The Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Professor Kabiru Bala, has issued three queries to a lecturer and publisher of an education magazine in the institution over criticisms of the university’s activities.

According to the Publisher and Group Editor-in-Chief of the Education Monitor Group of newspapers, Mallam Waziri Isa Adam, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bala, issued three queries to him a few months before the expiration of his five-year tenure.

Adam, who is also a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, said his “findings revealed that hawks around the Vice-Chancellor and major beneficiaries of his administration, who are obsessed with my consistent watchdog role in the university, are behind this new wave of hostility”.

“They have long been insisting that the Vice-Chancellor silence me, the publisher, an action they believe will be welcomed and celebrated by his admirers and foot soldiers as one of his legacies.”

“To achieve this, I, the publisher, who is also a lecturer at the Mass Communication Department of the university, was issued three queries on the same day, within one minute, to explain within 48 hours why disciplinary action should not be taken against me for writing stories that allegedly portray the university in a bad light.”

The queries, signed by the Institution’s Deputy Registrar, Human Resources Administration, Dalhatu Salihu, and made available to journalists, cited reports with captions such as “Mysterious Fire Engulfs ABU Cash Office”, “Handover Protocol…”, and “Yayale’s Appointment As ABU Pro-Chancellor: VC’s Camp Celebrate Appointment, Hopes to have Chair on its Side”.

The queries claimed that the reports were malicious, outrageous, false, and culpable of inciting members of the university against itself.

Meanwhile, in his reply to the queries, Mallam Adam, in a letter dated June 7, 2024, appreciated the attention to the matter and his willingness to explain.

However, he requested clarifications on which specific paragraphs in the articles were deemed malicious, stating that “without this information, it was challenging to provide a comprehensive response.”

He further urged “the university to specify the offending sections and explain how they allegedly incite violence or harm against the university”.

Once clarified, he promised to explain his reasoning, provide evidence to support his reporting and address any concerns they may have.

However, Adam said he viewed the queries as an attempt to stop him from publishing his Special Report on the Vice-Chancellor’s five-year stewardship”.

He also expressed “shock and bewilderment at the unusual delivery of the queries to my residence by stern-looking university staff, who appeared to be security operatives, around 6:05 pm”, while querying, “What was their motive for coming to my house late in the evening with handcuffs?”

“Why the urgency in delivering the letter to me amidst my family? Why couldn’t they wait to deliver it to me the following day in my office or during working hours in the department?”

Adam, however, added that “any disciplinary action without clear justification would not only be unjust but also contradict principles of academic freedom and press freedom and would be challenged in a court of competent jurisdiction”.

Meanwhile, ABU authorities have confirmed the queries issued to the don.

The institution’s Director of Public Affairs Directorate, Mallam Awwalu Umar, who spoke with the Guardian, said, “The University cannot be watching for one its lecturers to continue to put the institution in bad light through unsubstantiated writings in order to discredit the university in the eyes of the public.”

According to Umar, the lecturer who is an assistant lecturer in the Mass Communication department has written three reports in his magazine putting the university in a bad light and without seeking any side of the university in his reports.

He said, “There was one report by him last year December when he alleged that fire gulped the cash office of the university. Whereas such a thing didn’t happen. It was a small part of my office in the Directorate where we used to keep obsolete computers and other items that were affected by fire.

“This lecturer went ahead in his magazine and said it was the cash office. Trying to create a negative impression in the eyes of the public. He did not once get the side of the university in all the unsubstantiated reports.”

“This is a Lecturer whose PhD program was sponsored by ABU, and yet is still an assistant lecturer in his department in the past eight years.

“The University cannot sit down and watch one of its staff continue to behave in a manner that will continue to put the University in a bad light without being queried”. (The Guardian)

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