The incessant strikes in Nigerian universities have been necessitated by the failure of the Federal Government and in some cases, the university management, to meet the basic needs or requirements of the students and workers. Students may engage in riots that may lead to the closure of the university for several months due to the absence of basic requirements such as electricity, water supply, increase in school fees or accommodation, teaching facilities, empty laboratories etc.
The unions, particularly ASUU, NASU and SSANU, have been the saving grace of university workers in Nigeria. The Federal Government will make several promises with respect to the welfare of the workers and their teaching and research environments only to renege and consequently encourage strike action before redress can be enforced. The Federal Government must endeavour to meet the financial requirements of the universities and must please stop the establishment of any university in the country until she is able to address the needs of the already established ones. Basically, acute financial incapacitation must be responsible for the strikes and riots in Nigerian universities.
Teaching and research:
University teachers in Nigeria spend over 90% of their time on teaching only, largely due to the dearth of research facilities in the laboratories. This is why those of us who were trained in highly equipped laboratories in the developed countries of the world suffer the frustration and indignity of under-employment with serious “pains on our necks”.
The scarcity of modern textbooks in the libraries for use by teachers and students as well as the absence of recent journals has adverse effects on teaching quality and must be redressed soonest. Lecturers must update their lecture notes to accommodate recent research findings particularly in the science-based disciplines. The research laboratories are empty except for the visible presence of one or two weighing balances and glass wares. A majority of us who were able to attain the grade of Professor in our disciplines enjoyed the grace of the Almighty God who made it possible for us to win fellowship and scholarship awards to do solid research in highly equipped laboratories in the developed countries of the world. This writer remains grateful to the Universities of Cardiff (UK), Cambridge (UK), Ottawa (Canada) and Witten-Herdecke (Germany).
Let us not deceive ourselves. The Federal Government is fully aware of the pathetic state of our “glorified secondary school laboratories” in Nigerian universities but has refused to address the issue for decades. A laboratory that does not have the basic research facilities as is the case in Nigerian universities cannot make scientific discoveries that will draw the attention of scientists worldwide and such a university lacks international recognition. The truth is that research funding is grossly inadequate and the epileptic power and water supplies in the laboratories and hostels must be addressed.
Student welfare:
The welfare of students can only be adequately addressed when appropriate hostels are made available with constant electricity and water supplies. In hostels where five to 10 students share a room that lacks water and electricity supplies coupled with the high cost of feeding themselves, one begins to wonder how these students actually cope with their studies. The Federal Government should seriously consider the provision of bursaries and scholarships for our students as well as provide funds for expansion of each federal university in order to accommodate more students on campus and reduce the number of students to two in a room. Government should also provide buses to all federal universities for the transport of students to any part of the campus free of charge.
Access to university education:
There is no doubt that many of our youths who are qualified for admission into Nigerian universities are denied the opportunity to do so due to acute shortage of spaces. For example, during my tenure as Dean of Science, University of Ibadan (2007 to 2009), an average of 3,000 students were admitted into U.I.; out of the 30,000 applicants who were qualified for admission. The Federal Government must also be blamed for this inadequacy. It is very wrong and deceptive to establish so many universities that you cannot afford to maintain. She must make sufficient funds available for expansion of existing federal universities so that all qualified students can gain admission into the universities of their choice. In addition, the acute shortage of qualified academic staff must be addressed. Highly qualified academic staff cannot be imported from overseas like cars. They must be trained in World-Class Universities in the developed countries of the world and certainly not in “glorified secondary schools” called Universities in Nigeria.
Ethics and values:
The fear of the Almighty God and the demonstration of agape love for one another will go a long way in arresting the disturbing vices in our universities today. The Students’ Disciplinary Committee and the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee of each university should be strengthened and empowered to bring erring students and teaching and non-teaching members of staff to book. Appropriate punishment should be meted out to such erring students and members of staff including rustication from the university or termination of appointment respectively. Instances where male members of staff harass female students in order to sleep with them or where members of staff demand huge sums of money from postgraduate students during the presentation of their research findings at any stage should not be tolerated. We also know of instances where PhD theses are written for postgraduate students at very high prices and exam scores altered for monetary gains. Such members of staff are referred to in the Holy Bible as tares (Matt. 13:24-30) and must be shown the way out of the system. These terrible vices are ripe in many universities in Nigeria and have made the award of PhDs worthless in many departments and faculties. Erring members of the academic staff are a disgrace to humanity and should be reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission or to the police for appropriate action.
World university ranking of Nigerian universities:
As of August 2019, the Webometric ranking of World Universities placed Harvard University, USA in the first position, followed by Stanford University (USA) and then by the University of Cambridge (UK).
The University of Ibadan was ranked first in Nigeria at the 977th position, followed by Obafemi Awolowo University (1,483rd position) and then by Covenant University (1,697th position). This clearly shows that no Nigerian university is recognised in the world as of today. This is a shame to Nigeria and particularly to the Federal Government because the University of Ibadan was rated amongst the top 100 universities in the world during the 60s and early 70s. This explains why the best scientists in the world at that time, including two Nobel laureates in Chemistry – Sir Derek H.R. Barton and Lady Dorothy Hodgkins, both of the blessed memories– visited Ibadan to see things for themselves. The great Sir Christopher Ingold who was then Professor of Chemistry at the University College, London, visited the Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan in 1963 and was so impressed with the state-of-the-art facilities in our research laboratories to remark as follows: “The Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan, is pre-eminent on the continent and clearly at par with any Chemistry Department in the world”.
These were the good old days when the University of Ibadan was the only known Nigerian university with high international recognition, reflecting the strong financial support from the then Federal Government and some philanthropic foundations and grant-giving agencies at that time. It is pertinent to note that the oil boom had not started when the university attained international recognition. Also, the military incursion into the nation’s political life largely due to the discovery of oil seriously weakened the university system. The economic downturn informed the devaluation of the naira and obviously brought the international status of UI to an abysmal level due to the very high cost of running a highly expanded university and the total neglect of tertiary education by the Federal Government.
In conclusion, the Federal Government should as a matter of utmost urgency take the following steps, among others, in order to avert the total collapse of university education in our dear country:
Reduce the number of federal universities in the country from 47 to 20 and give each university an initial grant of N60bn ($166m) for expansion to accommodate more students and to equip the laboratories and libraries to world-class standard.
Establish an equipment factory in Nigeria for the assemblage of all types of research equipment needed by our universities and polytechnics. This can be done in collaboration with established research equipment producers such as Perkin-Elmer (U.K, USA or Germany), Pye-Unicam (U.K. or USA) and Varian Instruments (USA).
Concluded
Prof Odiaka, FAS, is a former Dean of Science, University of Ibadan (2007-2009) and currently, Head, Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan (2017-2021)
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