Crisis at UB, lecturers appeal to Minister to intervene

Lecturers of UB last week confronted the Minister of Higher Education, Prof Fame Ndongo and prayed him to step in and save the careers of their two colleagues who are being “persecuted” by the university administration.

In Cameroon, unlike in most anglo-saxon countries vice-chancellors of universities and even deans of faculties and provosts of specialized institutions of higher learning are appointed by the president of the republic and not elected by their peers.

This creates a situation whereby appointed university managers pay allegiance only to the head of state, who appointed them, and never to their peers, and at times not even the supervisory minister of all universities- the minister of higher education.

It is against this backdrop that this reporter asked the question whether the vice chancellor of the University of Buea, Prof. Pauline Egbe Nalova Lyonga, will heed an appeal by the minister of higher education for lecturers and the administration of Universities to adopt dialogue as an instrument of administration and crisis management.

Prof. Fame Ndongo made the fervent appeal during a seminar he organized in Yaounde last week to sensitize university dons on the need to always resort to dialogue and conciliation instead of rushing into crisis, whenever there are disputes in university campuses.

The seminar brought together representatives of central and external administration of universities, representatives of lecturers’ trade unions of universities and other stakeholders in the management of universities.

Crisis in UB Though the crisis prevailing in the University of Buea was not brought to the fore during the seminar on Tuesday, some representatives of the University Lecturers Trade Union SYNES UB chapter took upon themselves to confront minister Fame Ndongo with their grievances. They met the minister on the corridors of the ministry in Yaounde, on the sidelines of the seminar.

Dr. Abangma and Dr. Fontem Neba, president and scribe of SYNES UB respectively, told this reporter that during their meeting with the minister they painted the true picture of the crisis at UB and presented the true facts of the case that pits the administration of UB against two of their colleagues.

In an interview later with this reporter (see complete interview below), Dr. Fontem Neba said they told the minister that the facts presented to him by the UB administration were “lies fabricated with the sole intention to destroy the careers of their two colleagues.”

He said they made the minister to know that all attempts by members of Synes to get the VC to dialogue with the lecturers met with a recalcitrant and uncompromising Prof. Pauline Egbe Nalova Lyonga.

To Dr. Fontem, the VC does not act like the mother that she is supposed to be, especially in her approach to finding solutions to crises in UB. He says Prof. Pauline Egbe Nalova eschews dialogue by every means and acts somewhat like a wolf at the helm of UB. He said it was for that reason that they prayed the minister to step in without much delay and quell the current tension that reigns at UB before it degenerates into another crisis.

Doctors Fontem and Abangma said it is with cautions hope that they will be returning to Buea, after their meeting with the minister.

Non-payment of special research grants The seminar at the MINESUP also afforded a veritable forum and platform for the minister to dialogue with university lecturers on the subject of the delays in the payment of the special research and development allowances.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister in his characteristic soft but incisive tone, chastised the lecturers for taking an internal matter in the university family to the public domain, which prompted some newspapers to report that “Cameroonian Universities have been paralyzed by lecturers’ strikes”.

Prof. Fame Ndongo explained to the lecturers that the government has every intention to pay their research grants in good time, but constraints and other pressures at the state treasury have not permitted the minister of finance to disburse the funds on time.

Fame Ndongo appealed to the lecturers to hold their patience and wait for the finance minister to put together the funds so that every lecturer can receive their dues.

“Your research allowances, I mean all your money would be paid and in good time,” the minister said. But the minister at once told the lecturers that he could not give a precise date for the payments because it is only the finance minister who knows when the treasury is viable or not.

The minister used the occasion to remind the lecturers that the government is a partner and not an enemy to their career development.

Fame Ndongo explained that the head of state wants dialogue to take precedence within university campuses and that was why he created a full division in charge of dialogue and conciliation at the MINESUP and appointed a former leader of SYNES, Prof. Barrister Yanou Mike to head the division and serve as interface and focal point for the settlement of disputes on campuses.

Reaction:

You just ended a seminar with representatives of the administration of universities and lecturers. What was the objective of the seminar?

We wanted University lecturers to understand the basic dynamics for dialogue; we wanted them to ensure that whenever there is a crisis within the university community they should be able to dialogue. We want teachers of universities to always resort to dialogue and not strikes, and for the university administration to know that dialogue is strength and not a weakness. We want our colleagues to inculcate the values of conciliation rather than rush into crisis. We also expect the university administration to see the need to talk with their colleagues of the trade unions because talking is not weakness but strength.

Lecturers are also complaining of non-payment of their special research and development allowance. Do you expect them to also dialogue on this?

It is the government’s desire to pay the research modernization allowance. But you know there are many other things the government has to do – Health, security, stabilizing the economy etc. All these things are done according to the viability of the state treasury at a given time. Like the minister said, the research allowances would be paid and in good time. He asked the lecturers to be a little patient and wait for that time to come. And I should point out here that ever since the research allowance was instituted in 2009, there has not been a year that it was not paid. That is why I share the minister’s opinion that lecturers should go back to class and wait for the money to be ready.