‘IPPIS unsuitable for varsity system’ — JAMB registrar backs ASUU

Ishaq Oloyede, the registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has faulted the use of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) for varsities.

In the past year, the adoption of the IPPIS for payment of staff in varsities across the country has continued to elicit heated controversies.

The federal government had claimed the initiative would foster transparency and “block leakages” in the system.

But the Academic Union of Universities (ASUU) had opposed the move, arguing that it will undermine the autonomy of varsities.

The union instead proposed the University Transparency Accountability Solutions (UTAS) as an alternative.

The dust over the IPPIS initiative was among the issues that led to the nine-month strike embarked upon by ASUU in 2020.

It was also responsible for the union’s latest one-month strike across the country.

Commenting on the issue during a recent virtual lecture, Oloyede said IPPIS is not suitable for the university system.

The JAMB registrar said while he is not a fan of ASUU, he is in support of the union’s stance on the adoption of IPPIS in varsities.

“I am not a fan of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, but they have a point here. IPPIS is unsuitable for the university system,” he said.

The JAMB registrar also lamented the surge in varsities in the country, adding that the government should rather focus on funding existing institutions.

“Also, we must be careful of the number of universities we are having, especially the ones being set up by government agencies and the military,” he added.

“We already have the Nigerian Defence Academy which trains officers for all the arms of the military. We also have the Police Academy that trains police officers, it can also help in training para-military men too.

“In that regard, we don’t need more than one or two. If care is not taken, we will soon have the ‘University of Road Safety’ or the ‘University of Civil Defence’. Adequately funding existing universities should be our focus,” Oloyede added.

The lecture titled ‘Synchronising cacophony: Interrogating some issues of concepts and perception in the Nigerian higher education topology,’ was held in honour of Peter Okebukola, ex-executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC).