UNILAG has 35,000 students and -- despite a national professional staff union strike that had grounded every other university in Nigeria -- was bustling with activity.  (UNILAG's professional staff quit the union a couple of years ago.)  This situation is significant: UNILAG has the best record for maintaining an academic calendar.  Whereas other Nigerian universities struggle to complete a semester a year -- hampered by student protests, administrative closures, staff strikes, and student "cult" activity -- UNILAG stays open and on-course.

Many of their colleagues at other universities expressed a mix of admiration and contempt for UNILAG's ability to make money from their corporate training and various consultative activities.  UNILAG is viewed by its members and colleagues as being "in the right place."  By this they mean "Lagos," the largest city in Nigeria and the hub of Nigerian commerce.

The VC, Professor Jelili Omotola, relates that UNILAG has tried unsuccessfully to put a computer program into place and build a network.  He has determined that he has, "the wrong persons in place" and said he has recently (having just been elected to a second term as VC) "cleaned shop."  In fact, the VC took this opportunity to scold the director of the UNILAG computer Centre, deride his group's productivity (he declared the computer center was "just a bunch of outdated and dusty machines") and announce that he had sacked several people that very morning.

UNILAG Vice Chancellor,  Professor Jelili Omotola

Originally quizzical about my visit, Professor Omotola did a dramatic and edifying double take when he connected my name with the University of Jos.  He immediately called for a half dozen department heads to join our meeting and asked me to come to work for the university.  I assured him I could not.  The VC pointed out that UNILAG has a chunk of government grant money that it needs to spend and is looking for ideas on how to do so in the next few weeks.  He asked me to return for several days (if not years) at the end of my tour to work with his staff to develop a plan.  I agreed to stop by for a couple of hours on the 20th before flying back to the 'States.

The VC is interested in UNILAG becoming a "reference point" for all the other Nigerian universities. 

(Of course, I heard the standard pitch about UNILAG being "the biggest, the baddest, and the best University in all of sub-Saharan Africa."  

There's no reason to fret about the Nigerian's sense of self esteem…)

From L-R: The director of the Computer Centre (??); the DVC Admin, Prof. Adekola; USIS CAO, Shirley Lisenby; and the Dean of the Law School (??)

After meeting with the "Ogas", we met for about an hour with the Director of the Computer Centre, the DVC Admin, and the Dean of the Law School.  

They admitted that no computer project they have launched to date has been effective.  They got a couple dozen computers from a local bank, but have sequestered them for security reasons.  Their plans are pretty standard and uncomplicated: buy a bunch of computers; get a satellite dish; parcel out the computers to those who need them most; and sell their Internet connectivity to make money for the university.

I coached them on considerations for either installing their own network or contracting with a local vendor.  I introduced the idea of defining cable pathways between buildings that would be safe and upgradable.  I suggested that they run fiber between buildings and copper inside building; leaving the original fiber installation to an outside contractor and focusing on training their people to install the copper segments.  

I also advised them not to think about being Internet Service Providers.  For more on this topic, see the topic: Universities as Internet Service Providers? 

Our meeting having run overtime, Shirley and I were looking forward to touring the student dining facilities on our way buy Naira before our afternoon meetings.  However, the dean of the Law School (whose name still escapes me!) insisted that we visit the Law school and discuss some more pressing matters.  He sent his assistant off to find food and we agreed to a short meeting.

UNILAG Law School Dean Professor ???

The meeting took several awkward turns as guests filed in and out.  The gentleman was apparently trying to talk with Shirley and I separately while we were in the same room. 

He spent a determined amount of time with me trying to get me to concede to return to the Univ. of Lagos in the spring and hold a training.  Given my penchant for training, I'd normally love to do something along these lines except for one thing: the good professor wasn't talking about training university staff or students -- he was talking about using the university facilities and my expertise to put on a for-profit training for the private sector.  

"You really should think about it, boy.  You could go home with a lot of money in your pocket."  

I cite this as an example of the shenanigans that have become commonplace in Nigerian universities.  To be fair to the entrepreneurial professors, their salaries, even in Nigerian terms, are chump change.  Every proud practitioner in higher education has been compromised by the economic drubbing the university is taken over the last many years at the hands of the military administrations.

I returned to UNILAG the evening I was to fly out.   It was a rushed meeting, since I only arrived in Lagos at 5:00 PM and I needed to be at the airport at 8:00 PM.  I met briefly with the Vice Chancellor, and he let me know he would like me to meet with his computer committee and then meet again -- privately -- with him before I left. 

I did meet with the computer committee; it was an enthusiastic and fruitful endeavor.  The computer committee had been doing its homework.   They announced that they had abandoned the notion of becoming an ISP and were now planning to put their money into a basic Ethernet network and email system.  They identified four stages they'd like their growth to follow:

Stage One - Build basic campus network
Stage Two - Connect to Internet via ISP
Stage Three - Hook up distance campus via wireless LAN
Stage Four - Hook up Medical School

They reiterated their doubts about waiting on the NUC to deliver satellite connectivity and declared that they were a more powerful university than all the others and would be in the best position to secure a satellite dish on their own.

They asked if they could send their technicians to Iowa for training and I said, "We'll have to wait and see."

We discussed a few other technical issues, I gave them a pep talk about "Commando Networking" and "overtraining," and then they took me on a tour of a room which had -- gasp -- over 100 Pentium computers STILL IN THE BOX and languishing because they hadn't yet determined what to do with them.

I stopped by the see the VC as I was rushing to leave for the airport.  Unfortunately,  two of the committee members joined me for the "send off."  Hence the VC did not get his desired private consulting.  I could tell the VC was disappointed.  However, given my tight schedule, there was no room to maneuver.

This underlines for me the suspicion and confusion that surrounds a lot of these issues at the universities.  Here's a group of people making large, expensive, and potentially explosive decisions without much information to go on.  At virtually every university I've worked with I've met individuals on such committees who were simply trying to line their own pocket.  I met others who didn't know who they could trust in the process.  And virtually every player has complained that they suffer for a lack of impartial advice. 

As one VC quoted, "Everyone who wants to talk to us has something to sell." 

It's a tough situation.