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University of Lagos Crisis: How Professor Ogundipe Disregarded Procedures, Laws and Misappropriated N800m in 3 Years
As reactions continue trailing the removal of Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, more details have emerged on how the sacked Chief Executive Officer of the University ignored extant procedures and laws for the award of contracts and management of the Institution’s various units. These were contained in a widely circulated extracts of reports of committees instituted by the Governing Council to investigate alleged financial misdemeanor of Professor Ogundipe, who became Vice Chancellor in 2017.
Before the release of the extracts to the public, several reports indicate that the sacked Vice Chancellor has approached Court through his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, to challenge his “purported removal” in court. Reports have also revealed how various unions in the institution kicked against his removal and rejected by the University Senate. Meanwhile, an examination of the extracts from the Committees’ reports by our analyst indicates that Professor Ogundipe misappropriated N845,319,951.84 [see University of Lagos Extracts from Reports of Committees].
The report, which was signed by Dr. Mohammad Saminu Dagari, Council Member, indicates that N576,019,494.30 was spent without the approval of F&GPC and N117,942,000.00 was spent on engaging contractors without valid contract processes. It was also found that the sum of N151,358,457.54 was paid to varied contractors after their contracts expired.
On foreign and local travels of staff for conferences, visits and other activities, the extracts reveal a number of financial recklessness. For example, some of the staff who went on foreign trips were found to have more funds than what the Vice Chancellor can approve. A number of them spent beyond stipulated amount for an estacode while on foreign trips. In the Postgraduate School and the College of Medicine, various poor accountability and financial practices were also found by the Committees.
Financial Issues with Income Generating Units
Apart from the spending without approval by the relevant committees of the University Council, the extracts from the reports also weaknesses of income generating units in the University. Some of the issues in select units are reproduced below;
- UNILAG Radio has been in existence for a long time and in 2014 fetched a revenue of N21,025,873 before the decline of revenue to N6,867,371 and N 12,203,860 in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
- Not all the Income Generating Units operate separate Bank Accounts.
- UNILAG Holding Company Limited. From 2014 to 2018, there was no year that the group of companies made any profit leading to a total loss of N190.509 million. Its worst year of operation was 2017 when it recorded a loss of more than N100 million. Total tax liability of N94,117,000.
- Key Financial Summary of UNILAG Guest Houses and Conference Centre Ltd (2014-2018). The worst revenue decline was observed, from N200.676 million in 2016 to N 49.487 million in 2017, when Golden Tulips West Africa Hospitality Management Limited (GTWA) ran the Guest Houses. In 2017, the company reported a loss of N52.501million due to its inability to generate enough revenue to cover its operational expenses.
- University of Lagos Pharmaceuticals Ltd. During the period 2015 to 2019, the company made a total loss of N6.192 million; Apart from 2016 when it made a profit before tax of N8.831 million, the company made a total loss of N33.01 million from 2014 to 2018. A major reason for the losses reported by the company is the high cost of administrative expenses in comparison with the gross profit made. For examples, administrative expenses amounted to 162.4% and 182.8% of gross profit in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
- The UNILAG Bookshop made a total loss of N37.422 million during the period 2014 to 2018.
- During the period 2014 to 2018 UNILAG Press made a total loss of N20.466 million.
- UNILAG CONSULT. During the period from December 2015 to December 2018, the company recorded a total loss N64,391,568, although a profit ofN17,427,835 was reported in 2017.
- Distance Learning Institute. The total revenue recorded over the 2014-2018 five-year period was highest in 2014 with a figure of Nl,621,108,960.00 (one billion six hundred and twenty-one million one hundred and eight thousand nine hundred and sixty naira only). The figure however fell to N1,136,513,747.00 in 2017 and finally N1,154,320,072.00 in 2018.
Lionel Messi Tells Barcelona FC He Wants to “Leave Immediately’ Following the Club’s Crisis
After the horror of Friday night’s game against Bayern Munich in Lisbon, Lionel Messi has reportedly told Barcelona he’s had enough, and wants to leave the club immediately.
Esporte Interativo reported that the Argentine astro has communicated his desire to leave the Catalan side after crisis talk, following seasonal woeful performances that have consecutively characterized its Champions League outings.
On Friday night, Barcelona suffered a humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich, dashing the Spanish giants hope to clinch the Champions League trophy once again, and compounding the sad tales of lost hopes emanating from the loss of crucial Champions League matches in the past seasons.
The preceding seasons saw Barcelona losing semi-final matches 1-4 to AS Roma, after a 3-1 first leg lead, and 0-4 to Liverpool after a 3-0 lead. The results had forced Messi to break his promise of bringing the Champions League trophy back to Camp Nou.
Messi’s reluctance to renew his contract with Barcelona had suggested he’s considering bidding farewell to his childhood club. He arrived at Barcelona at a tender age of 13 and has since grown to become the world best player for a record six times, among other titles.
However, recent happenings in the club have caused him to reconsider his future with the Spanish side. The situation deteriorated when Real Madrid came from behind to snatch the league from Barcelona, a development he attributed to poor management, complacency and lack of commitment by some of his team mates. Messi was counting on the Champions League to assuage the painful loss, and said a lot of changes needed for the team to win.
“If we want to win the Champions League, we need to change many things and get more serious. If we continue like this, we will lose against Napoli, and we will not win the Champions League,” he said after Real Madrid won La Liga.
Messi had earlier criticized the club’s president, Josep Bartomeu and his board over poor management of the club, which forced the players to take 70% pay cuts so that the staff of the club could be paid as coronavirus forced fans out of the stadia, halting revenue generated through ticket sales.
Manchester City has indicated interest in bringing the 32 years old to Etihad Stadium, and has been observing the events as they unfold at Camp Nou.
Messi has a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave for free at the end of every season but it expired at the end of May. That means, his £635 million current buy-out clause makes him unaffordable for every club, though City said they are ready to break the bank to see him reunite with Guardiola.
While City waits for a signal from Barcelona, it is believed that Messi may have said he is leaving to force the necessary changes in the club, given how critical he has been about everything, and what the frustration of not winning trophies can force him to do.
In 2016, Messi announced his retirement from international football after missing a penalty as Argentina lost a shoot-out to Chile in the Copa America final. It took a global barrage of entreatment to persuade his change of mind.
However, Bartomeu said there is going to be changes in the club in the coming weeks, after calling the situation “tough” and the match a “disaster.”
“I feel bad for everyone, for all the members, for the fans, for the players and for everyone. Because we are not being the team that we are and the club that we should be, and I feel so bad about it… and now is the time to take some decisions. We need to take these decisions because we need to take them, and then there are some others we need to take now,” he said after Barcelona’s match against Bayern.
It is yet to be known if the decisions will involve selling Messi and using the fund to revamp the team. Barcelona has a €500 million annual wage bill, the highest in Europe, and with the financial crisis induced by the pandemic, the club cannot afford to buy new players without selling some. The club may be willing to sacrifice its greatest asset, Lionel Messi to build a new team.
Learn Financial Modelling and Company Valuation at Tekedia Mini-MBA
Whether you are an accountant, attorney, investment banker, software engineer, economist or [fill], by the time you are done with Tekedia Mini-MBA, you will have templates, videos and resources which would help you to build financial models and ascertain the valuation of your business. From tomorrow, edition 2 members will begin to learn how to create financial models and valuations of companies. Edition 3 members are going to be introduced to the grand playbook of business, from the beginning to the end, and what needs to happen to thrive. Still time to join edition 3.
Some images from class note.
Credit:corporatefinanceinstitute.com
Credit: modano.com
The Impossible 17,831 Jobless PhDs In Nigeria
Update: There is new information on this post, here.
You might have read that bogus claim that Nigeria has about 17,800 unemployed PhD holders. And the publisher is citing the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria. I have done everything to track the original report, but so far, I have not been successful. But just glancing through Tekedia, I noticed a piece by Mutiu Iyanda, apparently extrapolating on the same source.
Beyond the general statistics, 17,831 PhD holders [out of 76,526] categorised under those who work for 1 to 19 hours caught our analyst’s attention. According to the statistical agency, Nigeria has 521,108 citizens with masters degree certificates, ranging from Msc, MA to MBA. Out of this number, 284,149 and 23,742 are fully employed and unemployed respectively, while 95,769 are not engaged in any work-related activities.
Of course, without my data, there is no way I can dispute or challenge anyone. Nonetheless, I do not believe that Nigeria has more than 1,000 PhDs without jobs. To my knowledge, one of the biggest problems in most universities today is that there are not many PhDs to teach. I am not aware of any PhD graduate in Nigeria that is (physically) fit for work that is unemployed in Nigeria. I think it is largely impossible because PhD is a career insurance as you can always find a school to teach! Indeed, because of human capacity scarcity, the federal government exempted professors from the typical retirement age limit, making it possible for them to work till 70 years.
And most are working, on contracts, well past 70 years because schools, especially in engineering, cannot find replacements. The brain drain on doctors makes news but check some electrical engineering and computer science departments, they continue to struggle to retain junior faculty. Of course, after this long strike, expect that problem to be exacerbated.
So, when you look at all the pieces, 17,800 unemployed PhDs in Nigeria should be near impossible.