(Culled from: Kehinde, A., Aremu, O. and Nton, M.E. 2020 (Eds.). Homage to a gentleman scholar-administrator: A Festschrift in Honour of Prof Abel Idowu Olayinka. Ibadan: Ibadan University Press. Pages 1-9).
An Interview with the former Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Professor Idowu Olayinka
Q: Can you tell us a little about yourself, your educational back-ground, growing up and family life?
I was born on 16th February, 1958. Growing up was fun in a typical polygamous family. Father was a successful trader based at Ashipa in Origbo land (Ife North Local Government Council) of Osun State. He was also a transport business owner in Ilesa and a farmer at Odo Ijesa, at different times, while mother was a trader shuttling between Odo Ijesa and Oja Oba in Ibadan. My dad was only 27 years old when he built his house, then a bungalow with six living rooms. He later converted the family house to a storey-building when I was 10 years old, by which time the family had grown in size. We did not really lack the basic things of life at the time, because, even within our immediate community, my parents were considered to be among the most comfortably well-to-do among their peers.
I attended St Bartholomew’s Anglican Primary School, Odo Ijesa, from 1964 to1969. I proceeded to the famous Ilesa Grammar School, Ilesa, for my secondary school education from 1970 to 1975. I was an undergraduate at the University of Ibadan from 1977 to 1981, graduating with a B.Sc degree in Geology. I undertook my National Youth Service Corps Scheme in the old Rivers State (now Rivers and Bayelsa) from 1981 to 1982. I worked in the following year with a Geological Consulting firm, Deptol Consultants, as a Hydrogeologist.
I left for the United Kingdom in September 1983 for postgraduate studies. I did my M.Sc (Geophysics) at Imperial College, London, in 1983/1984. I then moved to the University of Birmingham for my Ph.D, which I completed in March 1988.
Q: As the 12th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan and the first from the Faculty of Science, in what ways do you think you are doing differently?
As far as I am concerned, there is nothing so special about being the 12th Vice-Chancellor or the first from the Faculty of Science. All that was uppermost in my mind when I had the chance to be appointed the Vice-Chancellor was to implement the vision of the institution and take the university to the next level. As you well know, I did not start my administrative work here as the Vice-Chancellor. I have had opportunity to serve as Head of Department, Dean of the Postgraduate School and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic). My approach in each of those positions has been quite similar. First, I take a look at what we had on ground; second, what are the strengths, challenges, opportunities and threats? Third, how would I contribute to making some enduring changes? That has been my style, and it is exactly what I am doing right now.
Specifically for the position of Vice-Chancellor, I prepared a vision document which some of the eminent people who are very familiar with the University of Ibadan have described as very comprehensive. It provides a road-map and guide for the administration.
Q: In some circles, the belief is that you are mostly misunderstood. Is this true or is it a mere perception of such people who really don’t understand your person?
It is quite possible that some people may misunderstand me. All I know is that the high office that I currently occupy has not adversely affected my personality in any way that I can think of. I am still the Idowu Olayinka who was your student or classmate in the 1970s, or who was like you a junior faculty member or contemporary in the late 1980s and 1990s, who rose through the ranks before becoming a Professor. But ordinarily I would like people to understand me. One thing I have found out is that almost every day a leader has to take decisions; some are quite routine in nature, while others are much tougher in nature. I am not a very spontaneous person who will take a decision that I will not be able to defend. On the contrary, most of the decisions I take are quite deliberate and what I must have considered to be the best in the circumstance, a decision made from among so many other alternatives. I tell people that I do not like to take political decisions. I ask myself what is in the long-term interest of this university on each matter. If the facts of a matter are the same, I want to be in a position to be able to take the same decision. That is the only way to be consistent and predictable. I always try to be in a situation in which I can defend my choice five years or ten years after my tenure.
I am aware that I have made some controversial decisions, especially relating to appointments to some offices, the rationale for which many people may not understand. The fact that I am an introvert may also not have helped matters in such circumstances because of the surprise element. I know that some people even wonder who my advisers are. Some have come to the conclusion that it must be a one-man cabal where that cabal is Idowu Olayinka himself. Whatever is the case, I do not take decisions so flippantly. Whenever I have an opportunity to explain why I decided in a particular way on an issue, people often leave better informed or at least sympathetic with me, in spite of their previous insinuations.
Perhaps, some day in the not-too-distant future when I write my memoirs, I would have some opportunity to explain why I did what I did in each case. The impetus for this is for others in position of leadership at the university level to pick one or more useful lessons from our experiences.
Q: As from December 1, 2019, you have started counting down as your administration as the 12th Vice-Chancellor of the University is winding up. What are the high and low points of your administration? And, two, what would you have loved to do that you will be unable to do, given the time frame that is left?
The high-points of the administration are many. First, we have been able to expand and consolidate our academic programmes. There are new programmes, such as Architecture, Estate Management and Quantity Surveying in the new Faculty of Environmental Design and Management; Accounting, Banking and Finance, and Marketing and Consumer Studies in the new School of Economics. A new Master degree programme in Data Science will commence this year (2020). Most departments are undertaking a comprehensive review of their curricula. We have also made the course ‘Philosophy, Logic and Critical Thinking’ mandatory for all our undergraduate students as part of the efforts to encourage creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Second, we undertook a comprehensive review of the promotion guidelines. The extant guideline has a huge potential for repositioning the university as a world-class institution, as we now insist that our colleagues should attend foreign conferences and have publications that are visible on Google Scholar. A major aspect of this initiative is that we have devolved power to Faculties to conclude their Part I promotion cases up to the level of Senior Lecturer and just inform the Central Appointments and Promotions (A and P) Committee for Academic Staff for noting. This has had the salutary effect of reducing the volume of work at the meetings of the Central A and P, and the reduction of the waiting time for processing our professorial promotions which invariably entails inputs from external assessors, both local and foreign. I am always happy and satisfied when colleagues tell me that their promotion cases that had been quite slow were processed speedily under my watch. Many colleagues have told me that they have earned two promotions in the last four years. I am happy that we are making many individuals happy, and that is a way of promoting staff welfare which should lead to improved productivity.
Third, we have strengthened the procedure for the promotion of the non-academic staff by insisting on evaluation and interview of the candidates seeking promotion. As of December 2019, we had concluded the 2019 promotions for all the non-academic staff for that year.
Fourth, we established a new position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships) in early 2017 because of the gap I identified as a Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic). We were one of the first universities in Nigeria to do this, and the National Universities Commission (NUC) later recommended the position to other federal universities in the country. Given the accomplishments of that new office, I am very happy that it was a wise decision that both Senate and Council were favourably disposed to our initiative.
Fifth, two of our Faculties with acute shortage of office space and lecture rooms, namely Arts and Education, will soon heave a sigh of relieve when the on-going constructions are completed.
Sixth, we are undertaking a comprehensive rehabilitation of our Halls of Residence, including painting, drilling of water supply boreholes and general retrofitting. This is helping to improve the living conditions of our students.
Seventh, we are utilising the Public Private Partnership template to build additional hostel facilities for students, since only one-third of the student population can be accommodated in the university-owned Halls of Residence.
Eighth, we are improving the provision of fast, reliable and secured internet facilities, starting with the Halls of Residence. This will be extended to the academic areas and the residential areas in subsequent phases. As of November 2019, we allocated internet bundle to each undergraduate student. We have increased the internet bandwidth considerably from 200 Mbps in 2015 to 780 Mbps since September 2019. We know that we are not there yet; hence we are investing a lot of our resources in strengthening our IT infrastructure.
Ninth, we are delighted to note that we are now acknowledged as the largest dual mode university in the country, with 16 of our programmes at the Distance Learning Centre (DLC) duly approved by the National Universities Commission (NUC). Our highly regarded DLC scored 93% in the recent NUC Quality Assessment carried out in July 2019 with the conclusion that our DLC is considered VERY VIABLE, and we are very happy about this.
Tenth, our Postgraduate College remains the flagship of postgraduate education in sub-Saharan Africa. It consistently mounts capacity-building programmes for our postgraduate students and teachers. The administrative structure of the College is being strengthened in order to improve service delivery.
The low point has been the difficulty in stabilising an already unstable academic calendar. As it is generally known, the academic calendar at the University of Ibadan has not been stable for nearly 30 years now. We have had to cancel outrightly three academic sessions, namely 1994/1995, 1999/2000 and 2006/2007. The main reasons are protracted strike actions by staff unions and student unrest. We had thought we would be able to stabilise the academic calendar, but as it is often said; ‘Man proposes, God disposes’. We have had to deal with two main disruptions caused by student unrest in 2016 and 2017, respectively, for which the university was closed for a combined period of 13 weeks. The current session is scheduled to end in April 2020. By my estimation, barring any unforeseen circumstances that may lead to a forced closure of the university again, it would take us at least the next six to eight years to operate a smooth calendar that starts in late September and runs till June the following year as was the case when I was an undergraduate here in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Another low point for me has been the difficulty in recruiting new staff on account of various bureaucratic bottlenecks. Yet, I know for a fact that a University is as good as the quality of its faculty.
Q: As a rider to the last question, how would you rank your administration vis a vis your blueprint on assumption of office?
I am not in a position to be a judge in my own case. Nonetheless, I have the consolation that I cannot be accused of not preparing well for the position of Vice-Chancellor. I have tried my best in the circumstance I have found myself, when right from the very first month in office, we started having a massive shortfall in our personnel grant, although it was later discovered that the problem was not only limited to the University of Ibadan. It was one month one crisis, with striking union members locking all the gates to the university. That persisted for most of 2016 and 2017. It was a period in which some non-academic staff union members were carrying mock coffins of me. We thank God that I am still very much alive and still at my desk.
Q: What are the challenges you have faced when you reflect over your career as a Geologist in the University of Ibadan?
On the positive side, one has had the fortune of teaching and supervising very brilliant students in the Department of Geology, and they are happily now my professional colleagues. A few of them are lecturers in the Department, while majority have moved on to other institutions, both within and outside the country. Some are also entrepreneurs. The issue of funding for research is general and not specific to me. I benefitted from a sabbatical which I spent in Germany. The enabling environment was fantastic, and it helped a great deal in my being able to move from a lectureship appointment to full professorship within the minimum time.
Q: It is a known fact that you are social-media friendly. How do you manage your time and space given distractions and occasional negative comments associated with social media?
I have found the social media as a cost-effective means of communicating with our various stakeholders in real time. In this context, we have both the internal stakeholders comprising staff and students and the external stakeholders, including our numerous alumni/alumnae, retired staff, government and various local and international agencies. There was a particular Facebook message I posted sometime in 2017 on the performance of our undergraduate students at the end of the first semester of the 2016/2017 session, and I was pleasantly surprised when a few months later I was away to Benin City for a Workshop and the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, made a reference to that particular Facebook message; he informed me that his son downloaded and brought the message to his attention. A colleague from the University of Port Harcourt who is my friend also informed me that he was impressed with that particular Facebook post, and he brought it to the attention of his Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ndowa Lale. Similarly, a retired staff from my Department, Dr (Mrs) Marie Sonuga, informed me that she read the post and brought it to the attention of her wards who are undergraduates, on the need for them to work hard. To that extent my social media engagement has been very productive.
Just this morning (Wednesday, 8th January 2020), I received a private message from a colleague, who is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor in her university, where she said, inter alia, “I am learning a lot from your Administration through your posts”.
I use the social media to showcase our members of staff, students and alumni who must have done us proud by winning laurels. I congratulate friends and colleagues on their birthdays. Many of my former students who are now in different parts of the world are kept abreast of developments back at home regularly on my Facebook page.’
By and large, I see the social media as a very useful tool to assist me in carrying out my work. This would not have been possible twenty years ago before the advent of these major tools and developments in Information and Communication Technology. The negative part of this is that some faceless students always use the anonymity of the social media to cast aspersions on my personality and abuse me, especially during the period we had a good reason to suspend student unionism. I know that leadership is not a popularity contest so I am not bothered about such individuals. Whoever wants to be popular should not take up a leadership position. Rather, he/she would be better off just selling ice cream and thus satisfy everyone.
I try to improve on my time-management. There are some things that I will normally do when I am most relaxed. Going on social media can always wait for the moments that I am less busy. This time allocation in terms of categorisation into what is immediate, what is urgent and what can wait has been quite helpful.
Q: The University recently restored Student Unionism on the campus. What is your vision for Student Unionism given emerging narratives in global ecosystem?
There is need for synergy between the Management and the entire student body. There is no need for undue and unproductive radicalism. I know for a fact the elected student leaders are interested in promoting the welfare of students. The Management is equally committed to promoting the welfare of both staff and students. Hence there is no reason why we should perpetually be at war. We will ensure regular dialogues and effective communication. Many students have my two telephone lines, and they contact me regularly. We can always attend to their grievances before such complaints degenerate to a crisis point. Our students are partners in progress, and as you know, I am always very excited when any of our students and alumni/alumnae excels, whether nationally or internationally.
Q: Can you describe your working relationship with other members of your management and the Governing Council of the University?
I have a very good working relationship with all members of the top management. It is very helpful that none of them is a stranger to me even long before providence brought us together as part of this team. I admire their work ethics, and we are able to complement one another. The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council is an experienced technocrat who had seen it all before he came here about three years ago following his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. The other members of Council are equally fantastic, and they have been very helpful in showing the way forward for the university.
Q: Can we have some insights into your Post-Administration Activities?
My immediate plan is to proceed on sabbatical. I need to go back to the classroom at the earliest available opportunity to teach students. The opportunity for such engagement has been nearly impossible for nearly a decade now. I still supervise a few postgraduate students. My colleagues still invite me to serve as external examiner which I cherish so much. I will like to engage in research in my areas of specialisation, attend conferences and publish articles with my colleagues and students.
I do hope to also put my experiences in written form someday as to how we ran a complex institution such as the University of Ibadan. I have a very bulky zero draft that is already 635 pages long already, and it is still a work in progress.
Q: On an average day, your schedules are not only tight, they could be overwhelming. How do you unwind?
I guess I am used to a hectic schedule starting from my days here as an undergraduate. Where I come from, we were taught that hard work does not kill. Rather it is laziness that is to be abhorred. All I try to do is to be consistent so that my work does not pile up unnecessarily and put me under pressure. I always endeavour to attend to all my mails within a day except when I am out of town. I try to work hard, but I do not overwork. And my creator has been extremely generous and kind to me that I do not break down. I have only missed coming to work for one day on account of ill health (malaria) in the last forty nine months.
When I am out of town I try to rest, although inevitably I am always in touch with my colleagues virtually on a 24/7 basis.
