The Zamfara State University, Talata Mafara, has been operating with an abysmally low number of academic and non-academic staff for over two years, an investigation by SaharaReporters has revealed.
The school’s management, which was established in 2018 during the administration of Abdul-Aziz Yari as governor of the state, has only four permanent staff members despite having over 1,200 students and currently offering at least 18 courses.
Apart from a vice-chancellor, registrar, bursar, and director of academic planning, who were employed in 2020 by the administration of the incumbent governor of Zamfara, Bello Matawalle; the university has been using visiting academics from other schools with mostly master’s degrees to function as deans, departmental heads, examination officers and assume other important roles in the institution.
Other prominent positions vital to the smooth running of the daily operations of any university including that of deputy vice-chancellor (academic and administration) are yet to be filled by the state government-run institution despite being established four years ago and fully operating for more than two years.
To further compound the situation, contract lecturers, who are paid half of what they earn in their original places of employment, are currently being owed about seven months’ salaries by the Zamfara State government, thereby dampening their morale and affecting their commitment to the task of teaching.
This situation, SaharaReporters reliably gathered, has not only affected the quality of learning and research in the institution but also significantly slowed down the growth of the school in terms of academic and infrastructural development.
In its 2021 budget, the state government allocated a total of N19.36 billion for capital expenditures for education, health, and works and transport out of N142.7 billion signed into law as the entire state’s budget for the year. During that same period, N21.8 billion was allocated to the Government House alone.
In the 2022 budget already signed into law by the state governor, education and other critical aspects will not be getting the larger chunk from the N159.5 billion estimate; thereby further compounding the situation at the state-owned Zamfara University.
With about 74 percent of its citizens living in poverty, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the state government is also unable to properly fund education, the administration of Governor Matawalle in 2020 handed out 15 brand new Hilux vehicles and cash gifts to leaders of different ‘repentant’ gangs of bandits in the hope that it will entrench peace in the region.
But despite that wasteful venture, peace has eluded the state while many critical sectors especially education suffer in Zamfara.
According to a popular academic in Zamfara State and senior lecturer at the Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, who spoke with SaharaReporters on Monday, Dr Tijjani Shinkafi, ZAMSUT was losing billions of naira annually in grants that should come to the institution for research, staff development and infrastructural expansion.
He said that the unwillingness of Matawalle’s administration to properly fund the newly established university was seriously affecting its operation and denying many young indigenes of Zamfara willing to pursue higher education the chance to do so in their state.
Shinkafi further disclosed that if the state government failed to employ qualified full-time academic and non-teaching staff to man critical units within the institution over the next few weeks, the university risks missing out on NUC accreditation for courses offered, thereby leading to the total collapse of the school.
“The university has been operating without both academic and non-academic staff for the last two years. All the functions such as deans, head of departments and examination officers are being performed by the visiting staff who themselves have not received their salaries for nearly seven months. Deputy vice-chancellor (both academic and administration) have also not been appointed.
“Zamfara State Government may consider adopting the model employed by the Borno State Government when it established Borno State University in 2016. Lecturers with either MSc or PhD relevant to the courses offered by Borno State University were transferred to the university since they were already on the state’s payroll. This is possible in Zamfara State since we have a good number of MSc and PhD holders in the four tertiary institutions in the state. Thereafter, the state government can employ more lecturers.
“Most lecturers are now sponsored by TETFUND, which provides support to all tertiary institutions including state universities in the country.
“Imagine how many billions of naira ZAMSUT lost since its establishment for just training and conference attendance by academic staff if they were recruited?
“Overall, the governor needs to sit up to his responsibilities by properly funding education. The university risks being closed by the NUC during accreditation.
“How can ZAMSUT scale through the accreditation in the absence of both academic and non-academic staff in the institution?
“It is insane and absurd for a university to have only four staff attending to the needs of over 1,200 students four years after it was created by the state government.
“This situation is denying many young people in the state the chance to acquire university education because the competition is tough in other places.
“Governor Matawalle must quickly improve the situation on the ground at the school before it gets too late.”
Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Yahaya Zakari, when contacted over the situation by SaharaReporters on Tuesday, told our correspondent that he was going to revert as he was driving at the time.
He was, however, yet to respond to questions raised by our correspondent as of the time of filing this report several hours after he was contacted.
Commissioner for Education in the state, Zainab Lawal Gummi, did not also respond to the issue when contacted by SaharaReporters on Tuesday.
Credit: SaharaReporters