- says: ‘Integrity is the Ultimate Currency of a University’
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilesa, Osun State, Prof Taiwo Olufemi Asaolu, has declared that integrity remains the ultimate currency of any university, warning that without ethical standards, the credibility and sustainability of higher institutions would be severely undermined.
He made the assertion while delivering the keynote lecture at the Second Bursary and Internal Audit Annual Lecture of Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State.
The lecture was titled “Ethics Under Pressure: Managing Financial Risks and Integrity in University Governance.”
The university’s spokesman, Mr Williams Olufunmi, said in a statement that Asaolu addressed an audience of academics, administrators and financial managers, the renowned scholar of accounting and public sector governance.
The don maintained that integrity in University administration is sacrosanct, indivisible and cannot be fractionalised, emphasizing that ethical conduct must remain the foundation of university governance.
He said that academic ethics and financial ethics are fundamentally intertwined, noting that a failure in one inevitably compromises the other.
Also, he advised the universities to strengthen internal control systems, reinforce ethical training and ensure that governance structures are designed to withstand increasing financial and administrative pressures within the higher education sector.
He said that “ethical stewardship is the pathway to institutional stability,” adding that universities must deliberately foster a culture of transparency, accountability and responsibility at all levels of administration.
According to Olufunmi, Prof Asaolu also advanced a number of policy recommendations aimed at strengthening ethical governance in Nigerian universities.
These include, in the main, “the call on the National Universities Commission (NUC) to develop a “Governance Integrity Index” for ranking universities, which he said would create healthy competition among institutions to maintain high ethical standards.”
The statement said, “Professor Asaolu further proposed that university governing councils should establish independent Audit and Risk Committees made up of external experts to enhance objective oversight of financial management systems.
“He also advocated the implementation of comprehensive whistle-blowing policies and continuous ethical training programmes by university managements to enable early detection of fraud and strengthen a culture of accountability within institutions.
“In addition, the scholar urged universities to fully automate their financial ecosystems through their bursary departments, noting that digital financial systems would significantly reduce human error and eliminate manual leakages.”
In her contributions, the chairman of the occasion and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Professor Adenike Temidayo Oladiji, described pressure as an inevitable part of human existence.
She explained that institutions must develop appropriate coping mechanisms to manage such pressures within their operational contexts.
Also, the Chief Host of the Lecture and Vice-Chancellor of Elizade University, Prof Philip Gbenro Oguntunde, who was represented by the Chairman of the Committee of Deans, Prof Joseph Fabayo, reaffirmed the university’s commitment to its vision of building a world-class institution anchored on excellence in research, teaching and community service.
He noted that ethical governance and sound financial management remain central to the university’s development vision, stressing that universities must continually strengthen accountability systems in order to sustain public confidence in the higher education sector.
In his welcome address, the Bursar of Elizade University, Mr. Olusegun Ajeigbe, noted that the theme of the lecture was particularly timely, given the social, financial and political pressures confronting professionals responsible for managing the finances of universities and corporate organisations.
He observed that financial managers across Nigeria’s university system currently oversee the finances of about 309 universities, with 54 per cent (168) being privately owned and 46 per cent public institutions, a responsibility that often comes with enormous ethical pressures.
He said, “As professional managers of resources, we require strong leadership qualities, clear frameworks, uncompromising values and refined organisational cultures to resist undue ethical pressures in our daily activities.”
Ajeigbe stressed that financial managers must lead by example, foster transparency, build strong support systems and align institutional performance goals with high ethical standards, warning that rules must never be compromised in the pursuit of corporate or personal targets.
The annual lecture, organised by the Bursary and Internal Audit Departments of Elizade University, aimed at strengthening ethical consciousness and professional best practices in financial governance within Nigeria’s higher education system.
It brought together academics, administrators, auditors and financial managers to examine the growing ethical pressures confronting university financial management and the need for stronger governance frameworks within Nigeria’s higher education system.
i
