“My main Objective is to see that service is been delivered as at when due, and to ensure that no student suffers because of lack of service delivery”
Prof. Solomon.S. Oyeleke is a Professor of Microbiology, the present Head of Microbiology Department and the Nodal Officer of SERVICOM UNIT all in Federal University of Technology, Minna Niger State. In this interview with FAITH OLANIRAN he bares his mind on the state of effective service delivery within all stakeholders in the University and how students are affected by ineffectual service delivery.
Q: Over time Nigeria had introduced various policies to measure effective service delivery, with all these there is said to be decline what is your take on it?
A: There are so many factors that can be attributed to the decline of effective service delivery in the country, one of such is remuneration and general attitude to work had cause this over 30 years, secondly, the government had tried its best but the foundation is weak because is not well laid. Correction should start from the top, if the top is well organized to make effective changes will be easy. The only way to make it effective is the creation of SERVICOM by the Federal Government of Nigeria under the Led Administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo which is to put in place measures in making service delivery effective. With this the unit still needs the corporation of everybody, which had been the major challenge in carrying all stakeholders along. The decadence had being for long which had eaten up so deep that the mentality of people toward work had changed.
Q: What are the measures servicom unit have in place to make service delivery effective on the campus?
A: Firstly I will want to thank the Vice-Chancellor of the Institution for equipping the unit with everything needed to make it vibrant and constituting it under his office, the problem the unit have is that because of the long lag of decadence is difficult for people to fall in place with the policies of the unit. You find people not coming to work on time and they will close on time with these attitudes service will equally not be delivered, all these are what the unit is putting in place but we thank God people are now yielding over time and service is been put in place gradually not 100% but at least we have left from 0% to let say 50%
Q: The University community comprises of Non-teaching staffs, Teaching Staffs and the Students, how do you intend how with all of them and to check mate issues between these various stakeholders to help your unit?
A: Usually I have dialogue with all the head, the presidents of Student Union Government, Senior Staff Academic Union of University, Academic Staff Union of University and Non Academic Staff Union of University chapter of the university are always in working terms with us constantly. If we have any challenge with any of their member is just a matter of notifying them in carrying them along and they have been always positive to the unit. We thank God so far so good our efforts have yielded a lot of results by dialoguing with each individual. The unit has made great use of the dialoguing tool by which we call any individual wanting to know that what he/she had done is not lawful and associations head to make things straight with their members. That now people walk to the unit freely and file in complains and we get it solved for them.
Q: What are your main objectives you want to achieve as the SERVICOM Nodal officer of the University?
A: My main Objectives in this office is one to see that service is been delivered as at when due, to see that nobody suffers because of lack of service delivery and to ensure that under this period there will be no student unrest neither will there be any staff unrest as a result of one thing or the other and I think we are trying and by the grace of God we are achieving that.
Q: What are the measures the unit had put in place to get the students and every stakeholder on campus oriented about effective service delivery?
A: We have monthly sanitation exercise to all students hall of residence within the campuses of the institution monthly, some of our greatest challenges is that the hostels are not yet what we want it to be, I was able to drag the principal officers of the school to go and see the hostel and the environment for themselves. They appreciated the challenges we are having and promised to do something about some of the things we pointed out and they have started work on it. That has helped us a lot so the monthly sanitation is very efficient, I agree that some of the students come from a very weak background but nonetheless at least we are trying the best we can and we pointed out the heels that should be corrected by the administration and they promised to act towards it.
Q: Talking about your relationship with students, how effective as it been to the up-liftment of your objectives?
A: Some of the students are not aware about the importance of SERVICOM in the university, but those that come here with their problems regularly get them solve. The population is not as high as we expect our office should be busier than what it is now, and that is because many students are not aware of the function of the unit. The few that do and the staffs frighten them that they have gone to report to servicom are equally afraid. So SERVICOM had become a big whip that the staffs are afraid of on campus and they had created that fear in students so that students will be afraid to bring matters to SERVICOM.
Q: Many students are afraid to report matters affecting them to servicom because lecturers threatening students who try to do such. What can SERVICOM do in such cases?
A: In such cases we call the lecturer and assure the student that nothing will happen to him/her as long as the unit is aware of the situation, because we make sure we are fair in our sense of judgement. When we interrogate the staff involve and explain out from his/her side and we get the students view, we will we judge the matter in accordance with the University rule and regulations. There are series of cases we are handling on behalf of students such as missing results, miscalculation of results, molestation but to mention a few. By the time we get all the raw data to process each case we believe that the student will have fair judgement, for a case of miscalculated result as an example the unit will have the raw grade of such a student and the lecturer involve will definitely present his/her own raw grade then we compare and contrast and get that which is right.
Q: Sir, lastly what will be your departing word to the students?
A: in every area of life there are always challenges and when a unit is put in place that is involve to advise, admonish and guide I advise students to come openly to the unit if there are harassment of any kind, unnecessary collection of inducement they should come freely to the unit and lay their complains. We had a case where a department was collecting money for examination card we wade in and stopped such and another case where students in a department were forced to make payment in acquiring the departmental library books; we also came into the picture and made free the students. These are some of the case we have treated it might not be known to the whole public but students that were involved do really appreciate it. We just do not sleep in the unit we wake up to our responsibilities, and we make we challenge those ungodly acts.
