Pantami: The return of Professorship debate

GUEST COLUMNIST By Zayyad Muhammad

The Federal University of Technology, Owerri chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) inaugurated a  five-man probe panel on September 22, 2021, to assess the procedures used to appoint the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, as a Professor of Cybersecurity. The panel has concluded its assignment and said that due process was followed by the governing council and the management of the university in the appointment. The report by the panel is an interesting one considering the heated public debates generated by the appointment of Pantami as a Professor.

Most of the people who criticized the appointment were academics. As expected, the majority of those who supported the critics were Pantami’s political adversaries. The supporters of Pantami’s appointment were either some academics, his political supporters and those who sat on the fence.

The verdict by the five-man probe panel certainly gives Pantami and FUTO some respite. His political supporters will be very happy, while opponents of the appointment will fire more, because, majority of them are academics. Tenacious criticism on issues that concern knowledge is an attitude of academics. During the first debate, Pantami’s ‘friend’ Professor  Farooq Kperogi said- “There are basically three legitimate ways to become a Professor: by climbing the professional ladder in a university; by being appointed to the position from outside academia in recognition of vast and varied industry experience or artistic wizardly in a field; and through a courtesy appointment. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami’s record does not qualify him for any” but  Prof. Tukur Sa’ad a former Vice-Chancellor said and countered Kperogi: “A University can decide to appoint an individual to a position either through promotion or straight appointment based on the criteria they set up themselves independent of the National University Commission (NUC)”  

Pantami’s political allies and supporters will be very pleased with the report of the ASUU panel, because, they see Pantami as a potential vice presidential candidate with many advantages.  To all Pantami’s supporters, his professorship is a big addition to his credentials which his potential rivals don’t have. They are of the view that, Pantami is young, highly educated with a PhD. from the United Kingdom (UK) at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. They added that politically, Pantami is a good ‘material’ to balance a presidential ticket. He is from North-East Nigeria – he fits into the agitation for the northeast to present the vice-presidential candidate in 2023. He is a household name in the North-west. They will feel at home with him – he is their cousin. He is an Islamic scholar with a very large cult-like followership nationwide. Pantami is Buhari’s strong confidant and ally. The general belief among Pantami’s promoters is; Pantami from the North-east as vice-presidential candidate with any presidential candidate from the south, especially the southwest, will balance a presidential ticket and serve as a strategy for the APC to retain the presidency in 2023. Nevertheless, academics and opposition figures against Pantami’s professorship will continue to hit hard while his political rivals will clap for them. Pantami and his supporters should be well-prepared for the game.

Zayyad I. Muhammad writes from Abuja, zaymohd@yahoo.com.