ATBU ASUU Berates Pantami’s Professorial Appointment, Says Procedures Questionable

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU), Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) chapter, has berated the professorial appointment process of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Pantami, saying it is questionable and not convincing.

ATBU is Pantami’s alma mater, where he started his career as a lecturer. The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Mohammad Abdulaziz, had in a letter he wrote on behalf of the management, staff and students of school, congratulated Pantami.

ASUU has, however, dissociated itself from the congratulatory letter, as it added that “the branch of the union is not convinced about the appointment,” saying the VC did not consult it before congratulating the minister on its behalf in “an appointment that is shrouded in a lot of controversies.”

Briefing some journalists at the union secretariat yesterday, the state Chairman of ASUU, Dr. Ibrahim Inuwa, said: “We had congress on November 4, and we agreed that we should dissociate ourselves from that congratulatory message written by the VC. We have a disclaimer to that effect.”

In the report of the union in the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Inuwa said it is surrounded by “a lot of holes are in that report, and if you look at the report, it does not follow the character and manner that ASUU does things. Though, investigation is still going on, the zone has yet to state their position at the NEC, and we will be having a NEC meeting on November 14.”

ASUU said it was not convinced that all the procedures of becoming a professor were exhausted.

According to the union, “Appointing somebody to the rank of professor follows some procedures, and to some extent, we are convinced that these procedures are exhaustively followed, it is still questionable. But if it is proven beyond reasonable doubt we don’t have any other option than to acknowledge it, but for now we are not convinced.”

Inuwa stated that that was why the union was distancing itself from such a congratulatory letter written by the minister’s alma mater (ATBU).

The union argued that according to information available to it, the minister left Nigeria for a varsity in Saudi Arabia as senior lecturer.

“In the case of the minister, his last appointment in a university in Saudi Arabia was as an assistant professor, which is a nomenclature used by Americans. Assistant professor is equivalent to a senior lecturer in Commonwealth countries.

“As a senior lecturer, you are supposed to satisfy a waiting period of three years. You must have some publications locally and internationally. One must have attended conferences and presented papers, one must have been involved in teaching undergraduates and postgraduates –depending on the conditions of service of a university to become an associate professor (reader).

“What we heard about the minister is that he’s an assistant professor. The year he left for Saudi Arabia, he claimed that he was an associate professor-that he applied to them as an associate professor-but unfortunately, when they were referring people to check his publications online, he forgot to remove a journal that captured him as an assistant professor,” the union said.

Inuwa said an assistant professor must satisfy a waiting period of three years, graduate postgraduate students, involved in university administration, and get involved in community service.

He added that teaching quality and style are part of the assessment requirement to rise to a professorial rank.

The chairman of the ASUU chapter said the minister was not in the academic environment within the period, and could not have been qualified for that appointment.