In this country every one gets a mouthful of education, but scarcely any one a full meal. (Theodore Parker)
The nation can prosper and be happy only when education develops in an atmosphere of Truth, Love and Reverence. (Sathya Sai Baba)
A complete and generous education fits a man to perform justly, skilfully and magnanimously all the offices of peace and war. (John Milton)
The objective of education should be impressed on the children's minds. The academic education of today is shallow and useless because it has no value orientation. (Sathya Sai Baba)
Education should ennoble the students, but instead it is debasing them. Instead of shaping the young into diamonds, it is turning them into coals. It is not bringing transformation in them, it is not bestowing wisdom. (Sathya Sai Baba)

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onsequent upon the rot in our education sector and the attendant ripple effects, Nigerian universities are these days churning out low quality graduates. Recently, 103 graduands earned a First Class Honours in their various disciplines at the University of Lagos, Akoka. One wonders how it suddenly becomes easier to earn a first class degree nowadays in Nigeria despite the rot in the sector. This writer knows that time has changed; the worldwide web (internet) has made the world a global village and is facilitating the learning process as students can easily access academic works of other students and lecturers from all over the world. But, still at that, the cheapening of Nigerian degrees should be a source of concern to any discerning mind.

In the 1970s and 1980s, all the universities in Nigeria, all combined, did not produce that number (103) of first class graduates in a year. Then, first class was for extra brilliant students, second upper division was for brilliant students and second class lower division for average students. Then, the value of a Nigerian degree was recognised and accepted the whole world; then, all universities in the world, including the five Ivy League ones in the United States accepted Nigerian degrees for post graduate studies without thinking twice. Then, one of my lecturers in my second year at UNN in the mid 1980s, Prof. Elochukwu Amucheazi, told us to keep our second year notebooks well, because, that some of us that will have the opportunity to do our post-graduate studies in Europe or North America will find those notebooks useful as some of what we were taught in our second year will be what we will be doing in our masters' degree programmes overseas and that turned out to be true. But all was THEN, now everything has been sub-standardised.

A political Science lecturer at the Lagos State University, Ojo, Dr. Abubakar Momoh, said that many first-class graduates of today are at best second class lower candidates because they cannot sustain the demands and rigours expected of a first-class graduate. Dr. Momoh asked: Can you imagine that no student in a final year political science class of a Nigerian university knew who Thomas Sankara was? (Punch Feb. 8, 2009)

Now, Nigerian universities are churning out graduates with degrees that are questionable as some of the holders might not be able to defend them. Today, most of these graduates are unemployable because they are half-baked coupled with the fact that the government has been unable to create jobs for even those that merited their degrees. Today, lecturers award marks and degrees for sex and graft. Today, admissions into the Nigerian universities are no longer on merit, but, on who you know and who you are. Today, the brilliant but poor students can't get admission while the otiose but rich ones are admitted leading to vices like cultism, sexual molestation etc that are now prevalent in our universities. Some of us still remember how hard we struggled before passing JAMB in the early 1980s, just different from what is obtainable today.

Today, universities in Europe and North America will subject a holder of a Nigerian degree, that graduated from the mid 1990s to date, to some of their undergraduate courses and rigorous exams before the person is finally allowed to proceed with the post graduate programme. That's why many Nigerian degree holders that went abroad for post-graduate studies dropped out because they couldn't "stomach" the ignominy.

One begins to wonder if the Nigerian universities churning out hundreds of first class degrees are not the ones where lecturers are forcing students to buy their hand-outs or female students to sleep with them or else they will fail their courses? Are these universities not the ones that are always engulfed in political tussles for the vice-chancellorship, professorship or deanship positions, where lecturers even employ diabolical and fetish means in order to outwit the other?

Recently, University of Benin suspended their acting vice chancellor, Professor Uche Gbendio, from office for instituting a case against the Senate of the institution without giving the statutory 30 days notice to the management of the school. She was directed to hand over to a new acting Vice Chancellor, Prof. Emmanuel Kubeyinje, who was nominated by the governing council. Gbendio had on April 4 2009 attempted to stop the meeting of the Senate of the university with a Federal High Court decision restraining the Senate from removing her as acting Vice Chancellor. She argued that it is only the visitor of the university, President Umar Musa Yar'Adua who appointed her through the Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, who could remove her. While some members of the Senate of the university left the meeting, others stayed behind to appoint a new acting Vice Chancellor, Kubeyinje, who was the Provost, College of Medicine. (Reference: Guardian April 9, 2009)

University of Benin was rated the best University in Nigeria by World Webometric Ranking of Universities released recently. That was the second time the university has emerged as the best university in Nigeria within the last two years. But, this current best Nigerian university (the University of Benin) was ranked 68 among African Universities, followed by Obafemi Awolowo University which ranked 69 and University of Ibadan which occupied 71st position.

One of the problems affecting the education sector is paucity of funds, but, we just learnt that about N22.6bn Education Trust Fund's money is unutilized. How can that be possible, when the institutions are crying because of lack of funds? The Daily Independent Newspapers in its editorial of April 7, 2009 also questioned the rationale for allowing such an amount to be lying "fallow" (idle) in the central bank's vault? The Paper wrote this: "The revelation by the Federal Minister of Education, Sam Egwu that about N22.6 billion Education Trust Fund (ETF) money lies unutilized in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is mind boggling. It is well known that the nation's universities have failed dismally to rank amongst the top 50 in rankings of top universities in Africa. The embarrassing ratings constitute a damaging indictment and expose the rot into which the nation's tertiary institutions have sunk. Time was, if we may be allowed to indulge in nostalgia, when the opposite was the case. Three to four decades ago, some Nigerian universities actually led the pack in the region, and were widely admired. Dr. Egwu has blamed most of the problems confronting the educational sector on lack of political will and inadequate funding. In making all the right noises, he has urged those lagging behind to rise up to the challenges. There is need, however, to dig deeper and go beyond the mouthing of good intentions".

In one of my articles in 2008, I wrote about a list and ranking of the top 100 universities and colleges in Africa that I saw in the internet. I almost wept for Nigeria. I think that something is wrong with our schools. Take time out to visit Nigerian universities now and make out time to engage our recent graduates, no matter from which university in Nigeria, in any form of discussion; and you will know that we are in trouble. Not too long ago, the CBN Chief, Prof Soludo, said that majority of our graduates now are unemployable. What happened to UNN, OAU, UI, ABU etc that were pace setters in academic standards and the best of the best those days? Those universities produced highly qualified graduates in the 60s, 70s and 80s who were among the best in the world. European and North American universities used to open their doors wide for the graduates of the above mentioned institutions, whenever they go there to pursue their post-graduate degrees then. The enviable standards our universities were known for in the 60s, 70s and 80s are gone. I am disturbed that none of our universities came within the first 50 in the ranking. The results of the stifling of our universities started by the successive military junta are manifesting now. We are seeing now the consequences of under-funding of our universities since the 80s. The most disturbing part of the ranking is that some institutions in worn-torn countries such as Somali, were ranked before any of our universities. How can that be possible? Where do we go from here? Unless my premonition misses, Nigeria will still be bereft of the right calibre of leaders for many years to come.

To be Continued

A FOOTNOTE:

Based on my last article (The State of The Nation: Yar'Adua is not practicing what he preaches), I received this nice one from Dr. Innocent Ukabam. I want to share it with you. He wrote:

Sir,

Your article lays out in bold relief the incredible monopoly of the oil industry by the north for the north. The Yar'Adua administration has taken sectionalism to hitherto unseen heights, at least in the oil industry.

My question to you and any other persons who feel similarly aggrieved is this...What to do??

Why and how did the south become so subservient and cowardly that such glaring misuse of power goes unchallenged? How come the south cannot say, enough already?

Finally, what do you now make of the claim that Biafra was an attempt to monopolise the oil by the East?

Just a few random ramblings from a concerned and chagrined individual!

Thanks for reading.

Innocent Ukabam, PhD

AFTER I REPLIED HIM, DR. INNOCENT UKABAM WROTE AGAIN:

Dear Temple,

I had to tread carefully in my previous note since I had no way of knowing where you stand on the whole question of Biafra. Now, I think I have a fairly decent idea.

I brought up the issue of Biafra because the entire south, outside of Igboland, ganged up on us and joined the north to destroy us and accused us of being greedily intent upon monopolizing the oil. Today, the Igbos are standing by and watching while oil has consumed the conscience and the psyche of the entire populace.

Oil fuels the rampant corruption that makes Nigeria one of the most backward and ill-governed places on the face of the earth. Oil has led to the destruction of the agricultural lands and waterways of the areas from which it is lifted. Oil has made neighbours become enemies. Have you noticed that it is very difficult for persons from the so-called south-south to acknowledge that Imo and Abia are oil-producing states, hence belong to the "Niger Delta"? Divide and rule is a historically very successful domination tactic.

The south has been divided and conquered. The Yoruba man gets a fairly sizable portion of the national cake, including appointments to the choicest national offices and the siting of strategically important industries and parastatals. The south-south cannot decide which side it's on. The Edwin Clark led faction will stop at nothing to demonize the Igbos. And the charlatans who are running around calling themselves Igbo leaders are mere errand boys/girls without the faintest idea about how low we have sunk. Consequently, the north has little or no opposition when it brazenly allocates the lion's share of anything to itself.

Who's gonna challenge them? Ojukwu? His aura of greatness has been destroyed by the Igbos themselves. Temple Ubochi? May be. The pen is still mighty, but the audience is still caught up in a stupor from which they don't know how to rise. The syndicate controlling things in Nigeria is very powerful and has membership spanning all the ethnic groups and geographical zones. Notice how "everyone" is once again returning to the PDP. Civilian dictatorship is now closer than ever and we will see more of the misrule not less.

The north (personified by Yar'Adua) knows that compromised people don't make good opposition. Hence once these southern subalterns are given their own share of the loot, it doesn't matter anymore what the north takes for itself. It is left to us, the southerners outside the thieving class to rise up as one and say "enough".

How do we do that? When do we do that?

Sorry to vent on you.

Have a good day.

Inno

THE THANXS IS ALL YOURS!!!