News Editor
It was on a sunny Tuesday morning in February 2025 when Professor Patricia Manko Lar, a renowned microbiologist and academic of international repute, walked quietly but purposefully through the gates of Yakubu Gowon University (Formerly University of Abuja) after her appointment as Acting Vice Chancellor by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was announced. Cautious optimism began to stir across the university’s troubled landscape. “Maybe this one will bring us peace,” a cleaner whispered to a colleague as they watched the new helmswoman begin her familiarization tour of the campus. The university, battered by controversy, political wrangling, and deepening mistrust, was in urgent need of healing.
By the time Professor Patricia Lar assumed office on February 12, 2025, Yakubu Gowon University had become the epicenter of a governance crisis. Just weeks earlier, the institution had been thrown into turmoil following the controversial appointment of Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi as substantive Vice Chancellor by the now-dissolved Kaita-led Governing Council. Her appointment on December 31, 2024, immediately sparked outrage among senior faculty members, with 43 professors, later joined by six more, submitting a petition to President Tinubu through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. That same petition was transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Barau Jibrin, further underscoring the weight of the situation.
In the petition, the aggrieved professors alleged gross irregularities and breaches of due process, accusing the Council of manipulating the selection process to favour an internal candidate whose credentials, they argued, fell short of the requirements for such a high office. They highlighted that Maikudi had only two years of professorial experience, far below the advertised ten, and lacked significant academic visibility. The professors condemned the composition of the Council, particularly the inclusion of a representative of the Federal Ministry of Education and a businesswoman whom they deemed unqualified to assess university leadership.
Maikudi’s supporters, however, painted a different picture. According to them, her emergence was a product of due process and widely celebrated by the university community. They argued that her appointment marked the smoothest transition in the history of the institution, and that students, staff unions, alumni associations, and local stakeholders had embraced her leadership with joy. Some viewed her appointment as a triumph for internal succession and continuity in leadership.
Yet the Federal Government, in response to the uproar and after weighing all sides, acted decisively. President Bola Tinubu, in a sweeping reform move under his Renewed Hope Agenda, dissolved the Governing Council led by Air Vice Marshal Saddiq Sani Kaita, nullified Professor Maikudi’s appointment, and on February 6, 2025, appointed Professor Patricia Manko Lar as Acting Vice Chancellor of the institution. This decision signaled the Presidency’s intention to reset the course of leadership at Yakubu Gowon University (formerly University of Abuja) in line with transparency, credibility, and academic merit.
However, just as the waters seemed to be settling, another storm began to brew. In a fresh development this week, a press statement surfaced condemning a petition purportedly signed by Professor Abdulfatai Jimoh and 87 other aggrieved staff, who had called on the Chairman of the House Committee on University Education, Hon. Abubakar Hassan Fulata, to halt the ongoing process for the appointment of a substantive Vice Chancellor and Registrar. In the petition, the group decried the sacking of Professor Maikudi and the dissolution of the Governing Council, citing what they described as gross irregularities and violations in the process.
But their claims have been strongly refuted. According to a counter-statement issued by a coalition committed to defending institutional integrity, the petition is not only misleading but is also allegedly tainted by forged names and signatures. The coalition accused the petitioners of attempting to deceive the House Committee by creating the illusion of overwhelming support. “Apart from the signatory that signed on behalf of the ‘Aggrieved Staff,’ most of the names are fictitious,” the statement declared, warning against further attempts to derail the stabilizing reforms currently underway at the university.
The coalition described the intervention of the House Committee on University Education as overreach and called on the National Assembly leadership to caution the Committee against meddling in the internal processes of the university, particularly as the Acting Vice Chancellor is only acting within the legal framework provided by the Presidency.
Furthermore, the coalition revealed troubling developments under the previous administration. It cited the questionable recruitment of over 400 workers under the former Vice Chancellor, Professor AbdulRasheed Na’Allah, who are now captured into the IPPIS platform while little above 150 of are reportedly not on the IPPIS platform. It also condemned the lack of adherence to the Federal Character principle in staff employment. It is within this context that Professor Lar’s efforts to reorganize staff deployment and initiate leadership reforms at various levels are being praised as timely and necessary.
Despite these distractions, Professor Lar has remained focused on her core mandate, stabilizing the university and preparing it for a future defined by integrity, merit, and institutional harmony. Her familiarization tour across faculties and departments unearthed years of neglect, favoritism in promotions, accommodation racketeering, and the complete erosion of student unionism. She listened with empathy and moved swiftly to correct injustices. Long-denied staff promotions have since been restored. Students who had been muzzled under an undemocratic student governance structure are now finding their voice, with credible democratically elected representative student’s leadership.
The reconstitution of the Governing Council by President Tinubu, now led by Dr. Olanrewaju Tejuoso and comprising distinguished scholars from all geopolitical zones. On the 26th of June, 2025, under the watch of Prof. Lar, a well-organized election was carried out from the university senate where Prof S.P. Ejaro; Prof Hamid Ozohu-Suleiman; Prof Simon Enem and Prof A.M. Maisamri while Dr Patrick Uju and Prof Musa Olaofe emerged victorious from the university congregation to represent the university community in council in positioning the university to move forward with a renewed sense of purpose.
In all of this, Professor Patricia Lar has demonstrated that leadership in crisis is not about occupying an office, it is about responding with wisdom, acting with justice, and leading with vision. She did not arrive with blaring sirens or lofty promises. Instead, she listened, consulted, and made tough but fair decisions. Her calm, firm, and inclusive style is gradually restoring the institution’s pride and institutional balance.
Even as political undercurrents continue to swirl and some actors attempt to muddy the waters, it is clear that a majority within Yakubu Gowon University, Abuja, now look to the future with cautious optimism. The distractions of petitions, real or concocted, cannot erase the visible results of the Acting Vice Chancellor’s leadership.
Professor Patricia Manko Lar may have come into office in the heat of adversity, but she is steadily turning turmoil into triumph. And for an institution long haunted by administrative shadows, her stewardship is nothing short of a breath of fresh air.
Source: University Desk
Tabitha Goselle
Write from Abuja Public Affairs Commentator
