Nuraddeen Danjuma, PhD

Introduction

Despite ASUU’s struggle and the popular saying that Education is a key to success according to Nelson Mandela and University education in Nigeria is in its trying moment, no doubt about that.

If you see injustice and say nothing, you have taken the side of the oppressor – Desmund Tutu, South Africa Anglican Archbishop.

In Isiah 1:17, it is said “learn to do good, seek justice, reprove the ruthless; defend the orphan and plead for the widow”.

As a concerned academic and a believer of faith, one only medium I have to express my humble opinion on the attempted murder of public universities is my pen.

This very piece is a wakeup call to leaders of Nigeria and all stakeholders to prevent the total collapse of Nigerian Universities as knowledge is the pillar of sustainable development and a passport to better days.

For tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today and only adequate planning and investment in education can yield positive change and promising tomorrow. Nelson Mandela said “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

In September 2015, 193 member states of the United Nations adopted a plan for achieving a better future for all. This was to fashion out a path to end extreme poverty, fight inequality, and injustice in a sustainable manner.

The heart of the plan was setting up Agenda 2030 which has 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Of those, quality education is no.

4. This was in order to attain inclusive and quality education which is one most powerful vehicle for sustainable development. Nigeria is a party to these commitments and has been working hard to ensure she achieves its mandates.

FUD ranked No.1 University in Nigeria,21st in Africa – Scimago, Spain.

In pursuance of that, President Buhari has exemplified his commitment to quality education just like his predecessors. In his recent presentation during a virtual Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity against COVID-19, June 17th, 2020, said

”I seize this opportunity to reiterate the need for this summit to put humanity at the center of our vision for common prosperity.

New Emirates:so-called Kano elders tried to frustrate the process- Ganduje

”We must learn lessons and share knowledge from research, as we develop more creative, responsive and humane health systems, improve crisis management protocols and support each other in the battle against COVID-19’’ (Thisday newspaper, 18th June, 2020). I salute his resolute and desire for knowledge and good Nigeria. However, in Hausa we say “akwai sauran rina a kaba” …. (We are not out of the woods yet). The secret to quality education lies in the words of Fela Kuti who said “if it is not fit to live in, then our job is to make it fit”.

University Education in Nigeria

In Nigeria as in other parts of the World, universities remain centers of teaching and research as well as hubs of knowledge, development, and social change. They also are machines for the hatching of highly skilled manpower for sustainable growth. In Nigeria, a move to start university education began with the commissioning of the Ashby Commission in 1959 with a view to conducting an investigation into Nigeria’s needs in tertiary education.

The commission recommended the establishment of ‘autonomous and independent’ universities in Lagos (the capital city then) and one each the north, east, and west of the country.

In pursuance to that, the University of Ibadan, (then University College, London) was founded in 1948 (and became a full-fledged independent university in early 1963), the University of Nigeria Nsukka in 1960 and Ahmadu Bello University Zaria in 1962.

Between then and 2019, the number of universities grew to 162 and evidently not in tandem with the resources allocated to finance these institutions.

Hence most of these institutions are in a dilapidated state. What has the government done in terms of quality control commensurate to the growing number of universities in the country?. Virtually nothing, the following excerpt provides an overview more Nigerian leaving the country to USA, Europe, Asia or even Africa for quality education.

According to data from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS), the number of Nigerian students abroad increased by 164 percent between 2005 and 2015 from 26,997 to 71,351.

The report also indicated that Nigerian students are currently the 14th largest group among foreign students in the United States, and contributed an estimated USD $324 million to the country’s economy in 2015/16.

Malaysia, as per UIS, has about 4,943 Nigerians in 2015 in various fields of study, making the country the fourth most popular destination country of Nigerians. Saudi Arabia is increasingly attracting Nigerian students. In 2015 the country hosted 1,915 students from Nigeria.

According to World Education News (2017), most of Nigeria’s public universities are in a deteriorating condition. The country’s institutions and lecture halls were reportedly severely overcrowded which is often why Nigerian Universities are in a state of decay.

Nigeria had one of the worst lecturer-to-student ratios in the world. The University of Abuja and Lagos State University, for example, reportedly had lecturer to student ratios as high as 1:122 and 1:114 respectively.

(International Organization for Migration, 2014). The most obvious reason for this deficit and low carrying capacity of Nigerian Universities is inadequate funding and lack of adequate planning.

Isaac Adebayo Adeyemi, Professor, Nigerian Academy of Science contended that “it is clear that the national budget of 6% to 7% to the education sector (lower than most other African countries which range between 11% and 30%) can’t do justice to the needs of these institutions.”

If Nigeria is going to out-grow its mates, the country needs to fund its education sector adequately and with the interest of national development at heart.

Thus, since 1978, the centrality of quality education in ASUU’s impasse with FG is crystal clear but yet to be recognized for selfish reasons. Specifically, ASUU is struggling for:

University Autonomy

Universities have always needed patrons and at various times the church, dukes, merchants, or philanthropists among others funded universities and have expected suitable behavior in response—correct doctrine, political policies, laissez-faire values, or charitable support (Anderson and Johnson, 1998).

In recent years, signs are governments are interfering in university affairs thereby affecting the effective system in totality. The IPPIS is a concrete case in Nigeria of infringing in the university’s autonomy.

Universities’ autonomy has four main dimensions: academic, organizational, financial, and staff. Thus, ASUU needs to thread with caution, respect limits, and learn from colleagues in other countries. A classical example might help ASUU NEC during negotiation.

In the United Kingdom, the government has no power to intervene in standards (except for teacher education) but the national committee of inquiry into higher education has recommended that it be a condition of public funding of universities that they adhere to an approved code of practice of quality assurance in this area (Richardson, & Fielden, 1997- Measuring the Grip of the State: the relationship between governments and universities in selected Commonwealth countries).

Double Standards in Payment

Sincerely there is a double standard in the mode of payment of salaries in Nigeria and this is tribalism. Religiously, tribalism is frowned at and prohibited.

Prophet Muhammad said “laisa minna man da’a ala asabiyyatin, wa laisa minna man qatala ala asabiyyatin, wa laisa minna man mata ala asabiyyatin” (he is not with us the one who sued for tribalism, he is not with us the one who fight for tribalism, he is not with the who died for tribalism).

The policy of allowing some agency to collate funds, chop what they want to, and remit the rest is tribalism. By the way, the bible in Proverbs 11:4 says “riches do not profit in the day of the wrath, but righteousness delivers from death”.

The idea of forcing some workers into IPPIS and implementing GIFMIS to pay the ‘el Ninos’ (children of God) is tribalism. In my opinion, it is a double standard.

Can the OAGF explain otherwise?. Sincerely is this not acceptable in a democracy. How much are you paying us after all comparatively that you can’t sleep peacefully?.

The Hausa people say “wanda yaje farauta ya kashe bera zaiyi tsammanin yayi kokari, sai yaga wanda ya kashe giwa ya gano baiyi komi ba” (literally, a hunter who killed rat only boast his/her courage before seeing another who kills an elephant).

Find out about the university salaries of other countries and see how much academics are paid without selfishness. However, ASUU should clean its house and remove the skeletons in its cupboards (we are not infallible after all). The bad eggs that receive salaries and dodge work should be corrected. Those breaching NUC rules of visiting in more than two universities should be stopped. “Dan kuka ya daina janyo wa babarsa jifa” a Hausa adage (English: ours must stop attracting us blames and allegations).

Decayed Infrastructure in Public Universities

Infrastructure; the physical components of interrelated systems providing commodities and services essential to enable, sustain, or enhance societal living conditions is critical to university progress. Hence infrastructure should be taken seriously. In the university, infrastructure includes classrooms, office accommodations, laboratories, roads, electricity and water, health facilities, among others. The decay of infrastructure is horrible and not to talk about in most Nigerian universities. It one major factor that contributed to slow development in universities. ASUU is struggling for better infrastructure in Nigeria universities for their critical role in the growth and development of learning especially education, science, and technology.

Commercialization of Public Universities

The introduction of tuition at this is time is worrisome because it’ll affect students’ participation in higher education. It can affect the lower socio-economic groups by increasing the number of school leavers in such families. Research have shown that a significantly higher proportion of young people from the lowest socioeconomic groups have traditionally entered higher education in Scotland than in England and Wales (Forsyth and Furlong, 2000 – socioeconomic disadvantage and access to higher education). Henceforth, on this matter, ASUU should thread with caution and allow the public to do the struggle.

What ASUU SHOULD DO?

As a matter of fact, ASUU should do the following to maintain relevance.

Re-position its modus operandi

Our modus operandi is 42 years old. It is about descending, thus there is the need to check its blood pressure, sugar level, eyesight, and others.

Check In-house

Like any other system, ASUU members have their grievances. This is clear and demonstrated by many colleagues and especially the breakaway group named Congress of University Academics (CONUA). ASUU should mend fences with all breakaway groups. And all breakaway groups should sheath swords and reconcile with the great union that is greater than any member, no matter how ‘big’. ASUU should check sharp practices (known and alleged) among members, revert to old days of modest life, and put forward the welfare of members above anything. It’s time we framed every question – every issue – not in terms of what’s in it for me but what’s in it for all of us (Senator John Kerry).

Conduct Needs Assessment before entering any Negotiation

“When we think we know people inside out and we think we know what’s best for them we should try to remember we don’t even know what’s best for ourselves” – Hayley Williams.

Nigeria Universities and Potential Peg-leg Scholarship

In my opinion, Nigerian Universities are gradually becoming homes of peg-leg scholarship due to the following reasons:

Brain drain

Sincerely, a lot of lecturers are going voluntarily or otherwise. Most of them are trained ones. So how many will remain to sustain scholarship?. FG- Is this the legacy you want to leave?.

Collapse of mentoring

Connected to brain drain, is mentoring which I feel is on its ‘dying bed’. Now that many senior colleagues are exiting as a result of ‘no contract, sabbatical, or visiting as well as death’ who will mentor who?. The Hausa say “yaro baya goya yaro sai dai ya rungumeshi su fadi” (a child does not support a child but embraces him/her to fall).

Increasing chances of a faceoff between unions and universities management

The potential faceoff between universities management and unions over issues relating to allowances – responsibility, hazard, over time, call, etc scrapped by IPPIS is inevitable. The only question is why should the salaries and wages laws favor some and kill some?. How much do the laws give political office holders for ‘sitting quietly in well-furnished accommodation or just passing bills?’

Conclusion

In conclusion, both ASUU and FG should look beyond sentiments and know that above any other thing in Nigeria. Howard Baker said “the most difficult thing in any negotiation, almost, is making sure that you strip emotion and deal with the facts. And there was a considerable challenge to that here and understandably so. The negotiations must address all aspects, both peace, and withdrawals (Yitzhak Rabin). Therefore we don’t need EEA – oyya go back to classes. We expect a better package like that of NNPC, CBN, NIRSAL, DMO, FIRS, NDIC, NPA, DPR, NCC, PENCOM, and many others that are not so-called ‘revenue-generating agencies’. At least we too work for the temple, so we deserve to eat ‘nutritiously’ from the temple. According to Martin Luther King Jr. “The time is always right to do something right”.

Nuraddeen Danjuma, Ph.D. wrote from Bayero University Bayero University Kano