Great inhabitants of planet earth..I bring
you greetings from Otakpaikpo (the
god of palm wine in the Local Joint) and I hope the situation of our nation has
not given you an insinuation that things are on a downward motion (I just picked up rhyming as a career so I'm flaunting it).
Yours
truly would have loved to welcome you in every Nigerian language but at the
moment I'm less privileged in most of our country's lingua but I'll attempt the
major languages..if u're joining the joint from the South-West I say e k'abo,
from the East I say Nno and from the North I say Sanu de zua!
Welcome to the Local Joint and I hope each
person brought a visitor.
All
said and done we go to the issue at hand.
Before
we start however let's say a big Happy Birthday to the most populous black
nation on earth, the nation that flows with milk and honey and the ONLY nation
on earth that has almost every mineral resource ranging from bitumen to
lithium, iron ore to coal and the list goes on..
I
heard a lot of people say there's nothing worth celebrating in this
"Ethnic concoction" called Nigeria (as someone described) but the
fact that we are still together is something to thank the Holy Lord for..
I
hope you have ordered for your Asun and palmy (for the visitors that's the
delicacy in the joint), take a few gulps and let's drive on the issues lane...by
the way Dr GEJ's decision (or whoever made it for him) to mark independence day
in Aso rock especially without all the sereren
(effects) and razzmatazz was a good one. At least that shows our leaders
are finally beginning to reason that this season we require some seasoning.
Okay
now there is a VERY serious issue on ground (taking my shirt off in anger)...why
should a country that practically exports intelligent minds and brains not have
good universities??.. Now let's start this way..Just like every other country
Nigeria has two classes of universities-government and private with the
government being subdivided into state and federal schools. For time sake
however we'll dwell on the federal universities (for now).
Let's
take a brief look at the history of federal universities..first was the University
College which came in 1948 but later metamorphosed into University of Ibadan, escorting
U.I into existence was the University of
Nigeria Nsukka (whose students like to pride themselves as the premier INDIGENOUS
university) and in not-too-distant space universities were established in
Lagos, Zaria, Ife and Benin marking the beginning of Nigerian universities.. A
good look at the way universities operated then will tell us how TERRIBLY
administered these schools are presently.
Let's
rewind a little..In the good old days (like the old folks always say) things
were better, there were less troubles,
there were people who did laundry for students, there were meal tickets for
students and so education was easy coupled with the fact that social activities
were encouraged also. Now we're back to the present and yours truly can say
instead of progress in our federal universities what we have is CHRONIC
regress, from infrastructure to policies,
mental and social capability to academic results and so on..the
situation now is so bad that multinationals and large corporations even
seemingly smaller outfits complain that Nigerian graduates are not
employable!...so sad I must say..at this point a question then comes to mind..where
did things go wrong??..fake admissions, politics and tribalism taking central
stage in the appointment of Vice-Chancellors and people that run the
universities, wanton looting of educational funds, influencing admission lists, dearth of good facilities and the list goes on and on..how could I forget the
almighty General ASUU and her strikes??!...think of these things and somehow
you'll want to say "God save
Nigeria"..( By the way don't forget your drinks). Interestingly these issues didn't start at
once, one loot after another, and then one corrupt official after another,
stealing #1m and then climbing the ladder to #500m..slow and steady the
termites ate into the Nigerian educational system so much that those who spoilt
the system are even ashamed of what is left and prefer to send their wards to
Togo and Benin Republic which is indeed a really shameful act. Interestingly we
still hear of education sector reforms every now and then, we look out for them
but in the end it becomes a case of the more we look the less we see..actually
nothing to see!
A
brief history of Nigeria's education ministers since 1999 will show a downward
motion in results and development..from Prof Adeniran to Obaji, Osuji to Rufai and the ones we had in between
nothing seems to have changed (except for worse).
Now
fasten your seat-belts and let's take a trip to a
place even the devil will weep for Nigeria...okay!..here
we are..Dilapidated structures, half-baked and power-hungry lecturers,
Vice-Chancellors turning tiny-gods, bushy environments, libraries
with ancient books, academic staff who can't communicate properly in English
language, over-crowded and substandard hostels..and the list goooooooeees on..voilaa!!
Ladies and gentlemen welcome to a typical Federal university in Nigeria. From
Ilorin to Nsukka, Jos to Abeokuta, Benin to Minna, same crazy story..
Back
in the days schools like Ibadan and Benin were highly reputable and respected
among other schools in the Commonwealth of Nations but today countries like
Senegal and Cote d'ivoire seem to have ousted the giant of Africa from that group
of respected schools. Even the universities of technology are not helping
matters.
Now
let's do a quick assessment of some federal universities..we start the trip from
the nation's capital and now we're at the University of Abuja. Arguably one the
top five most corrupt universities University of Abuja should be an example of
shame in the new Oxford dictionary. Or how best can one describe a school where
a former governor bought a LAW degree from even when the world knows him as a
carpenter??..and how can one describe a school where MEDICAL students spend
seven years (without failing any courses) and still remain in three hundred
level?..how else can we describe a school where many courses are not
accredited??..TERRIBLE I must say! I just pray something is done quickly
because UniSwags (as nicknamed) is
supposed to be the best federal university in Nigeria.
For
University of Jos (U.J for short) the state of structures is as sorrowful as
Abuja. Interestingly U.J has produced some top shots especially in the Nigerian
entertainment industry who should be in the forefront of rooting for the
school's development, but no blames on them though for every man has a family
to attend to.
For University of Ilorin the story is still
negative except that instead of no or dilapidated structures there exists so
much of fake structures. A walk around the school will reveal embarrassing
buildings. The structure housing the faculty of Communication and Information
Sciences which was (according to Prof Oloyede) built with #301million is
something to be ashamed of. From leaking tops to waterlogged staircases,
spoiled toilets to cracks in the wall..the building is a wash. Even the school
senate building which is just about seven years old already has cracks in it.
Interestingly the school has a sweet slogan-"better by far" and it
always leaves the son of man wondering what part of the school is better by
far..
It is not all knocks for federal universities
though as there are some that still make faithful Nigerians like us beat our
chests. The likes of University of Lagos, Ahmadu Bello University-Zaria,
Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Ibadan still give rays of hope no
matter how faint they are.
I need not remind us of the minister for
education who was busy with wedding anniversary preparations that he had no
time to sort out the ASUU strike that was on then. All these have shown that
our ministers technically have no plan for Nigerian education system.
As usual in the Local Joint we always profer
solution to issues at hand.
With
that said these are our recommendations:
That anybody who will become Nigeria's
education minister MUST have a good knowledge of our educational system.
That such person MUST have functioned to a
credible level in sectors relating to education.
That such person MUST be thrown to the public
for THOROUGH scrutiny.
That if after a while the person does not
perform up to standard he/she should face CAPITAL punishment.
All
said and done we hope somebody somewhere will alert Dr. GEJ and wake him from
his looooong slumber..
We at the Local Joint Joint will like to take
a break and return with the part two of the article but for now please do all
that has to be done because "I have a dream that someday...Nigerian
universities will be the best on earth"..somebody shout amen!!..
At
this point I leave you with the words of JFK.."ask not what your country
can do for you but what you can do for your country"
Till
the joint reopens for discussions, please enjoy your palmy..goodbye!
Feedback and questions:
07058706528
(SMS ONLY please)
Kanayo Nwabuwa
