How College Of Agric Lafia Is Enmeshed In Corruption, As The Institution Is Now One Step Forward And Two Steps Backward Under Dr. Maikaffi And Dr. Dominic

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Rabiu Omaku

  • Is Not True-Governing Council, Dr. Yahaya Maikafi Reacted

The aggrieved staff of the College of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Lafia has sent a Save Our Soul message to the governor, Abdullahi Sule to come to the aid of the newly upgraded and backward tertiary institution in the state.

The revelation which went viral on social media exposed the personalities of Dr. Dominic Bako, the Chairman Governing Council of the College of Agriculture, Science and Technology, the then College of Agriculture, Lafia.

The staff who pleaded anonymity attributed the sudden drifting of activities in the College of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Lafia to the high headedness, flagrant abuse of existing laws establishing the College, The concerned staff of the College has called on the state governor, Abdullahi Sule to salvage the College from draining.

 

The staff is accusing Dr. Dominic Bako Adagazo and the Provost, Dr. Yahaya Musa Maikafi of the College of turning the College into a cash cow.

 

It was alleged that Dr. Dominic Bako, the Chairman Governing Council, and the Provost Dr. Yahaya Musa Maikafi has caused havoc which calls for quick intervention.

 

The staff said they are passing through hard times under the leadership of Dr. Dominic Bako Adagazo – chairman of Governing Council and Dr. Yahaya Musa Maikafi.

 

It was alleged that since the chairman Governing Council assumed the position of demigod by turning the College Provost to be his puppet with the sole aim of undermining the rules and regulations of the College as well running the College like their personal estate without recourse to legal implication.

 

Another accusation was that official decisions remained sacred to the two Doctors without involving other Council members which amount to contravening the primary objective of the board in question.

 

They were also accused of muzzling the Council members with threats thereby abuse the norms and ethics of the College community as well as exhibiting an autocratic leadership style.

 

The information available disclosed that the chairman always threatens staff with dismissal, or demotion whenever an attempt was made to correct the wrong decisions taken by the Council.

The Many Sins of Chairman Governing Council and Provost COAST Are

The concerned staff accused Dominic Bako of exchanging hands with Maikafi by selling the position of Provost to Dr. Yahaya Musa Maikafi with a contract agreement to continue milking the College knowing very well that the Provost was not qualified then and now judging by the criteria of appointments into the office of Provost so that it can serve as an avenue to extort money from the coffers of the College.

Dr. Dominic Bako Adagazo made sure that the position of Provost was not advertised which was the normal practice in tertiary institutions worldwide as exemplified by the appointment of Rector in the state polytechnic.

 

The Chairman collaborated with the Provost to imposed on the staff the current deputy provost. The edict of the College before 15th January 2020 made it clear that the deputy provost shall be nominated by the academic board of the College among lecturers which the board nominated a candidate but was later upturned to favour an unpopular candidate by the Governing Council Chairman in collaboration with the Provost.

 

The Governing Council Chairman and Provost misled the College Council members by replaced the Registrar, Bursar, and Director of works on the account that investigation is ongoing on the activities of the immediate past regime despite aware that police CIID cleared the people concerned.

A kangaroo interviewed was organized to replace the registrar, bursar, and director of works with unqualified individuals without recourse to guidelines established. All questions linked out to their stooges running the College.

The Governing Council Chairman and Provost conspired to diverted seventy million Naira meant for accreditation of the College through direct labour pretense of some standard structures

The fire inferno in the College recently was masterminded by the Governing Council Chairman in collaboration with the Provost to cover some vital documents in the event of an investigation of the College’s activities.

The Governing Council Chairman and Provost attitude since assumption in office has propelled mass exits of academic staff, and recurring industrial action in the College

Money released from His Excellency’s since assumption in the office were usually shared by the Governing Council Chairman and Provost instead for the management of College.

Electricity supply in the College is no longer stable particularly during official hours which always prevented staff from serious research work

The Governing Council Chairman and Provost has canceled mandatory seminars and conferences where ideas are shared

There are multiple ghost workers in the payments voucher of the College of Agriculture, Science and Technology which is subject of concern to staff. The money usually realized is being diverted to their pockets

His Excellency may wish to note that seventy million that was released to the college for accreditation before the advent of the Corona pandemic was not done till this moment. No accreditation was made rather they squandered the money in the name of direct labour that has no bearing on the accreditation programmes.

The admission entry requirements have been abuse without regards to NBTE guidelines

The mandate of the College is to train the middle cadre of manpower in Agriculture, Science, and Technology yet no practical or laboratories training is being practiced to the students

The college tractors are down for minor problems yet the Governing Council Chairman and Provost refuse to repairs the tractors. If we may ask what will become of our graduates in the field?

Our prayers, we hereby call on His Excellency, Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule to constitute an independent panel of investigation to look into the activities of the College with the sole aim of finding lasting solutions in order to prevent industrial strike looming once the new session commences in the nearest future.

The Governing Council Chairman and Provost should be suspended to allow proper investigation

All financial transactions in the College should be investigated involving police criminal investigators, men and women of integrity and standard.

 

To find out if it is permissible by law for the Governing Council Chairman of the College to occupied three offices e.g. Chairman of the Council, Special Adviser to the governor, and Director General Bureau for Public Procurement under the same roof?

 

Conclusively, we hereby bring these matters to the attention of His Excellency, Engr Abdullahi A Sule, and Executive Governor of Nasarawa State as a matter of urgency. Because, we have no doubt in mind that His Excellency will restore sanity to the college by bringing back its lost glory and integrity which has been dented since the appointments of Governing Council Chairman, Dr. Dominic Bako Adagazo and Provost, Dr. Yahaya Musa Maikafi into the College.

 

We have no any other College of Agriculture, Science, and Technology than ours in Lafia, the state capital of Nasarawa State. Hence, all hands must be on deck to protect and safeguard the institution from imminent collapse.

 

The protest letter was signed by the Concerned  Staff of  College of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Lafia and copy to the  Right  Hon. Speaker, Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Lafia Nasarawa State and Chairman Public  Complaint and Petitions.

 

The Director-General, Bureau for Public Procurement, Dr.Dominic Bako who is the Governing Council Chairman of the College in a telephone conversation refuted the allegations and described it as malicious.

 

“The writers should be specific by revealing their identity but not hiding under the guise of Concerned Staff of the College”.

The Provost, Dr. Yahaya Maikafi while reacting revealed that he was witch-hunted by the academic staff declared a strike the very day he was appointed as a provost of the College.

 

He maintained he was qualified to head the institution which was a staff for the past thirty years heading key positions ranging from Assistant lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Head of Section, Head of Department, Dean, Students Affairs.

 

“With the above responsibilities, still somebody will say I’m not qualified to be Provost”.

 

He indicated that the College lacks a strategic plan since the inception of the institution way back in 1976, which he reeled out that when he assumed office on 23 August 2018 the College has no physical development plan, academic plan, and master plan.

 

“The Union declared a strike on Friday which was exactly a day I was appointed and examination was slated for Monday, we coopt corps members and other staff to achieve what we achieved.

 

Dr. Yahaya Maikafi explained that with the lean resources his reign succeeded in paying 4 years of promotions from 2015,2016,2017,2018 outstanding.

 

Speaking on handing over the note he inherited from his predecessor, Maikafi explained that he was handed over N3.5m.

 

“With the N3.5m, we added additional MN2.3m to pay the implementation of the backlog of three years promotions”.

He refuted diverting the N70m dole out for the accreditation of courses were used for the building of gear craft development center and other facilities in the College, Maikafi insisted that the money was utilized the way it was meant for

 

On the mass exodus of staff, Yahaya Maikafi averred that a total of ten staff joined the Faculty of Agriculture, Nasarawa State University before he assumed office.

 

“I know three left, two from fisheries and one from horticulture who include Professor Haruna, Umar and one other.”.

 

Speaking on the abandoned tractors wasting under sunshine and rain with minor repairs, the Provost opens up that the institution has a total of four tractors, two are in operation while two are dysfunctional.

 

“I have a deal with AMCON Company, one from Ilorin and Jos, Our plan is to reactive the tractors”.

 

He condemned in strong terms the revelation that he and the Chairman Governing Council ignite the fire in the school to destroy some files as malicious.

 

“We don’t keep documents in classrooms, where we keep documents are offices and the place affected are classrooms, Journalists how can you reconcile this?”

 

To clear the air on the allegations of over blunting the number of staff in the payroll of the College, Maikafi uncovered that the institution has a total of 275 staff,66 are academic and 209 are non-academic”.

 

When asked of the monthly wage bill of the College, the Provost said he would make the detail available if not the impromptu visit by Journalists.

 

“If your visit was a planned interview I would have to make all the details available before your coming, as for me I’m not the one paying staff salary”.

He hinted that the College generated the sum of N70m to N75m annually as Internally Generated Revenue.

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