Justice delayed is justice denied: The unresolved FCE(T) Akoka crisis of 2024, By Naseer Kura

The Minister of Education must be able to answer the following questions in order for justice to be done: Does the Federal College of Education (Technical) deserve a substantive Provost? Did the Provost who was asked to ‘step aside’ misrule, mismanage funds, or run down the College while serving as the substantive Provost? Did he execute the government projects, as expected? Did he violate the government rules or disobey the Governing Council that warranted his being perpetually placed on a ‘step aside’. For how long will it take Minister of Education to perform his role as the Visitor and release the report of the visitation panel to the Governing Council to implement? How would one explain a crisis that started on the 27th of May, 2024, and for which there has not been a final resolution to date? Is it a matter of the nonchalance of arbiters or a compromise? Is the Ministry or Minister of Education deliberately using delay tactics to claim that events have overtaken the matter? History is always there to guide our activities and actions. There are pertinent questions this article is asking for answers to be provided. Members of the public, staff, and students have expressed concern that since August 2024, months after the inauguration of the panels, the findings of the initial panels took five months to be submitted to the Minister of Education. It is a principle of law that justice delayed is justice denied. It is an act of injustice to punish a person who did not commit any offence, when those who instigated the crisis and participated in the riot, while some of them were arrested and taken to court, are still working freely in the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos. The current Minister of Education asked the technocrats in the Federal Ministry of Education to review the report submitted by the Chairman of the College Governing Council, in order to be sure that the recommendations are in line Civil Service Rules (CSR) and Extant Circulars. On 9 May, 2025, the then Chairman of Governing Council of the College, Dr Adeniyi O Adenuga was posted to Federal College of Education, Iwo, Osun State, while Honourable Justice (rtd.) Muhammad Suleiman Ambursa was posted to the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos. The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa subsequently raised and inaugurated a Special Visitation Panel on 29 July, 2025. The panel was chaired by the former Governor of Bauchi State and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) His Excellency Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, plus nine other members, who were mandated to examine all the issues plaguing the institution and recommend solutions. This action was taken in response to a prolonged period of instability, which included concerns about the Provost, Dr Ademola Azeez’s tenure and other administrative issues. The panel was specifically tasked to conduct a comprehensive investigation and recommend to the Minister’s office. The 10-member panel was inaugurated on Tuesday, 29th July, 2025 in Abuja by Dr Alausa, who explained that the panel’s formation followed a report submitted by the Governing Council of the College, which documented a prolonged crisis that had severely disrupted academic and administrative operations in the institution. The Minister described the government’s action as a decisive step towards holistically addressing the crisis and restoring discipline, accountability, and effective governance at the College and in other tertiary institutions facing similar issues. | | |---| According to the Minister, “This is not a fault-finding mission driven by sentiment. It is a structured intervention aimed at restoring institutional integrity and creating an environment conducive to learning and academic growth”… “The panel has been given a two-week deadline to submit its findings and recommendations to the ministry,” he said. Reaffirming the Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening institutional credibility under the Renewed Hope Agenda, Alausa urged members of the panel to approach their task with diligence, fairness, and a strong sense of national duty. Responding on behalf of the panel, its Chairman, Mohammed Abubakar (SAN) pledged a thorough and impartial investigation into the crisis at the institution. “I am accepting this knowing fully well that it is a very important responsibility… I assure you that we will leave no stone unturned in getting to the root of the problem,” Abubakar stated. He commended the Minister for his foresight in constituting the panel and lauded the selection of experienced professionals to handle the assignment. He also assured the Minister, the National Commission for Colleges of Education, and all stakeholders that the panel would discharge its duties with integrity, objectivity, and professionalism. The Terms of Reference of the Special Visitation Panel on FCE(T), Akoka were to: - Examine the historical background, nature, and scope of the crisis, including administrative, governance, and industrial relations dimensions. - Review the roles and actions of staff unions during the crisis period, including their impact on college operations, governance stability, and service delivery. - Investigate the conduct and performance of the former and acting Provosts, particularly in relation to delays in signing official documents and other administrative lapses. - Identify individuals or groups responsible for acts of misconduct, including, but not limited to, the physical locking of the Provost’s office, obstruction of administrative duties, and any other unlawful activities. - Assess the functionality and impartiality of the institution’s internal disciplinary mechanisms, including the roles of key officials such as the Registrar, internal Council members, and other implicated parties. - Evaluate whether due process and institutional regulations were observed in addressing complaints and disciplinary matters throughout the crisis. - Recommend appropriate disciplinary actions against all persons found culpable, including interdiction, dismissal, demotion, or referral to appropriate regulatory or law enforcement bodies. - Advise the Ministry on legal, administrative, and institutional reforms necessary to prevent future occurrences of similar crises in the College or other Federal Colleges of Education. Having completed its assignment since 4th September, 2025, why has the Minister of Education not received the report of the Special Visitation Panel? Our investigation reveals that this act of the Minister of Education is alien and strange to the practice and laid down processes of the Ministry of Education, which has produced great administrators and technocrats as its Ministers across different eras. Our enquiry reveals that the panel had made efforts to submit its report but the Minister has not shown interest in receiving the report, despite the fact that the representative of the Minister, Dr Ismaila Oduola Adiatu, also a Medical Doctor, was part of the panel’s sittings throughout the assignment. It is pertinent to probe why the Minister of Education is playing a waiting game this time around, despite the availability of the Report of the Panel he set up. He needs to brief the public on why there has been a delay, and if there are other interests that the Minister is answering to beyond what he can tell Nigerians. This is a public office and whoever is found guilty of maladministration, mismanagement, misbehaviour, gross misconduct should not be spared. The Minister needs to be reminded that the processes must be concluded without keeping the public in suspense. By now, it is expected that there should have been a White Paper on the report, thereby making it public, as required under the law. We strongly believe that justice delayed is justice denied. This writer’s investigations reveal that the members of the Panel were carefully selected by the Ministry of Education. The Chairman of the Special Visitation Panel, His Excellency Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar is a seasoned politician, the immediate past governor of Bauchi State, a respected legal mind, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. Other members include Mr Omotayo Folaranmi Adeyemi, who is a retired and immediate director, Human Resources Management Department of the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja. He is a versed and experienced hand in the interpretation of Civil Service Rules (CSR), Schemes and Conditions of Service, and other related policies. Professor Faruk Rashid Haruna is one of the longest-serving education administrators in Nigeria. He represented the Committee of Provosts (COP) on the Panel. He was the chairman of the COP and Provost of Federal College of Education, Kontagora, Niger State. Haruna is an experienced and seasoned administrator who was nominated to serve as a member in the Panel. Dr Ismaila Oduola Adiatu, a medical doctor, works directly as a senior special adviser (SSA) to the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr Alausa. Adiatu is medical director (MD) at the Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn, New York, United States of America. He served from the beginning of the assignment to the conclusion of the tasks. He was reported to have signed the final report of the Panel, which his boss, Dr Alausa has not received up till now. Another member of the Panel is Dr Umar Adamu Kwami, who is the director of Academic Programmes Department at the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) in Abuja, FCT. He is an experienced and seasoned administrator. Dr Smart Olugbeko also served as a member of the Special Visitation Panel. He was the president of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) at the time of the sittings. He is a chief lecturer/associate professor, educationist and administrator. Also, a unionist, negotiator and defender of staff rights. He was recorded to have insisted that due process was followed whenever any staff was being tried for one allegation or the other. He pushed to make sure that the rules were kept to without fear or favour. Comrade Ali Danladi Msheliza is the president of Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education in Nigeria (SSUCOEN). He is an administrator and deputy registrar of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Gombe. He is a defender of senior non-teaching staff and is reported to have defended the interests of its union members at different times. Comrade Msheliza served on the Special Visitation Panel from the beginning to the end. Equally, Comrade Adetunji Adeleye Carroll is the deputy general secretary representing the Non Academic Staff Union (NASU). He is a seasoned administrator, negotiator and unionist, who has represented his Union in various public and private sector panels in which NASU members were involved. Comrade Carroll represented NASU on the Special Visitation Panel from the beginning to its conclusion. Mr Godwin C Egbunefu is a deputy director in the Department of Colleges of Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja. He is a seasoned administrator who served as the Secretary of the Special Visitation Panel set up by the Minister of Education. He was in charge of the secretariat of the panel throughout its assignment. Mr Samuel Etu is a deputy director in the Department of Colleges of Education of Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja. He served as the co-secretary of the Special Visitation Panel. He assisted the secretary of the Panel throughout its assignment. He is also a seasoned administrator who has served on various panels of the Ministry at different times. With the calibre of professionals and technocrats that served on the panel, it is strange to discover that the Minister of Education has still not officially received the report of the Special Visitation Panel. The chairman of the Panel, who led other members, is a rounded administrator, as mentioned, a former public servant, former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Bauchi State branch, a former attorney general and commissioner of Justice in Bauchi State, former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) and National Electoral Commissioner (NEC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a member of the National Judicial Council, (NJC), a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and immediate past elected governor of Bauchi State on the APC platform. One would have thought that the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa would appreciate these distinguished Nigerians, professionals, administrators and unionists who served on the panel by receiving the report of the assignment he gave them and issue a white paper on their recommendations. It is to be recalled that in 2020, the former Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu also set up a special presidential visitation panel to University of Lagos (UNILAG), following the leadership crisis that engulfed the institution when the Vice Chancellor, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, was removed. The presidential visitation panel to UNILAG submitted its report on 31 August, 2021, alongside other panels. “The special presidential visitation panel was given four terms of reference to review the process of the removal of Vice-Chancellor (VC); whether it was consistent with the law, and appointment of the acting VC, whether it followed the law, whether the VC was given a fair hearing, and then the allegations that were presented by the pro-chancellor and chairman of the Council, Dr. Wale Babalakin. The Panel submitted its report, and the government considered its report and issued a white paper. The then Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Sonny Echono, said in the Tribune Online of September 23, 2021 that: “The usual practice is that when government receives a report of a visitation panel, it is to set up a white paper committee, which will make its recommendations, and the government would come out and say either ‘we accept this recommendation,’ or ‘we reject this recommendation’ and modify this to that and so on. If the same Ministry of Education approved the recommendations of the Committees of the Council and Federal Ministry of Education, why has the Minister of Education not considered the report of the Special Visitation Panel on FCE(T), Akoka, that rounded up its assignment as at 4th September, 2025? It is in the interest of justice, transparent administration, accountability, and the promotion of good governance within public institutions that the Minister should do the needful and release the white paper on the recommendations submitted to his Ministry. As responsible media commentators, we will not allow this matter to be swept under the carpet. “Thereafter, the white paper is published. Once a white paper is published, that depicts closure. The next stage is implementation and we have implemented the white paper on the special presidential visitation panel. The governing council was dissolved, the Vice Chancellor was reinstated, and we have even gone ahead subsequently to appoint and