Dr. Tijjani Muhammad Naniya
I cannot agree the more with this perspective, but would hasten to make the following observations:
1. University is an environment that affords students opportunity to discover their innate endowed talents and means of putting such in productive sectors. Lecturers are expected to provide requisite skills to students to attain this feat. It is not within their purview to ensure solving national problems and or solving issues relating to ‘ sectoral growth.’ That depends entirely on strong State Institutions that are supposed to ensure efficiency and and effectiveness.
2. ‘Workable system of government’ is a sphere of social technocrats who are politicians. University’s task is that of providing social engineering which is discharged by various disciplines in Social sciences and Humanities. How the skills are utilised, is not within the responsibility of Lecturers.
Education,ASUU And The Globalist Agenda (I)
3. Preoccupation with outdated ‘concepts and antediluvian ideas’ as alluded to in the write-up, by Nigeria’s Universities, is a result of years of neglect to the sector in the failure of government to provide facilities such as uptodate Libraries, Laboratories and Workshops that catches up with international standard. Lecturers are not endowed with the financial resources to even purchase important and authoritative titles in their various disciplines, let alone venture into provision of other facilities which is not their responsibility.
5. Lecturers seek for a review in their pay package due to reasons for changing living conditions in the light of worsening inflationary trend in Nigeria. No where has ASUU fixed salaries for its members. What it did was to compare Lecturers’ salaries in Nigeria with that of their counterparts in Universities in other African countries.
6. The issue of UTAS came up due to faults discovered in IPPS and its implementation. No time did ASUU insisted that UTAS must be adopted. What it insisted is that both models be subjected to scrutiny with a view to adopting the scrupulous one.
7. For the challenge that Lecturers are free to go into politics or other loftier callings, it is just a matter of time. In the next decade or so, things being equal, Nigeria’s Universities will witness dearth in qualified teaching staff.
8. If there was failure in innovation in research and innovation in Universities, it is because that government and companies do not patronage them. Rather consultancy services are more often than not given to foreign outfits where the prospect of corruption and defalcation of fund and are more viable.
9. Mediocrity in the appointment of qualified teaching staff is a result of infiltration of politicians in the University Governing Councils which deal with appointments and promotion in Universities.
