By Zayyad Hamza
For sometime now, the Lagos State University (LASU) has been embroiled in academic and administrative crises, which apparently has dragged the ivory tower to a standstill. Protests by students and agitations by lecturers inflicted an atmosphere of siege on the institution.

The crisis in the institution had grown into a hydra-headed monster ready to consume the entire citadel if not nipped in the bud on time.

Thus, Governor Babatunde Fashola has set up a Visitation Panel headed by Justice Sylva to look into the whole gamut of broke where the crises sip inexorably. Other members of the panel include the renowned academic and constitutional lawyer, Professor Itse Sagay, former deputy governor of Lagos, Alhaja Lateefah Okunnu, Mr. Kaoli

Olusanya, Mrs. Moni Okunola as members and a retired permanent secretary, Mrs. Akran as the secretary.
The Visitation Panel was mandated to probe into the institution’s academic and administrative activities in the last ten year’s and take a critical look into the most recent activities in the school, all within six weeks.

And like a bad coin, within days of the inauguration of the Visitation Panel, allegations of shoddy administrative and academic deals, brazen act of sabotage, financial malfeasance, academic fraud and mind-numbing case of corruption and stealing have continued to turn in.

In one breadth, it was discovered that part of the reason why students and some lecturers called for the removal of the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Lateef Akanni Hussain, was to cover up heaps of shady acts perpetrated before the VC took over the mantle of leadership at LASU. Thank God that the governor used his wisdom to circumvent the call to sack the VC. Instead he opted not to be stampeded or railroaded into taking action which will have a negative backlash.

In order to get to the roots of the crisis, the Visitation Panel must go the whole hug by digging deep into the crises. For instance, it is an established fact that part of the problems in the university was spun partly by the attempt by the Vice Chancellor, Prof.. Hussain to clear the Augean Stable in LASU and thereafter follow due process in the university’s administration and academic system..

Besides, checks revealed that there is a cabal bent on asphyxiating life out of the institution if prevented to have its way in the day_to_day running of the university. The simple but obvious truth is that some eggheads in LASU are bent on protecting its ancien régime, bent on running the university like a personal fiefdom and bent, if prevented, to disorganise the entire system of the school. Which is the perfectly written script being acted before our very eyes for the past six months.. Something certainly needs to give!

In one of the innumerable memoranda inundating the Visitation Panel, a concerned LASU alumnus noted that when he read about the inauguration of the panel in the Nation’s newspaper of 11 December 2009 on the lingering crisis, he interacted with both old and new students of the institution to really get the true picture of what is happening in LASU.

His findings are as astounding as they are bizarre to wit “I have taken pains to interact with both old and new students of LASU and my findings are astonishing. They (the students) confirm our fears that an erstwhile somnolent cabal, responsible, in the main, for the uncomplimentary image of the university over the years, is responsible for the current confusion in the university.”

The university has been totally infested faculty by faculty, department by department, by the said cabal. Undoubtedly few bad eggs have to mingle among the good eggheads in any ivory tower. LASU, as it currently demonstrated, has a very high proportion of it.

Take the case of one Dr. Elias Wahab for instance. This is a fellow lecturer at the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Science. He is even the current secretary of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), LASU Branch. But Dr. Elias took laws into his hand by enrolling at the Faculty of Law to study law full time in 2000/2001 academic session!

He finished his law programme two sessions ago, which ran for five years concurrently.
Without prejudice to academic pursuit, he did what is right by wanting to be multi-disciplinary in his academic approach.

Where he got it wrong however, was his approach. He did all he did without iota of recourse to academic laws guiding such decision in the university. One, he did not get approval from his faculty. Two, he enrolled full time. So, he was combining lecturing and studentship simultaneously..

To make matters worse, he was assigned to teach the law students SOC 205 (Law and social Change), incidentally, a class where he was also a Law student at the time. Thus, he as a lecturer in Sociology, taught his fellow classmates in law where he was a student. He set the examination paper which he also sat for. He graded their examination scripts, which included his own.

And no one talked to him or, as it seemed, had the audacity to call him to order. LASU should withdraw his law degree while the Law School authorities should be informed his unholy academic adventure.

There is also the case of one Mr. Rasheed, a former member of the University Governing Council as well as former Chairman of the Non_Academic Staff union of Universities (NASU) LASU Chapter. Rasheed like Dr. Elias, who is now a chief typist, also enrolled for law in the university as a full time student without necessary permission from appropriate quarters.

He finished his programme in a record time without any let or hindrance while still a staff. Today he relishes being called Barrister at Law, which he relishes on campus. And to cap it all, he now teaches law course at the Badagry Campus of the University.

He was said to be one of the vociferous voices against the current Vice Chancellor. This reason may not be far to seek, he wants the cabal’s rule to continue.. The VC vehemently opposed it.. There is bound to be a clash. He should be duly sanctioned for violating rules regarding pursuit of academic adventure and the Nigerian Law School should be duly informed of his unholy act too.

But Dr. Elias and Rasheed were not the only people who enjoyed the unalloyed supports of a cabal brotherhood. Others included Mr. Andy Olagbemi, Mr. Tunde Adam and Mrs. Olabisi Yusuf. Sadly, these were lecturers, who enjoyed the rare privileges of teaching their fellow students in the same programme where they were also students.

There is also monumental fraud swept under the carpet by the cabal. Discovery of which may spell doom to perpetrators. An excursion to the School of Part Time Studies (SPTS), revealed a filthy cesspool.

Once, there was a probe in SPTS (now External System of the University) was instituted by the VC when he first came on board when he was besieged by reports of massive fraud in the place.

The panel discovered that most of the internally generated revenue accrued to the university was not properly accounted for before October 2005. In fact, a document revealed how money collected from Students’ Project fees, which ran into millions of naira, were shared among the university hierarchy then, among them the then Vice Chancellor, his deputy, Director of SPTS, Assistant Directors of Campuses and the Vice Chairmen of the external campuses.

Other university members of staff were equally variously indicted by the report of the probe panel, which was tabled before the university council. But nothing was done on the report. The Visitation Panel will do well by dusting the report off the shelf and looking at it for the second time.

In conclusion, there are myriads of questions the visitation panel and the school management must tackle as well as find answers to in other for the school to make substantial administrative and well as academic progress.