Why we don’t allow pregnant students in Crawford University, by VC
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| Prof. Samson Ayanlaja |
Still on the gender issue, it is now commonplace to see undergraduate students as mothers in higher institutions of learning. Is this acceptable?
Definitely this is not acceptable. This is one of our rules and regulation; that a student cannot be pregnant in a faith based university. It is not normal here. Immediately a student is confirmed pregnant, she is sent home. You cannot carry pregnancy here. In public university that is possible but here such undergraduate student will be sent home on suspension for the period.
Is the punishment outright expulsion or suspension?
No. It is suspension for the period of the pregnancy for the student to have the baby and later continue if she so desires at the earliest opportunity.
As an agriculturist and proponent of self sufficiency in food production for Nigerians, why has it become difficult for the country to feed her citizens?
This is a complex and multi-faceted phenomena which has bedeviled agricultural productivity in the country. Nigeria according to findings currently imports N1 billion worth of rice daily and spends about N24 trillion on food importations annually. This is incredible and unbelievable in an agrarian nation like Nigeria; country that failed to feed itself is still not far from slavery.
So many factors militate against agricultural production. One is that government has to show more commitment and will for agricultural production in Nigeria. Fertilizer policy, land tenure and acquisition, loan and funds for agricultural production, farming methods where farmers still use cutlasses ad hoes are some of the problems.
The marketing and storage of agricultural produce also constitute part of the problems because of high temperature and humidity, all these should be handled if government wants to improve on the present efforts in the sector. The agric sector requires a multi-facet approach to address the challenges of food production.
In what ways have you brought succor to your host communities?
We have one or two projects for the community funded by the Association of African Universities (AAU). The project was to popularize the planting of sunflower. It‘s a plant whose oil has some specific attributes and characteristics because of the low cholesterol of the oil. We have popularise the growth of sunflowers among villagers and farmers in Igbesa as well as Oye Ekiti as a way of impacting positively on the two communities with an assurance that if they grow the crop we are ready to mop up everything and pay commensurately.
That is a guaranteed market for people around the university community and wealth creation. The second project also funded by the AAU was to train what we called the young animators. These are secondary school students who were selected on the basis of the occupation of their fathers as practicing farmers.
We gave them electronic devices that enable them to have access to the internet such that they well positioned to advice their fathers on the next stage of whatever they are planting and ultimately the world price of the commodity. We have provided secondary schools sets of computers where students are trained to be able to get on the internet in order to assist adults and others in the locality with farming related and general information.
What have been the gains of these to farmers in Igbesa and Oye Ekiti?
We have harvested the first batch of sunflower, bought them up all and paid the farmers fully both in Ogun and in Ekiti States. The farmers are happy that they can labour, grow the flower and get rewarded immediately.
It seems collaborations and international affiliations are the trends among Nigerian universities. Have these really helped to improve the standard of education delivery?
The world is shrinking into a global village and with one thing to learn from one region of the other, there are no more islands for knowledge. I want to believe that students, laboratory, staff exchange equipment and cross fertilization of ideas cannot but improve learning system. Therefore in our postgraduate programmes we planned to have a specialization called International Business designed to bring some Israeli lecturers to teach some modules and this will make all students taking that option to also visit the Israel Institute of International Management for one semester.
No doubt, that will bring knowledge that will be novel and when our students return they will be better. Also some of our lecture here will also go there in exchange so that their lecturers too can also learn something from Nigeria.
At the inception of your institution in 2005, the total number of pioneer students was 235. Eight years after, what is the carrying capacity of the university?
We have increased elaborately. Our current capacity stands at 1,250 from 235 at inception when the university opened its gate to the first set of students. In that wise, I want to say that we achieved some improvements. In addition to that our policy is that all our students must be residential. We are on the verge of putting up an iconic students’ hostel where more students can be accommodated. The National Universities Commission (NUC) gave us up to 800 students per year but presently we cannot accommodate up to that until the new hostel project is in place.
The trend in university enrolment and terminal results now is the outstanding performance of the female students against their male counterparts. What does this say about the male child education?
I don’t have comprehensive statistics. Without bias, I don’t think the females will be at the top in all the universities. I remember at Covenant University the overall best student was a boy while the females were more among First Class grades of graduates. In some private universities and at Crawford it was the same at the last convocation where a female graduate emerged as the best overall student. That trend seems to be there but I don’t know whether it is general in both private and public universities.
This brings me to the issue of cut off marks for admissions fixed at 180 minimum for admission into universities, which is hardly adhered to by many institutions. Why is this so?
What JAMB and NUC meeting says is that the minimum score before you can gain admission into university is 180. Who will I give admission to candidate with 180 where are others with 230 and who also performed well in post-JAMB? By the time I have chosen others in that class, my space for admission is already filled up. I will not even think about people with 200 talk less of candidates with 180. Though they are qualified for admission they can find other courses where they can be given admission. For instance a candidate with C6 in five subjects’ areas including English and Mathematics is good for admission but I will prefer a candidate with five A Grades in all the subjects including English and Mathematics instead for admission.
For instance you cannot score 180 and expect to be given admission where so many candidates had higher marks.
What would you say of the admission policy into unity schools where high cut-off marks have denied some brilliant candidates admission against low cut-off marks for their counterparts in the north?
As long as this is the Federal Republic of Nigeria and as long as some states in the federation are still lagging behind, there cannot but be discriminatory admission policy as well as employment. People far up in the north still must also be given educational opportunity. When they come into the class through that process they must prove their mettle with those brilliant boys and girls from other parts of the country. It may not be congruent to take all the people from the east and west and not a single one from the north. It will not be a good representation of Nigeria. It will no longer be unity.
Supply of electricity has become one of the areas where institutions put in a lot of resources in order to keep the university community and system running. How do you tackle power generation?
The deficiency in the production of electricity by PHCN is doing much worse havoc to the development of the entire country. We spend over N1miilion monthly on diesel but lately we have been connected to Agbara power line which is a bit more stable, meaning we will be spending less on diesel. We still spend on PHCN despite the irregular electricity they supply with very bad current and surges that does not stay long before it goes off again when we need it and when I don’t have it for days we still have to pay. Before it was about N700, 000 and now the last bill was N1.9 million.
Considering the endemic nature of immorality in Nigeria and the religious nature of our people, what would you say is the place of religion in education?
There is a need for student to learn about religious teachings and grow under strict guidance. If students can be having motivational lectures and religious studies, sermons and teachings, they may be helped to stay away from self destroying behaviours and misdemeanors.
ASUU strike has crippled education in public institutions. If the strike lingers on longer than necessary, will you give employment to any of the striking teachers?
I can cross the bridge when I get there. We don’t have striking unions here and if they apply to lecture here, that will be addressed when we get there.
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