BY: Yunus Adeleke Dauda
 |
| Prof. Yunus Adeleke Dauda |
One of
those rare moments of insight came to me on Monday, August 1st 2022
when I heard about the demise of Professor Lateef Akanni Hussain. He was during his
lifetime a Professor of Physics and later the Vice Chancellor of the Lagos
State University. The achievements of this academic colossus quickly came to my
mind. The Lagos State University was established for the pursuit of truth,
teaching and research for public good.
He was able to see beyond the immediate and faced challenges of his job immediately after he resumed as the Vice Chancellor. Hussain tried to do many things, many of which he achieved and some of his laudable achievements served as the foundation for the progress which the university in the subsequent years that followed his administration. He gave a new life to the university by promoting many programmes that enabled the university to cope with the challenges of the technology-driven global economy.
Professor
Hussain's administration realized the need to use Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) in order to cope with the immediate and future challenges. He
computerized student admission, results and records of both students and staff.
Other universities later borrowed Hussain ideas and some of them were even
trained by LASU staff on ICT.
He
inspired confidence among the staff by providing enabling environment and
facilities for academic staff to realize their potential and ability to grow
through their own efforts. Young lecturers who over the years failed to develop
themselves started to pursue PhDs programme at home and abroad on their own and
other senior academic staff pursued genuine academic work that could earn them
promotion and recognition. This mark the beginning of real, genuine and sustainable
academic culture in the university.
Professor Hussain brought energy and
enthusiasm into his job. Despite his tight schedule as the Vice Chancellor he
also lectured in the department of Physics. He treated any matters and memos
without any delay and with utmost regard for efficiency and effectiveness of
the system. He introduced teamwork by copying his decisions to everyone that
are to be informed of the actions taken and of the reasons for taking such
actions.
These
new initiatives promote openness and excellence and brought new insight into
the running of a modern university. Another great achievement of Professor
Hussain was his method to reduce gangsters, lawlessness and cultism that are
perpetrated mostly by intruders and outsiders that are really not genuine
students. Student unrest significantly reduced immediately after he took
part-time courses out of the university to different campuses. Events that
follow make many LASU staff realize that he was a benefactor rather than a
tyrant which his avowed enemies portrayed him to be. All is now history.
Hussain
was not a rigid and ruthless administrator as his enemies imagined. I remember
the action he took when there was a problem between my faculty dean and a
Senior Lecturer who was then Acting HOD in the department of Marketing. The
lecturer resigned from his appointment out of annoyance as a result of the problem
between him and the dean. The Vice approved his resignation as Head of Unit of
Management Technology which was a unit under the HOD. I pleaded with the dean
who then told me talk to him to withdraw his letter of resignation which he did
after a lot of persuasion. I then wrote a personal letter to the VC through
the dean to accept the withdrawal of letter. Professor Hussain allowed him to stay as
lecturer and returned to his seat as the Ag Head of the department.
On
another occasion I met three Canadian University Lecturers in Germany, one of
them was a Professor who during one of our discussions decided to come on
exchange programme with the University. I wrote a letter to Professor Hussain
and he quickly replied and assured me of providing all their needs. These
Canadians could not come to the universities because as they decided to do
their programme in Europe. He treated my request without delay.
In his
efforts to make the students and staff implement and comply with his
initiatives Professor Husain stepped on the toes of powerful groups and individuals
within and outside the university who are ready to use every method to remove
him. He became entangled in the cobweb of the university crises. He found
himself on the defensive and was blindsided and overwhelmed by personal objectives
of powerful groups and individuals. These eventually hindered the effectiveness
of his ideas and administration. He could not realize that one cannot survive
let alone flourish without developing a high level of political savvy in a
turbulent environment.
The university
staffs were engrossed by hatred and bitterness between the academic staff and
the university management. The university's progress was mitigated by political
and intellectual confusion which made the university academics lose their
self-respect and subject them to the manipulation of the political elites. Professor
Hussain had to cope with the critical problems of trade union’s militancy and
student unrest.
The
university administration was also later dominated by lecturers and staff with
vested interests that thrived and survived through their group’s protection. Individual’s
and group’s motivation tend to be personal rather than focused on the
achievement of the overall objectives of the university. These powerful groups
in the university are mainly made up of those who had over the year won by foul
means and turn themselves as the arbiter of academic staff destiny. They wanted
to return him to the old order that had enabled them to dictate for and control
his predecessors.
Amid the crises ignited by the students and staff, blame game and
entitlement mentality dominated the academic discussion and all settlements
efforts and distorted how all the stakeholders perceive and interpret facts. He
was eventually disgraced and removed.
Events
that followed Hussain's period later proved even his avowed enemies wrong as the
university witnessed a long period of open and hidden crises. Hussain's regime is adjudged to be the best
administration that the university ever had.
He clearly demonstrated that he was a responsible, progressive and
committed leader who had a vision of what a 21st century university
should be. However, his administration faced the impact of many years of unholy
politics and conflicts that dominated the university environment before his own
time.
Professor
Hussain was a great administrator whose administrative acumen enabled him to
effectively manage human and material resources for the achievements of the
objective of the university. He was an intelligent intellectual. He was an
innovator and aggressive salesman of his innovation. He will be remembered for
his contribution, honesty of purpose and his solicitude for the welfare of both
the students and the staff of the Lagos State University and the University of
Ibadan.
Despite
all odds and deprivations, he faced as the vice chancellor, he survived all of
them and eventually returned to the classroom and continued his job as a lecturer
and researcher. Hussain will be remembered by all those that have passed
through him most especially those that his administration positively changed
their lives.
Death
is a natural end of all and all souls will taste death. I pray that Almighty
Allah reward him with paradise.
Professor Yunus Adeleke Dauda is a Professor of Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management at Lagos State University and the current Director of LASU JUPEB Foundation, Badagry.