INFLUENCE OF POLITICS ON THE APPOINTMENT OF VICE CHANCELLORS, MEMBERS OF GOVERNING COUNCILS AND OTHER PRINCIPAL OFFICERS IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN THE NORTH-WEST STATES OF NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the Influence of Politics on the Appointment of Vice-Chancellors, Members of Governing Councils and Other Principal Officers in Public Universities in the North-West States of Nigeria. Specially, the study examined the staff perception of the influence of political factors on the appointment of vice chancellors, Members of Governing Councils and other principal officers in public universities in North-West States of Nigeria such as partisan politics, ethnic and sectional considerations, religious affiliation, favoritism, the quota system and catchment areas policy. Three (3) research questions and three (3) hypotheses respectively guided the study. The review of related literature was done under the Conceptual /framework which identified the influence of political factors on the appointment of vice-chancellors, members of governing councils and other principal officers in public universities. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised twelve thousand one hundred (12,100) Academic and Senior administrative staff from 13(thirteen) public universities in North-West States of Nigeria. A sample of one thousand two hundred and ten (1,210) of Academics and Senior Administrative Staffs from Ten (10) chosen universities was used for the study. A 15-items structured questionnaire was developed by the researchers titled “Influence of Politics and Appointment of Vice Chancellors and Council Members Questionnaire (IPACMQ)’’ was used to collect data for the study. A reliability estimate of 0.82 was established for the instrument. Mean and Standard Deviations were used to answer the research questions while Chi-square was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that partisan politics, ethnic, sectional factors, religious, favoritism, the quota system and catchment area policy significantly influenced appointment of vice chancellors, members of governing councils and other principal officers in public universities in the North-West States of Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended amongst others that the search committee of each university should transparently screen the Vice-Chancellors, before their appointment. Also, the congregation committee of each university should ensure that members of governing councils are thoroughly screened before their appointment. Finally, the senate search committee should be empowered to recommend other principal officers before appointment. Therefore they should not be handpicked by the President or Governors and Vic-Chancellors, so as to reduce the influence of politics on the appointment of key officers in public universities. Conclusions were made and the implications of the findings drawn.