FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES: A GIANT'S DISGRACE

     


Great inhabitants of planet earth..I bring you greetings from Otakpaikpo (the god of palmwine 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 flauting 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.

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 democracy day in Aso rock this year 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 are requires 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 cabability 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, derth 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 and let's take a  trip to a place even the devl will weep for Nigeria...okay!..here we are..Dilapidated structures, half-baked and power-hungry lecturers, Vice-Chancellors turning tin-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 UniGwags (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. 

Presently ASUU is demanding 87 billion naira  for them to go back to the classrooms but trust the Nigerian government to always play kalokalo .  We're patiently waiting for the iron that will bend the other.

 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 somwhere 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!