By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
On Wednesday, 18 February, 2015, Fourah Bay College (FBC) celebrated its 188th year of existence. The college which was founded by the Church Missionary Society in 1827 to mainly train teachers and missionaries, according to historians, was the first of its kind in West Africa.
As it trained numbers of people from different parts of the world in its early years, history states, FBC paid homage to Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown which became known as “Athens of Africa,” positioning it as the city of civilization as the Greek capital city Athens had been regarded as the city of Western civilization.
Presently, FBC is one of three constituents of the University of Sierra Leone (USL).
At the anniversary hosted on the college’s campus, the President of the Academic Staff Association Charles Silver expressed concerns that the staff of the college were struggling to have water in their quarters. He complained that there had been lack of water supply for “complete one year” at Kortright where most of the lecturers were residing.
Silver also noted that there were attacks on lecturers by armed robbers which had left some of them injured.
“The Botanical garden,” Silver said, that had been used for research on rare animals had long been “encroached” upon by community people which led to its “disappearance.”
But it`s not just the lecturers who have complaints. Students have also faced lack of proper toilet facility, classroom spaces and furniture for classes. They have often had to literally fight for chairs and lecturers have quarreled with one another for rooms to conduct their classes.
Senior and junior staff members of the college have also on a number of occasions withdrawn their services as a result of nonpayment of salaries and other emoluments.
Charles Silver urged the college administration to tackle these problems “while we wait for the BADEA (Arab Bank for Development) funded project,” a project which was meant to renovate the college’s hostels and extend the amphitheatre. The college administration had contacted BADEA for the project whose implementation saw the turning of the sod for the amphitheatre extension.
Effort to acquire information from the university authorities about the present and future sitting capacities of the amphitheatre and the amount of money involved in the project proved fruitless.
The Pro-Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone, Professor Modupeh Taylor-Pearce, noted that the college was the oldest in West Africa, but warned against complacency.
“Perfection should be the goal of the university and all lecturers should work towards it,” he urged, referring to Cambridge and Oxford universities in the United Kingdom, which he said, had “made mark” in that country because of the vital role they have played in the area of education.
“This is not the time for planning, but the time for action,” Professor Taylor-Pearce added.
The registrar of USL, Sorie Dumbuya, disclosed that the university administration was working towards addressing some of the challenges it was grappling with. Some of them, he said, could be solved with the university’s own resources, whilst the other challenges could be solved “outside the college.”
Dumbuya explained that the college had limited resources and it was in that regard that they had set up the Alumni Association to source outside support. He urged the staff of the university to improve their relationship with students so that after graduating from the college they could render supports when they were needed to.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Sierra Leone Professor Sahr Thomas Philip Gbamanja disclosed that FBC was focused mainly on the infrastructural development, and that plans were underway to evict all community people who had illegally erected structures as dwelling houses on portions of the college’s land.
He however added that the land would be leased to those who had built permanent structures including schools and hospitals. “We will speedily renovate the student hostels,” he assured, noting that transportation problem on FBC campus had been eased as the college had acquired four new buses for the students. He said an internet café for the academic staff had been set up to aid research, and that the college had secured science equipment from Britain.
In her contribution, Commissioner-General of the National Revenue Authority (NRA), Haja Kallah Kamara, an alumnus of the university, said the college had earned a top place in West Africa because of its contribution in the field of education.
“Education is the best way to make a mark in society,” she said, urging lecturers to develop a curriculum that could enable students to meet the job requirements of society. “Let us avoid career mismanagement,” she urged.
The NRA boss further disclosed that her institution was working with the University of Sierra Leone to include taxation in the curriculum. She assured that her organization would continue to support the university.
Kamara had earlier supported the college with a thirty-seater bus.
In his address, the Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Sierra Leone, Professor Ekundayo Thompson, acknowledged the challenges FBC was facing and urged the lecturers to be also involved seeking solution.
“We are here to solve problems, and let us use our technical expertise to solve them,” he urged. He said a hydrological survey had been done which confirmed the presence of water in the college land.
Professor Thompson said the university had reviewed the salaries of junior and intermediate staff which he said had put smiles on their faces.
© Politico 19/02/15
