27th
September, 2021
PRESS RELEASE:
PANTAMI’S PROFESSORIAL CHAIR SAGA : IT IS
STIGMATISATION - MURIC
There has been uproar lately on the appointment of
the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Professor Ali Isa Ibrahim
Pantami, as a Professor of CyberSecurity by the Federal University of
Technology (FUTO). However, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has described the
imbroglio as sheer ethnic stigmatisation and religious profiling.
“MURIC’s contribution came on Monday, 27th
September, 2021 in a press statement issued by its director and founder,
Professor Ishaq Akintola.
MURIC said, “We
are perturbed by the recent uproar over the appointment of the Minister of
Communication and Digital Economy, Professor Ali Isa Ibrahim Pantami, as a
Professor of CyberSecurity by the Federal University of Technology (FUTO). It
is much ado about nothing and an exercise in perpetual idleness and irredeemable
laziness.
“Pantami’s detractors are armchair critics and educated
illiterates engaging in intellectual escapism. The answers to their quests are
right there in their backyards but they did not bother to look. They are
merchants of hate peddling misinformation. Pantami has not committed any crime
or done any wrong in this matter. Many academics serving in government have had
the priviledge of doing exactly what the honourable minister did.
“Unlike
Pantami’s critics who rushed to make unsubstantiated allegations, MURIC took
the pain to make enquiries far and wide. We spoke to university lecturers in
various campuses and our findings show that academicians are allowed to apply
for appointments and promotions while serving in public office so long as they
have fresh publications.
“Professor Ngozi
Osarenren of the Department of Educational Foundation, University of Lagos, got
her professorial chair while serving as commissioner for education in Edo
State. At the Lagos State University (LASU) the late Professor Abdul Rasheed
Kunle Lawal became a professor while serving as commissioner in the Lagos State
government. Also, Professor Musibau Babatunde of the University of Ibadan
became a professor while serving as Special Adviser to the governor of Oyo
State.
“In Bayero
University, Kano (BUK), Professors Ibrahim Makari and Musa Usman got their
chairs while serving in government. In Usman Dan Fodiye University (UDUS), a
lecturer was promoted to the post of associate professor while on leave of
absence around 1996. Another lecturer in the Faculty of Agriculture also got
promoted while serving the Zamfara State government. A staff of the Faculty of
Law who is still serving in government was promoted to the post of associate
professor three years ago. Dr Abdullahi Balarabe got his doctorate degree while
serving as Speaker in the Sokoto State House of Assembly.
“Dr. Muhammad
Ali Pate was a serving Minister of Health in Nigeria when he was appointed
Professor of Public Health Leadership at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of
Public Health. That was in 2013. Where were the wailers at that time?
Was it not in
this same Nigeria that Okereke Onyiuke of Stock Exchange was given the same
professorial chair by a university from the same South East and nothing was
heard in form of a protest? So why the hullabaloo when a Fulani Muslim bags a
professorial chair?
“We also contacted FUTO. According to Professor
Eze, the former Vice Chancellor of that university, FUTO followed due process
in the exercise that led to the appointment of Professor Ali Isa Ibrahim
Pantami to the post of Professor of Cybersecurity. ‘We advertised. He applied.
We followed our rules and regulations. We did a prima facie in March 2021 and
his papers were sent out. They came back positive. The Council in another
meeting approved his appointment. It is his detractors that are creating this
problem.’
“But the
practice differs in the University of Ilorin and the University of Port
Harcourt where a staff serving in public office is not eligible for promotion
or appointment. We consider this as unfair because these two universities are
denying lecturers serving in government the opportunity to use the publications
which they laboured to acquire for promotion and appointment. This policy will
also discourage lecturers in those two universities from taking up government
appointments whenever they are offered. It is therefore counter-productive.
“It is possible
in this kind of situation for their colleagues to leave them behind. Serving in
government is tantamount to serving the nation. Those who are offering such
services and who still create time to write and publish academic papers in
reputable journals both locally and internationally should not be denied the
opportunity of getting promoted to the next positions.
“From the above,
it is clear that with the exception of two universities, the common practice is
that academicians serving in government often respond to advertisements in
their places of primary assignment or in other universities. They may also
submit their curriculum vitae for promotion during the annual assessment
exercise if they are ripe for promotion. It is the duty of the university to
allow them to compete with staff on ground in such exercises.
“That is why groups like the Academic Staff Union
of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) need to steer clear of the Pantami debate. ASUU
has no business whatsoever conducting investigations into the matter. Its
integrity may get eroded if care is not taken because the debate is looking
more of ethnic stigmatisation and religious stereotyping. ASUU may get its
fingers burnt in this.
“Pantami’s critics
failed woefully in their attempt to rubbish his great strides. Many of them
still find it hard to believe that a Northerner, an Hausa man, a Fulani or a
Muslim for that matter, cannot be this brilliant. They are therefore determined
to bring him down. It is sheer ethnic stigmatisation and religious profiling.
“MURIC advises
Pantami’s detractors to desist from armchair criticism. They should do proper
investigations and inject some modicum of objectivity into their views when
criticising. For example, they would have known better if they had contacted
university lecturers in one or two Nigerian universities. But they left undone
what they should have done. Conducting proper investigations would have empowered
them to speak from an uninformed position.
“We find it hard
to see what crime the honourable minister has committed. Pantami’s detractors
can have a point if they can provide evidence of his earning double salary. But
do they have that? We are waiting for such evidence. Until then, we give
Pantami a clean bill of health.”
Professor Ishaq
Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
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