there can be merit and demerit. So, the idea is when you restructure, you observe, you monitor and see how far the level of success, how far the level of unsuccessful results you get and measure which one is much more than other. It is only God that is perfect; we as humans are not perfect. So, we can make mistakes.

In restructuring, you can make mistakes, so that is why we give a time frame to observe and monitor, to see if the previous one is good, then you continue working on the aspect that is good and the aspect that is not good, you come again and do another restructuring, to remedy the past mistakes and strengthen the future. That is why now we are restructuring and the restructuring came to me as advice from the Management. You see, whatever we do or any decision we take, is a common decision, whether anybody likes it or not. We talk in the management and many times, what I want is not what we do at the end, because I respect members views. I give everybody fair hearing; so once they outnumber my opinion, I agree and do what they want and it comes as a resolution of the management.

I have never been dictatorial either in the Management, in the Senate or in any meetings I chair.

I give members fair hearing, so our people advised me that, it is high time we restructured; to look at the gains of the first restructuring and take note of the areas that we have problems, for us to restructure again. So we started from department to department, unit to unit and anything that we did was informed by the advice of the heads of that department or unit. In all, the Registrar, the Bursar, the Librarian,

the DVC’s, the Deans, Directors, Heads of Unit and everybody was consulted and involved. I don’t know all the staff of the University; I only know of a few them. So, anything we wanted to do, we ask the heads of the unit or department for advice, to point out the staff that have not been coming to work, they pointed out. To point out the staff that do not have any work to do; even if they come to work, there is no work for them to do, and point out the staff that have been coming to work, to do the available work, they pointed out and from there, the management took a common decision on what to do on these three categories of staff. But, to my dismay, anytime I come out, people will say, my HOD said you have done that. This is unacceptable and people should not be doing that because as an administrator or a leader, you take the bull by the horns. Whatever happens, you take responsibility, good or bad. Meanwhile, we took the decision in best interest of the University, so why will you be shy and say this is the person that did it?

In fact, you should just say, “it’s a management decision. You are part of the decision, perhaps you suggested we should take A to B and B to C and now you are saying, it is the work of the Vice Chancellor! Honestly, I am not happy with our Heads of Department and Unit and have asked them to take the responsibilities of any action from their departments or units, because a coward should never be a leader!

QUESTION: FEMALE STAFF IN THE UNIVERSITY HAVE ENJOYED GREAT APPOINTMENTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES DURING YOUR TENURE. WHAT MADE YOU TO ACCORD THEM SUCH GREAT LEVEL TRUST AND RESPONSIBILITIES?

ANSWER: Honestly, I don’t know the reason, but I know my affliction to my Mum makes me respect women and any responsibilities you give to a woman, she does it with her sincerity, focus, dedication, honesty and a times they performed wonderfully well; even much more than their male counterpart.

This is just the reason and all the work I gave the female staff; they have never been found wanting. I think we should always carry the female staff along so that they will have a sense of belonging.

QUESTION: SIR, YOU INTRODUCED A PROGRAMME UNDER THE UNIVERSITYS COMMUNITY SERVICES, WHEREBY HAWKERS AND ALMAJIRI PUPILS ARE RETURNED BACK TO SCHOOL. FOR THE GIRL HAWKERS AND OTHERS, YOU HAVE OFFERED THEM ADMISSION IN THE UNIVERSITY. WHAT WILL BE THE FATE OF THIS PROGRAMME NOW YOU ARE ABOUT LEAVING OFFICE AS THE VICE CHANCELLOR?

ANSWER: I am sure and as well praying that whoever comes in as the new Vice Chancellor, should be able to continue from where I stopped because this Community service should never be abandoned and the ones we have engaged, the community people feel at ease and a sense of belonging. I pray that whoever comes in will continue the programme in the Gender Directorate and in FUDMA SIPS where we train the Almajiri pupils and remove all those girls hawking in the streets and return them back to school.

QUESTION: ONE OF THE MOST FASCINATING THINGS IN FUDMA IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE STUDENTS, NOT ONLY THE STUDENTS UNION GOVERNMENT (SUG), BUT EVEN ORDINARY STUDENTS. WE HAVE INTERVIEWED MANY OF THEM WHO ATTESTED THAT THEY ADMIRE YOUR HUMILITY, YOUR APPROACHABILITY AS ALL STUDENTS CAN WALK UP TO YOU AND YOU LISTEN TO THEM AND ALWAYS SHOW READINESS TO HELP THEM OUT WITH ANY CHALLENGES FACING THEM. MANY OF THEM ARE NOW LAMENTING AND CRYING THAT YOU ARE LEAVING. SOME OF THEM ARE EVEN ASKING IF IT WERE POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO EXTEND YOUR TENURE AS VICE CHANCELLOR FOR ANOTHER FIVE YEAR TENURE, BECAUSE THEY ARE APPARENTLY HAPPY HAVING YOU AROUND. WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THIS SENTIMENT?

ANSWER: When I was in Science Secondary School, Dawakin Kudu, I was in form 5 then, and I fell ill. Mock examination was going on then and the Duty master reported to the principal. The principal directed that I should be taken to Nassarawa Specialist Hospital in Kano. I overheard, during the conversation between the Principal and the Duty master, the Duty master was trying to let the Principal know that the hospital is meant for staff and staff children and not students. Though it is a government owned hospital but you have to pay. But to my surprise, the principal insisted that I should be taken there for proper treatment, that they should “use his file because I am his son”.

That kindness from the Principal turned my life to loving students. Wherever I am, the word by the Principal echoes in my ear, that I was his child, that they should not take me to the Murtala hospital which was free, but to the Special hospital, where I would receive better treatment, that he would bear the cost. That changed my life. That is why wherever I see students in need of assistance, I assist and offer help as is necessary.

QUESTION: FUDMA HAPPENS TO BE LOCATED IN A VOLATILE AREA BEDEVILLED BY INSECURITY, WHICH IS ONE OF THE GREATEST CHALLENGES YOU HAVE FACED IN YOUR ADMINISTRATION OF THE UNIVERSITY. HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO COPE WITH THIS CHALLENGE?

ANSWER: The issue of peace and security is a collective responsibility. We have all done our best in collaboration with the security agencies and by Gods grace, there has been relative under which we operated and recorded some measure of successes. Everybody should continue praying and praying because prayer is the most important in this issue. We keep on praying for peace to continue to reign in the school, in Dutsinma community, in Katsina state and Nigeria in general. I think the prayer aspect is the most important thing which keeps us well and alive till now.

QUESTION: WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES THAT YOU FACED IN YOUR 5-YEAR TENURE, OR IS IT ALL BED OF ROSES?

ANSWER: Honestly, there were challenges, one of which is the issue of insecurity. The challenge drew us back to the point that no activities can take place in the Main campus, and anytime a staff or student is kidnapped, I feel the pain and the pain continues until when we get them released. Also, when there is instability, when the school is divided into many camps, this one is for this person, and this one is for that person, I feel bad and bitter. However, when we are able to resolve the issue, I feel good.

Another challenge is lack of enough funds to run the affairs of the University, which delays progress. But, overall, I thank God for having a successful tenure and history will judge us for what we have done or what successes we have achieved.

QUESTION: WHAT WILL YOU LIKE TO BE REMEMBERED FOR IN FUDMA?

ANSWER: The stability that we have achieved during my tenure, the peace and the increase in numbers of projects that we have done and the increase in the number of staff and students, and the way FUDMA is being cherished by everybody, as one of the best and fast-growing Universities in Nigeria. I want to be remembered for all these developments, for these attainments.

ANSWER: My message is for us to continue to live in peace, to embrace whoever comes in as the new Vice Chancellor, because that is the one who God selected. There should be no division. Many are contesting but who won is the one God chooses. We should rally round him, support him; maximum support from staff and students should be extended to him. Support and prayers are what the new Vice Chancellor needs so that he can succeed. This is because if he fails, the University will experience failure and if he succeeds, the success would impact the University positively. We should pray for him to be more successful than me, and more hardworking than me. As for me, the next step is whatever God gives me, I will take it wholeheartedly and continue to praise Him and glorify Him.