The Federal Character Commission expressed disappointment on Thursday because chief executives from the supervisory bodies of federal tertiary institutions did not attend the commission meeting.
The meeting was held to familiarise the three primary bodies—the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), and the National Universities Commission (NUC)—with the concepts of FCC for recruiting. The NUC and NBTE provided representatives, while the NCCE was absent from the meeting.
The FCC chairwoman, Muheeba Dankaka, expressed dismay at the absence of the bodies’ chief executives. She stated that she could only approach the principals of those institutions on problems related to employment or recruitment, not their representatives.
Ms Dankaka said her decision was in accordance with the Nigerian constitution guiding its decisions regarding employment.
According to her, the meeting’s aim was to sensitise them to the need to adhere to the principles of the FCC in view of the recent recruitment waiver the federal government gave them.
Ms Dankaka said, “We are trying to sensitise them on the need to adhere to the principles of FCC, based on the recent circular that gives them waiver from certain authorities, so that they should not overlook the constitutional essence of FCC.
“Our duty is to sensitise and educate the chief executives so that they can comply with the principles of FCC incorporation to the constitution so that every Nigerian should have a sense of belonging in their nation. We want everybody to be treated equally irrespective of ethnicity, background, social status or where you come from, that’s why the FCC is trying to sensitise organisations so that they should not forget and go against the law.”
She said the law only permits the FCC to meet with the chief executives who implement their organisations’ mandates, not the representatives of any organisation.
Ms Dankaka added, “When you are sending someone in proxy and does not have the capacity for what we are going to discuss, he will go back and inform the chief executive.
”The chief executive will not take it seriously because he was not there to understand the integrity of what we are talking about. We have seen that in several instances. So, that’s why we want to deal with the chief executives so that it will be well understood. We are here for interactions where they are free to ask questions and go home with full knowledge of the discussion.”
While both NBTE and NUC representatives explained reasons for the absence of their principals, Ms Dankaka shifted the meeting to an unannounced date which would be communicated to them by the commission.