Associate Professor Nosiru Olajide Onibon is apparently keen about giving a new lease of life to Michael Otedola College of Primary Education, MOCPED, Noforija, Epe, Lagos State, where he serves as the Provost. The efforts he has made to that effect since he took over the rein of leadership in 2018 seem to corroborate that. In this interview with SAKIBU OLOKOJOBI, he enumerates the various steps taken so far to ensure that the institution is transformed. Among other things, Onibon also speaks about the coming 25th anniversary of the school and some crucial issues relating to cultism in schools, religious intolerance and poor standard of education in the country. Excerpts:
How would you assess or rate your performance in office as the Provost of MOCPED, so far?
To the glory of God, I want to say that since I came on board in January 2, 2018 till date, Almighty God has been in control and He has been guiding me and the members of the management. I would be reluctant to blow my trumpet, but I can say that I have tried my best, which may not be the best to the second person. But to the best of my knowledge and ability, I have tried. I feel fulfilled; I have performed above average. I am doing the job as I should do it. I’ve always asked myself: What does God want me to do? What does my instrument of office want me to do? These I always want to satisfy. Whatever anybody brings forward, I want to place it on those things. I weigh things before acting. I try to experiment, and I believe in do it as it should be done. When you look at the rules and regulations of any organisation, they propel you to do better. And when you look at the words of God, whether the Quran or the Bible, they always encourage you to do better. I am experimenting and I am seeing the results. I am seeing good results.
Initially, it was very difficult for people to go along, but now, we are acclimatising and people are beginning to understand because of my sincerity of purpose. Trust is lost in the world today. When you tell people this is what you want to do, they think you have an ulterior motive. For me, when I tell you something and you don’t want to agree with me, I will leave you and let my actions speak for me. That is what is happening here. At the beginning I have displayed a sense of sincerity and till the end it will be so.
What would you say are the challenges you have faced so far?
Naturally, the major challenge any individual or institution faces today is funding. I must say at this juncture that the present governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, during our convocation a few months ago, in his speech, promised to give consideration to the college. And today, I can tell you that the governor is giving a positive look at the college. For instance, we just got the approval of a bailout fund.
How much is that?
N200 million. That is part of the bailout fund in our budget. The debt burden by our own official estimate is a little below N1 billion. Government has said that annually they want to be giving us bailout and we have been given the one for this year. What is the money meant for? To pay gratuity for the deceased and retired. We’ve signed their cheques and they are coming to pick them; the fund is also to pay pension arreas of the deceased and the retired who are on the old scheme. For those on the present scheme, the non-remitted pension has gone to bank. So, any retired or deceased people on the present scheme can now go to PENCOM to access their pension. We are also paying one of the arrears. I inherited seven months salary arrears. We were able to pay one last year; because of paucity of fund we could not continue. From this bailout, we are going to pay one. We are also going to pay part of our tax. We are sharing the N200 million here and there, but the basic one is to pay pensioners, the deceased and the retired. I want to use this opportunity to show unreserved gratitude to His Excellency for this gesture. That it’s happening during my tenure gladdens my heart.
Apart from paucity of fund, what other challenges is the college facing?
It is all about fund. If fund comes, we will take care of every other problem. I must also mention that there is this abandoned 460-seater lecture hall in the college. The contractor is back to site. The Special Adviser on Education, Mr. Tokunbo Wahab, has been very resourceful and has been assisting the college too. Of course, they have also made us to realise that we have shown that we (management) can be trusted. That we have brought sanity to the college and we have also justified the meager income that we realise.
In December the school will be 25 years old. Would you say that the college has lived up to its billing and the expectations of its founders?
I would not know the expectations of the founders, but with what is on the paper as the aims and objectives of establishing the college, I would say the college is performing above average in living up to its billing. We are meant to produce teachers for the basic education level and we have put paid to that with our efforts nowadays. It is in the life of this administration that we are clearing all the backlog of results and certificates. We feel our own part of the contract would not be complete until the students who graduate are certificated. That is why we have concentrated on that. We gathered their results and processed them. They are now available for collection. From 2013 till date, the certificates are ready for collection and they have been coming to collect. I make bold to say that the result of the last set, 2018/2019 session, are almost done. That is 2018/19 session. We are moving forward. On the convocation day, graduates must take their certificates. So, that is to say that by the time somebody is certificated, he has been produced. We have got to the last line of production.
The primary objective of setting up the college is to produce teachers and we are producing. We are not only producing teachers, we also take along the issue of quality because that is what is going to sell us to the world. Some of the products of this school are in some tertiary institutions lecturing. Some of them are here, lecturing. That is to show how qualitative some of them can be. We can of course not have 100 per cent of the students maintaining the same standards, quality wise, but we have found some that we can beat our chest and say these are our products. I must also praise our lecturers and the non-teaching staff. This is because everybody now seems to realise that this is our job, and it is the cumulative efforts of everybody that will make us achieve what we are employed to do.
Apart from getting their certificates ready, what other major achievements would you say you have recorded?
We have “invaded” the classrooms and renovated them. They are better off now, the seats are better off now. If I show you the picture of some of the seats we met, you will be surprised. Infact, we have gone as far as introducing new seats on some occasions apart from refurbishing some.
We have also gone into offices and made them comfortable for our staff. We have been able to expand our offices by re-opening abandoned projects. We have three buildings and one is housing as many as 30 offices. As I am talking to you, we have opened two of such buildings. That is talking about 60 offices. We add them to the existing ones. In front of the office of the Provost, you would find a structure springing up. About two months ago when we had our convocation, the structure was not there. It is as a result of an intervention fund from TETFUND that we are able to achieve the feat. It is going to house some classrooms and offices. This management has also requested that the classrooms should be smart classrooms. They will be driven by technology. They are going to be equipped with smart board, multimedia facilities and will be internet compliant. The lecturers can take the students out of the classroom while still there and bring them back. That is in the area of infrastructure.
Are you doing anything in the area of staff development as that is very crucial for an institution of learning?
Yes, we have been able to access intervention fund for training of our staff. More than ten of them are currently doing their Masters and PhD. We have been able to do that from the purse of TETFUND. Our staff – academic and non-academic – have been attending conferences and workshops locally and internationally, through TETFUND. We have taken delivery of 500 new edition books on different subject matters. As we are talking, we have about 12 research works going on with TETFUND intervention running into millions of Naira. Some of them are collaborative works while some are by individuals. We have also secured for our staff, teaching practice intervention fund.
We have paid a month of the salary arrears as I had said. I met promotion arrears of three months. We have paid them and it is our belief that these actions will make life better than it was. When there is any issue of health, we intervene to save lives. It is for both lecturers and other staff. There had been an occasion where management had to make half a million Naira available for staff. Even for students, we do help. There is a record of N.3m made available to save the life of a student. These, we are making to make life comfortable for all. We have also organised trainings for lecturers that have been employed since 2011. We expose them to new developments; we have management training for non-academic staff. These we do to make our staff more enterprising. It now makes many wonder if these are not the same staff who were here when the college was going aground? Today, there is reason for all of us to come together and salvage the situation. It is not the Provost that can do it. What do I do here? I just give instructions. People will have to carry out the instructions. It is because they are carrying out the instructions as we expect that we are getting results. I thank them for that.
In December, you will be rolling out the drums to celebrate the 25 years anniversary of the college. What are the programmes lined up and would you say there is truly a reason to celebrate?
Yes, the celebration is justifiable, I must say that expressly. Government also agrees with us that the celebration can be justified. That is why it has approved it for us. I have refused to do anything against what my employers want me to do. For the anniversary, I asked them when we took the memo down if the anniversary was worth doing and the reaction of the government was that the comments and developments from our end these days would encourage anyone to want to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the college.
And what do we have as package? We are going to have a press conference; we are going to have religious outing; we’ll have health talk, anniversary lecture and long service awards for our staff. We have to recognise some of our staff that have been exceptional in the discharge of their duties. Of course, it gives us the opportunity to advertise the college the more.
I am also happy to say that the patronage is increasing for the college since we came on board. Last year we had over 400 students, the following year we had over 500 students for matriculation. As I am talking to you now, the first batch that has come as at the 5th of November, the report reaching us indicates that we already have 430 students. Admission is still open. This is partly because the students can go out now and say that they go to class regularly, the lecturers are always around, they teach them well and make sure they sit for their exams as at when due and they can get their results on time. We ensure that their results are uploaded online for the students and their parents to access. Also, because we make the students busy and do what they are supposed to do, they are more composed and focused. That is why, with God’s intervention and with some of the things we have put in place, we are not fighting cultism, we are preventing cultism. We don’t have cultism to fight.
What would you say is responsible for the poor educational standard in the country and how can the problem be solved?
There are different factors that may be responsible. There may be the problem of teachers; there may be that of infrastructure. If you want teaching to be effective and you want the students to learn well, you must provide the required infrastructure and make the classroom environment conducive. The question is – Are these available? If they are not, what is the teacher going to teach? Are the instructional materials there? If they are available, can they be compared to the situation where there is one lecturer to 20 students? Can you compare a teacher that relies on chalk and board to the one that can at the push of a button bring all he needs to teach? What I teach for 40 minutes when I travel abroad, it takes me two hours to do that here, for example. That is why I ask the question: How do I make it easier for my colleagues to teach so that we can be more efficient. So, it could be based on different factors. It can also be societal. The society is paying more importance to certificate than knowledge. And if you do that, the parents and the students collude and want to find their way out. That is why you have parents going to examination halls with mercenaries. In our time, may be because we didn’t come from rich parents, we had to find our way through. But these days, parents go as far as buying questions, buying answers and even paying for someone to sit for the examinations. I can say it could be as a result of the society. If they say what is important is to get the certificate, the standard will continue to fall. In a case where a student fails, the parent will approach the teacher and say “I want you to help.” He will give him something to fuel his car even if he doesn’t want to take. Would he say no? The gratification will also reduce the quality. What do you expect from such a system? That is why the present government has declared its will to instill discipline, and we are going to try to assist the government to improve the quality of what we do here. We have decided that if a student fails, he fails based on the standard, and if he passes, he passes. If he or she fails, let him or her repeat. That will not be the end of the world.
You spoke about cultism earlier. What is responsible for the problem of cultism in our schools? And since you said what you do here is to prevent cultism, can you share your strategy with others?
It all boils down to the issue of moral decadence from the top. If you understand the Nigerian system very well, you will notice that those at the bottom copy what those at the top do. For instances, people are keeping squads. If that is happening, what do you expect in the society? You keep squads because of people you consider to be your enemies. Also, the issue of not giving hope to students can be responsible. You can’t find somebody that is hopeful going into a society or group that will take his life. It is very remote. If the society that we find ourselves creates hope for this and coming generations, you won’t have people going into cultism. If there is, it will be very minimal. The situation today has become very bad that it has graduated to kidnapping, Boko Haram and other things. Why will I go on a suicide mission when I know I can succeed in life? You don’t need to preach with the Bible or Quran for me to have hope. It is because we are in a state of hopelessness that we have religious leaders preaching to us that we should have hope in God.
So, if our leaders provide the enabling environment for all to grow, there will be hope. Whether I know someone or not, I should be able to grow within the limit of my capability. If that is not in place, you would want to lean on someone to grow and that person can use you for anything.
So, how do you prevent cultism in MOCPED?
We do that by doing what we are supposed to do for the students. We provide the enabling environment for them. We keep to our timetable here. The students must go to class on time; the lecturers go to class on time. If you don’t come to class on time and you fail, you fail. We give you assignments to do after the class, such that even if someone outside invites you, you will tell them I have assignments to do. And for the students union, we put some things in place to make things better for the students in general. We try to prevent them from going out to look for money for their activities. We believe that if they do, it is easier for someone outside to give them money and want to use them for one thing or the other because he who pays the piper dictates the tune. This management has budgeted something for the student union government. Every year, we tell them this is your budget, we pay the first tranche. Ask for their programme and pay the second. It is not that our budget is very much, but it makes a lot of sense. What we tell them is that as you are growing you should learn to be independent. What you cannot finance, don’t venture into it. We are giving them close marking and you find very very few of them wanting to go into cultism and you find majority saying, no you can’t go there.
Looking at your records, you have been involved in so many things at different times, and it takes a lot of energy to do some of them. What prepared you for some of these things?
It is God. I don’t know how I get the energy, but I still find myself as being lazy. It is only that I am very calculative. Anything I want to do at any particular time, I do it and get away. I can’t be in two places at a time.
But then, you have achieved so much.
Yes, but you would discover that I had not been everywhere at the same time. If I am interested in anything, I do it and leave. And if I am still around, I have a way of managing my situation. What I am not interested in or I don’t have time for I don’t go into it. Alhamdullilahi, in the area of strength, strength comes from God. Like I said, I am very calculative. In the religious area, yes, I come from that background. I participate in politics, yes, I love politics. You know you can’t effect changes only by carrying placards. You can only express yourself through placards, but you have to participate. Don’t forget that we all are political animals.
In academics, that is my profession and that is where I impress so much. I believe that if you are in a profession, you should be able to do well in it. That is why I have invested a lot in myself. I used to save for my academic pursuit. You just need to be calculative and set your priorities. What I make sure I do is make an impact wherever I find myself. I think that is what is speaking for me.
How fulfilled are you?
Alhamdullilahi, I am highly fulfilled and I am highly contented with what God has done for me. For me, there is nothing in life that I don’t have. I may not have more than some people, but I have.
What’s your philosophy of life?
My philosophy of life is propelled by the Quran and that is putting smiles on people’s faces. That does not mean I won’t punish offenders. When you punish offenders they say you are wicked because they don’t know the difference between being disciplined and being nice. I can be nice to a fault, but I can also be disciplined. I like to be trusted. I live my life on trust and I trust people, except when you prove that you are not trustworthy.
Being a deeply religious person, what would you say is responsible for religious intolerance, and how can it be stemmed.
Religious intolerance, I would say is caused by ignorance or misunderstanding. The Quran and the Bible both talk about humanity. They mention mankind and not members of a particular religion. So, they want you to be nice to everyone. Why would we not tolerate one another? I have said this before when I first entered the university. I attended a conference on religious tolerance organised by the then Dr. C.S. Momoh of UNILAG at the NIIA. One of the things I said at the occasion was that you would not achieve religious tolerance until I as a muslim can encourage my Christian friend to go to church when he should, and my Christian friend can say Nosirudeen, you haven’t prayed, go and pray when there is a call to prayer. Discussing religious differences is a different ball game. You can share knowledge.
What’s you ambition?
I want to be a professor. I want to fulfil that. I am an associate professor now. I want to be a professor.
What message do you have for the general public and your students?
For the general public, let us see this country as our own and work towards making it better for everyone.
For my students, I encourage them to pay attention to their primary objective of being on the campus. That is to learn. Get to the classroom as at when due. Take revision seriously, don’t be a back bencher, struggle to be in the front row. You cannot remember what you have learnt unless you revise it. What you have not learnt, what you have not seen, you can’t remember. So, go to class.
