Why NUC supported scrap of post-UTME – Okojie

 
The immediate-past Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission,Prof. Julius Okojie , Wednesday, explained why the commission supported the scrapping of post Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
He said the decision was to protect the students from being swindled.

The former NUC boss stated this at a welcome reception organised for him by the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) to welcome him back to the institution after ten years of service at the NUC.
Okojie who was also a former Vice Chancellor of the University had left the institution 15 years ago and became Vice Chancellor, Bells University of Technology, Ota before he was appointed by Federal Government as Executive Secretary of NUC.
He said, “the post UTME has come in different manners. It can come in interview form, it can be screening. But in all, the Senate reserves the authority. The autonomy of the Senate is always there, they can decide when to admit, how to admit and who to admit.
“What government is saying is that there shouldn’t be too much divergent to the extent that we are swindling the students, ordinarily we should leave the universities to handle their issues”.

On the recent crisis erupted over the appointment of Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Okojie also justified the appointment of the Acting Vice Chancellor of the institution, saying the NUC got the Senate of the school to act on the issue because they had the autonomy to do so.
He said, “One of the major challenges I faced at the NUC was the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of Ife, when it came though, I had to use my God given wisdom and the knowledge of the system to resolve the issue.
“The autonomy of the NUC was on trial and we needed the Senate to regulate the steps of appointment. Yes, they make laws but they also regulate the law and they can always change what the laws they had made.
“So we got the Senate to act on this occasion to choose an acting Vice Chancellor but there were issues on that, some people were asking what was the essence of the NUC’s autonomy, why are we asking the President to direct the Senate.
“But there an aspect of the law that gives the Senate the autonomy to decide on that and that is what we did”.