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By Dr. Tony Ikpasaja
When we hear the standard of education is falling, it means the educational system is no more able to solve the problems of the society. It also means graduates of our educational system can no longer compete with their counterparts elsewhere. Nigeria’s educational objectives have in the past three decades, been at variance with the expectations of the people.
Stories of our past however indicate that we can be there again if only we seriously attend and restructure the education sector. Certificates are fast becoming worthless to local economy and this is not only scary but disturbing you may say. Between 1940s and 1980s, graduates from Nigerian universities got unconditional admissions and employments in America, Europe and other parts of the world. So what happened and who did this to us? Obviously our leaders!
The military years were responsible for the missing link in our education history. The years that birthed riots, protests and strike actions as if the students and teachers saw tomorrow, when they first started to press home their demands. Some were martyred along the line. The decadence that stared them in the face have now come home to roost. But God has kept many of these leaders alive to see what they did in their opportune time.
The 6-3-3-4 system was designed in 1982 to replace the previous 6-5-4 arrangement. The aim was to produce graduates who could make use of their hands, heads and hearts, called the 3Hs. We were bamboozled with lucid gist that, after the first 3 years in secondary school, the child could become self-reliant if he or she so desired, having been equipped with enabling skills in the curriculum. Thirty years after, the reality is shambolic. Nigerians need a more rewarding educational structure. Former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2010 bemoaned the scheme and lamented that the 6-3-3-4 has failed to provide solutions to the Nigerian education. He called out those behind the programme to as a matter of honour apologize to Nigerians. Regrettably, himself as President for nearly six years could not right these wrongs.
On the strength of our tertiary education, Nigeria has loosened downwards. Graduates of most countries in the world are rated above ours, particularly by international agencies, multilaterals and NGOs who nowadays constitute a major bloc of employers in this country. This should worry government of the day at all levels. Universities, National Educational Research and Development Council , ASUU and other stakeholders should be concerned too. Why are we building more schools instead of improving the existing ones?
Sadly, foreign universities have become the hard choices with the way ASUU strikes have become part of the Nigerian education programme. Most parents cannot afford foreign education at a time life is no more luxurious. Many live in poverty after spending their fortunes in training their children even in Nigerian schools. They are left with nothing for their old ages? There is urgent need for government to rework our education programmes.
A retired director in Mararaba, near Abuja recently lamented how he was living his retirement in squalor because he wanted his children to have good education. He probably thought they will be able to cater for him in his old age as African tradition demands but his graduates children were still dependent on his meagre resources. This is consequent on the deficiencies; not preparing students for the realistic post-school environment but trained to carry CVs about in search of white collar jobs. Where are the juicy promises of the 6-3-3-4 foisted on us decades ago? There is saying that when the music changes, the dance steps changes too.
Higher education in Nigeria dates back to early 19th century when Nigerians got prospects only in overseas. In response to the lack of human resources in Africa, the British colonial government established the Yaba Higher College, Lagos, in 1932 primarily to provide technical assistance and sub-degrees in medical, engineering, agriculture, vocational, teacher education and others for the running of the administration. The mounting demand for manpower inspired the colonial administration to set up the Elliot Commission in 1945. The commission advocated the establishment of the University college, Ibadan in 1948, affiliated to the University of London. The following year in 1949, the colonial administration approved the launch of technical education to meet the supplies of manpower in trade, commerce and industry. The Colleges of Arts, Science and Technology were thereafter established in Zaria in 1952, Ibadan in 1954, and Enugu in 1955 to provide the required technical education; but different in character and content from university education.
The objective was to bridge the gap in teacher education, accounting, secretarial studies, pharmacy, land survey, estate management, public administration and engineering. These schools popularly called CASTs produced quality diploma graduates for sensitive positions at a time in our history. Interestingly, the history of the development of higher education in Nigeria will be incomplete without reference to the Ashby Commission of 1959, headed by Eric Ashby, a Cambridge University lecturer. It provided for the establishment of the first generation universities, namely; the University of Ibadan in 1960 (conversion of the University College in Ibadan), University of Nigeria in 1960, and the Ahmadu Bello University in 1962 (formerly University of Northern Nigeria.) The University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, was also established in 1961 and the University of Lagos in 1962.
As the economy expanded and in line with the need for manpower, the federal government in 1975 established more university colleges in Calabar, Jos, Maiduguri, Ilorin, Port Harcourt and Kano and they were all converted to full universities in 1977. This was the basis for the second generation universities.
The Nigerian universities soon dropped to become under-serving in the production of graduates in mid 70s. The state governments took up the challenge, with Rivers state setting up the Rivers State University of Science and Technology in Port Harcourt in 1979. It was previously the campus of the Rivers state College of Science and Technology founded in 1972. Rivers state University thus became the first university to be established by a state government. The private sector also came to the rescue with the first three private universities licensed in 1999; Igbinedion University in Edo state, Madonna university in Anambra State and Babcock University in Ogun state. Today the National University Commission lists 45 federal universities, 54 states universities and 99 private totaling 198 for its 200 million citizens.
University education should be redesigned to meet the demand of the 21st century world. Researches are driving economies all over the world. Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed few years ago canvassed for a model that can revive education in Nigeria. Prof Rasheed is Executive Secretary of the National University Commission and a former Vice Chancellor of the Bayero University in Kano. His experiences should be robustly vast. He wants universities, industry, and government to work towards fostering socio-economic development. This is the triple helix model, first theorized by Henry Etzkowitz and Loet Leydesdorff in the 1990s, and has worked wonders in USA, Sweden, Brazil, Ethiopia and European Union projects across the globe.
The academia, government and industry need to collaborate to generate knowledge infrastructure in an overlapping and institutional fashion. Some have added the natural environment, civil society and media to the components.
The Nigerian Economic Summit Group which he called out for this task is supposed to take the driving seat here. Private universities interfacing with industry could be lot easier because of the bureaucracy with public institutions. There is no doubt that universities have a wealth of knowledge and talents, from world class researchers to the gifted. If they decide to work with industry for research developments, it will be a win-win situation for both. The partnership will deliver groundbreaking results in construction, medicine, maritime, entertainment, information technology, agriculture, transport, oil and gas, etc.
Clearly, academia-industry linkages are weak against government-industry and government-academia relationships. In other climes, universities have stopped being mere intellectual havens to becoming innovation sanctuaries for industries and governments to tap from. They incubate ideas and nurture them through active partnerships with the private sectors. We urgently need the political goodwill to drive these policies to fulfilment. Being an academician in government, Prof Rasheed should not be frustrated with this template to revive university education. He should engage in dialogue, lobby and presentations to generate support for his suggestion. As NUC boss, he is indeed in a vantage position. It is lamentable that since he made these lofty suggestions, nothing has been heard about surrendering them for policy implementation.
During the Covid 19 pandemic, ASUU led most universities into a prolonged strike while the country was at the mercy of the international community for information, knowledge and research. The Nigeria academia was highly challenged and till this day, no value has come from them. Imagine a Dangote Refinery thrusting and trusting its works, from conception to implementation on the lap of our academics? The dividends can only be imagined. That missing link is the cause of the anger making people mock ASUU as “the most destructive component” of our educational history. People ask why are they always striking for money? It’s because they are not able to think out of the box. As we speak, another ASUU strike is looming.
In 2020, Federal government allocated N428 billion to all tertiary schools which include universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. N408 billion was for recurrent expenditure (salaries and overhead expenses) leaving a paltry N20.6 billion for capital projects for our over 300 tertiary institutions (universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.) With the stench of corruption everywhere, there is little that money can do.
Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Petroleum Trust Fund, the NEEDS Assessment, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), and many others have tried to fund education in many ways, yet the problem of advancement remains. It comes with abandoned projects across campuses. Most state universities solely depend on TETFUND for capital projects while struggling to source salaries from wherever every month.
University education will continue to vegetate until we realistically embrace cross-breeding of innovative ideas. The corruption in the citadels of learning in recent times have reached alarming level with Vice Chancellors and Rectors flaunting power and money, and competing with politicians. Car parks of the non-teaching staff are more envious than those of the lecturers, the core component of our schools. It got to a distasteful level recently when some non-academic staff were embarking on sabbatical holidays just like the academic staff. Sabbaticals are universal programmes designed to consolidate global learning culture across universities. The radical panacea from these nuisances is private sector participation in research and development of our universities.
Possibly the originators of the 6-3-3-4 system had a faint idea of this triple helix model in mind but underestimated the hazards of budgetary provisions. Stanford University in America is legendary for ICT breakthroughs and University of Plymouth in UK is famous for maritime developments. Universities across the globe are partnering with the private sector to become authorities in their various areas. It is not rocket science. Nigeria academics should grow beyond their ‘sachet water’ innovations.
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria will tell you the huge loss they incur working in isolation of the Nigerian academia. An industrialist confirmed that they (industry players) spend more money travelling abroad regularly to resolve things that can be done locally if there was a level playing ground, and existing synergy and trust between universities and industry. That trust can only be activated via government policy.
And one wonders why the economic team of the federal government has not identified nor embraced these conversations over the years so as to put things in proper perspectives. Adjusting university system to allow for private investors interactions will make more funds available for schools, eliminate strike actions, improve the quality of naira and reduce exodus of Nigerian youths to foreign schools in Philippines, Cyprus, Ukraine, Dubai, Saudi, Egypt, Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa, neighbouring Niger republic, Benin Republic, etc. The waste is enormous.
Tony Ikpasaja, PhD, writes from Abuja