BEFORE WE ADD MORE UNIVERSITIES

It is now eleven years since my father died but he has actually refused to die because his old sayings will not leave my memory. One of such saying is that “the money to buy a kerosene lantern is not as expensive as the amount that will fuel it” this is the appropriate word to the federal government of Nigeria as it plans to add six more Universities to the existing 109.
The states to host the new universities are Ekiti, Taraba, Ebonyi, Nassarawa, Bayelsa and Jigawa, which represent each of the six geo-political zones of the country. Each of them will receive N10 billion as take off grant. Of course, that is a very good amount for a start as long as there won’t be modern laboratory and up to date ICT equipment.

According to the minister of education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, who announced the plan, she said the move was based on the need to address the shortfall in university spaces in the country. She argued that only 205,107 candidates, who represent 16 per cent of 1,305,227 applicants, secured admission into universities in the last admission exercise, leaving out 1,100,107. That sound sympathetic and appealing  enough to my emotion. I sympathise with the candidates who have not been able to secure any of the limited spaces in the nation’s 109 universities. Honestly, I really do, at least I’m a living witness of the situation in University of Lagos this year where only out of the 45,369 student that applied for the Post-UTME, only 6, 400 were admitted.
However, this is no excuse for the Federal government to take actions without counting the cost. As things stand today, there is a critical shortfall in academic personnel required in most of our universities. Many university programmes rely mainly on adjunct and part-time lecturers. There are departments in some universities with no full time doctorate degree holder. Haba, why can’t we do the first thing first?
In my own opinion, I think, The National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Federal Ministry of Education should ensure that efforts to produce more academic staff for these institutions are worked upon, if the nation’s increasing Universities are to be adequately staffed for effective learning. Therefore, the government, even as it plans for more universities, must take cognizance of the fact that the required number and quality of academic personnel must be sourced to teach the admitted students.
Meanwhile,  Administrative staff in universities are also getting stretched thin. You and I know too well that It is not everyone with a degree that can serve in some capacity, for instance as an assistant registrar, Dean of Faculty or even heads of Departments. Further training and experience counts. So, rather than push in more money into erecting some unnecessary monumental architectures called University, money should be voted for training of university academic and administrative personnel. There has to be a deliberate plan to produce more PhD holders, not only to increase academic staff available to existing universities, but also qualified lecturers to man programmes in the new universities in view.
To do this, Students should be encouraged to take up careers in academics through scholarships for doctorate  degrees, and improved pay for university lecturers. Perhaps, the word ‘improved pay’ should be emphasized and if need be, should be well defined. I remember one of my lecturer once asked “who among you will like to be a lecturer in future” I was the only candidate that responded yes in a class of 83 students, how horrible!
So, where do we go from here. Good! The existing universities should be mandated to produce more doctorate degree holders to cater for the staff needs of both the existing and coming new universities.
There should be introduction of time-bound doctorate degree programmes which will involve the most brilliant graduates of certain programmes receiving scholarships and stipends while they undertake their doctorate studies as full time students, within a specific time frame of about three to four years, to encourage them to take up lecturing as a career. That should be made to replace the current situation in which PhD students are frustrated and made to spend up to ten years to obtain doctorate degrees. This is discouraging and inexpedient to the quest for more teaching staff in the universities.
At the moment, the most brilliant students are not encouraged to take up lecturing as a career, including my humble self. The profession has become a career of last resort for many who could not get better jobs, and those who have retired from other professions. That sound more like making our Universities a dung hill of retired professionals, Shame! Shame! Shame!
In all sincerity, I do not have anything against the initiative of the federal government but that government must address the practical issues involved in running the tertiary institutions, government must be careful not to devalue the quality of education by indiscriminate establishment of universities, otherwise, any new institutions set up will be a glorified secondary school.

FROM 6-3-3-4 TO 6-5-4: WHAT DIFFERNCE DOES IT MAKE

It will be indeed unfair for anyone no matter how loaded with facts he may be to stand at this moment to say that the federal government of Nigeria is only folding arms and doing nothing about the state of the education system in Nigeria. At least there have been two giant leaps in recent time. First was to scrap the 6-3-3-4 system and replace it with the old 6-5-4 system while the second is to add more universities to the already existing 109. But perhaps, it is expedient to examine these plans to weight our chances so that the efforts of the government will not be like fetching water in an empty basket.

First, the 6-3-3-4 system, though government has the right to alter any policy or programme it feels is not working in line with set objectives, I feel that incessant policy summersaults generally, do not augur well for sustainable development. The 6-3-3-4 system which was introduced about two decades ago was designed to churn out graduates who would not only be employable but also self reliant. Specifically, graduates who would make use of their hands, heads and hearts-the 3Hs of education.

However, the nation has not been able to realize the lofty target that the system was meant to achieve, not because the 6-3-3-4 system is inherently doomed to fail. The fact that most experts have admitted is that from the beginning it was bedeviled with a number of obstacles.

First, there has not been sufficient funding for the system by administrators at the three tiers of government.
Proper funding would have ensured that teachers at the primary level are enabled to give the children a solid foundation and that teachers who handle vocational and technical subjects at the secondary level are well trained and teaching equipment provided in all the schools to make that aspect of the programme as result-oriented as it was meant to be. This has not been the case. Most public schools are mere playing grounds, with few unqualified tutors who are frequently on strike because of either lack of salaries or working tools or both. Education is not just about policies but largely about teachers, facilities and political will to implement policies.

Apart from poor funding, the system has been crippled by corruption. For years, even the paltry amounts that are set aside in the budget for the running of schools are hardly applied. The result is that while the bank accounts of some individuals are burgeoning the nation’s public primary, secondary and tertiary institutions have continued to deteriorate.
That the Federal Government is talking about going back to the 6-5-4 system, which was abandoned some decades ago because it was considered not good enough for the educational needs of the country is, indeed, worrisome, because apart from the fact that we should be moving forward, this move would entail massive reorganisation of structures, stationeries etc which would cost tax payers a lot of money.

There are some countries that are currently running the 6-3-3-4 system successfully and whose school systems are well respected globally. One of such countries is Japan, a reference point for technological advancement in the world.
Scrapping the 6-3-3-4 system will certainly upset the entire school system. The best step that government needs to take, in our view, is to undertake a holistic review of the current 6-3-3-4 system with a view to correcting the flaws that have caused the system to malfunction. It is a fact that no matter the system that is introduced by government in place of the 6-3-3-4 system, if the operators fail to implement it efficiently it will still fail.

The problem of 6-3-3-4 is implementation, especially lack of proper funding, inadequate staffing and poor provision of requisite equipment. Like the 6-3-3-4 system, most programmes in Nigeria have failed to achieve their desired goals not because they were

poorly designed but essentially on account of poor implementation
and corruption. Government must, indeed, therefore, take a second look at its new plan and resist the temptation to throw away the baby with the bathwater.

OLD WINE IN A NEW WINE SKIN

YABATECH

KADUNA POLYTECHNIC

When the announcement that YABATECH and Kaduna Polytechnic, as well as four colleges of education - Federal College of Education, Kano; Federal College of Education, Zaria; Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri and Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, have been converted to universities of technologies and education, there were two reactions running through my head simultaneously.

First I was happy that the Education Minister, Prof Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’I, has made a good decision but when I remember some past skeleton in the cupboard of this institutions I have more reasons to be afraid.

First the Kaduna polytechnic; the Mass communication students of KADPOLY recently did an Expose on the fraudulent admission process of the institution through their departmental training magazine. To my uttermost surprise, the school authority who were suppose to bury their heads in sober reflection decided to cure ring-worm infection at the expense of leprosy by dealing with the students. Shame!

According to the 2009/2010 audit report, of the admission exercise of the institution, 40 million naira was realized through illegal means.

Apart from this, the admission was suppose to be ratio 40 to 60 between the Rector’s list and the school list but in the 2009/2010 admission, 4,286 students were admitted, 2,614 followed due process (rector or school list) while 1,672 students were admitted without due process. Neither the rector’s list nor the school list admitted them, yet their names were published on the school website. So, if the essence of journalism is to make the government accountable to the masses will it not be good if these students start the practice from their own Jerusalem to Judea and to the end of the earth?

That raises a lot of concern; first, what is the pre-requisite for making the rector’s list? How were those 1,672 unexplainable students admitted? I think the Rector, Dr. Danjuma Isa has many questions to answer.

Yes! KADPOLY is not alone, how about YABATECH, Members of the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) Staff Cooperative Multipurpose Society are still battling the former executive officers led by a Senior Lecturer as well as the Manager of the cooperative society to retrieve N197,926,362.22 million allegedly misappropriated during their tenure.

According to available documents, including photocopies of withdrawn cheques, the former exco allegedly cashed money from the banks, gave out loans to non members, inflated amount of loans given to beneficiary and withheld funds from creditors and the cash was collected by former President and the Manager on behalf of members without their knowledge.

In a letter to the former President before the scam was reported to the special fraud unit on December 30, 2009 and signed by the current President, Mr. Dave Ohiorhenuan, he recalled that when the suspects faced the senior staff investigative committee (SSIC), the president on behalf of other executives accepted to refund the N20,521,246 million out of N48,849,708.31million that they were asked to refund.

If the situation of things can be like this while these institutions were still on polytechnic level, what hope do we have that more crime will not occur at the arrival of this new nomenclature-University. To me, it is a license to destructively affect the mindset of young people; it is a license to destroy. These are issues that should not be swept under the carpet but exposed. Thank God for YABATECH, I learnt the EFCC has been informed.

I ‘m aware that the Mass communication department of YABATECH has also arrived, well I hope they will not be tamed if they say whatever offends the authority just as it was planned in KADPOLY.

Three years ago when I was admitted into the department of mass communication, University of Lagos, my head of department, Prof. Ralph Akinfeleye taught us a course- Introduction to mass communication. In the process, I remember how he placed before us a dilemma of whether the Nigerian journalists are praise-singers or watchdog. Well, his submissions are written in his book ‘Media Nigeria’ and of course who are we the untitled to challenge the authority of a professor’s book.

Anyway, that is not the point here but I think we need to explain who the praise singers are and who watchdogs are . A praise- singing journalist is the one who celebrates the government he is suppose to make accountable even when there is no cause for celebration while the watchdogs closely set their eyes on the administrators, making them accountable to the masses.

However, from the era of Kitoye Ajasa in 1914, the reward of praise –singing journalism has been envelopes (brown, white or otherwise), all expenses paid trip to the western world and many other good things while the reward of the watchdogs has always been parcel bomb, shaving with broken bottle, life jail or even assassination. If you are in doubt just ask Dele Giwa, Mineri Amakiri, Kunle Ajibade and Bayo Ohu. These men tasted these rewards respectively for the sake of their position as watchdogs.

In all of this, my worry is this: where is the merit-driven society we are dreaming of? What has happened to integrity and credibility? What seed are these tutors sowing in the virgin mind of the youngsters for the future? Maybe some of our tutors need to be tutored. I think it is time to monitor those we have assigned to be monitors, it would not be out of place, it is called monitoring the monitors.

IT Fund: mission impossible?

 

Greatest Nigerian students! Great!! Good people great nation, a song we must sing even amidst the national blackout of the rebranded NEPA turns PHCN and the fear of stepping out for months on industrial training as an undergraduate, at least, I can be sure of one thing, no salary will be made available for that period.


This might have been what led to the recent outcry of Professor Longmas Sambo Wapmuk, the Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), at the 44th seminar series of the agency. The professor demanded for a sum of N7.5 billion to enable the institute settle the accumulated allowances of students, who passed through its Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) programme, this in my opinion is a poignant illustration of how far the nation has gone in undermining the very important role that the ITF was supposed to play in the country’s quest for technological breakthrough.

May I say at this point that our dream of becoming one of the 20 leading economies of the world in the next ten years cannot be realised, if extra attention is not paid to the acquisition of technical skills by young Nigerians. Meanwhile, young Nigerians can only get those skills, if agencies such as the ITF and many of our research institutes are properly funded and monitored to ensure that they carry out the mandate given to them.

Nigeria is one of those countries known for mass production of what we don’t consume and excess consumption of what we don’t produce. Most of the things we don’t produce however are usually things that have a close tie with technicalities and industry, if that is the case, the question is what is the government doing to strengthen undergraduates is this direction.

Perhaps the government is not aware that ITF did not magically descend from the sky like an overripe mango, it was created by Decree 47 of 1971 (now Act 47), the ITF is mandated, among other things, to promote and encourage the acquisition of skills in commerce and industry. It was also meant to be a place to help students acquire practical experience in their fields.

According to professor Sambo, while ITF requires N2.5 billion annually to pay the SIWES allowances outside other commitments, it gets only N985 million from government. If the ITF owes such a huge debt of allowances over such a fairly long period because its budgetary provisions are not met, it can only mean that it has not been fully discharging some of its core mandate. It also means that the Federal Government is not appreciating the essence for which this important agency was created in the first place. And this is unfortunate.

Well, my own nightmare seems to be growing faster than necessary as the time to go for IT lingers, I dare to speak on behalf on youth population of the Nigerian state that government will look into the funding of the Industrial training for undergraduate students.

Serving their Fatherland

When I heard that the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Major-General Maharazu Tsiga, announced a plan to utilise 400,000 youth corps members serving in different parts of the country as electoral officers in the forthcoming general elections, I remembered my secondary school days. Each time we recited the National Pledge, we had a version the principal must not hear; it went:
I pledge to Nigeria my country,

To be faithful, loyal and honest,
To serve Nigeria is not by force…But come to think of it, is service to Nigeria a matter of necessity? Or simply put, is it by force? I leave the answer to the patriotic level of your mind.

An obvious way of serving the fatherland is the NYSC scheme. It was created to reconcile, rehabilitate and reconstruct the country after the Civil War. Decree 24 of 1973 stated that the NYSC was established "with a view to the proper encouragement and development of common ties among the youths of Nigeria and the promotion of national unity". But I daresay that the aims of this programme, which include promotion of cross-fertilisation of ideas, reduction of erroneous impressions about tribal and religious beliefs among groups in Nigeria, have been defeated.

The death of Chuks Ugoeze, Samuel Utazi and Adesola Ajaiye in Niger State in 2009, and the merciless killing of corps members in the 2008 Jos crisis have left a scar that cannot be erased from our hearts. Some were raped while others were killed by hostile community members. What has the government done about the killings? Who has been prosecuted? Perhaps my secondary school assumption is correct; "to serve Nigeria is not by force".

Someone once wrote: "NYSC members are sometimes maimed, raped and killed; they are housed in dilapidated buildings, forced to eat malnourished food and drink unhygienic water. They are given peanuts at the end of the month as if they were beggars. After subjecting them to 12 months of hardship, they are released into the labour market to hunt for jobs and fend for themselves".

The government has been unfair to our young graduates. What could be more embarrassing than paying a graduate less than N10,000 a month, all in the name of service to a fatherland? And now, the same government, through the INEC, is set to send about 400,000 young Nigerians on genocide. If not genocide, what do we call it, knowing the tendencies of our politicians who arte currently stocking up arms for the elections which have become wars for them?

Tsiga was quoted to have said that the decision to use corps member was to help ensure free and fair elections in 2011. They will be given a new orientation on their role in Nigeria’s development. Involvement in the conduct of the general elections is expected to be their contribution to the deepening of democracy in Nigeria. He said this at the NYSC camp in Abia State.

Good as it sounds, can anyone dare to raise his voice to argue the situation of electoral violence in Nigeria? Have INEC and the government put all the structures in place for a smooth running of the election? Beyond plans for the physical conduct of the elections, INEC should not forget other weighty matters such as the review of the voters’ register and the prompt passage of the Electoral Act into law. Everything that is necessary should be done to empower those who are expected to deliver a credible poll.

Now, let’s go to the heart of the matter. Of course the corpers are going on this adventure of risk, no doubt. But there are certain things that the government must check. NYSC and the INEC must demonstrate great care in the deployment of corps members, there is need to understand that the corpers are outside their normal terrains. Utmost care, therefore, should be taken to properly train them for the work to be done, as well as protect them.

It is also important to encourage them with prospects of job opportunities with INEC and other relevant agencies. Security of youth corps members on this assignment is paramount. As an aspiring corper, I speak on behalf of millions of Nigerian youths and we say we cannot afford to lose even one of the corpers to electoral violence.



Oluwatayo, 300-L Mass Comm., UNILAG

BAD NEWS FOR RAPISTS

I was glad when i heared the bad news. oh yes! for me it was a good news but for the rapist it was the worst news of a life time.
Dr. Ehlers Sonnet has created Rape-aXe, a female condom that protects against STDs, such as HIV, as well as pregnancy, and can even be used to identify the attacker in rape situations and aid in the apprehension of the perpetrator of the act. What a mighty many in one power packed condom!
Rape-aXe is a latex sheath that contains razor-sharp barbs. At penetration the barbs attach themselves to the penis, causing pain. If the rapist tries to remove the condom himself, the “teeth” will tighten. The device must be surgically removed, which can also result in the positive identification of the attacker and subsequent arrest. Rape-aXe will not cause permanent damage to the rapist, although he will have telltale scars on his pendullum bulb — a constant reminder that raping business does not pay.
The device is now being tested during the World Cup in South Africa to see if can truly defend women against rape as well as mark the man with a permanent device on his penis that can only be removed after he goes to the doctor or hospital.
Once the rapist goes to the doctor with the anti-rape condom attached to his penis, the medical personnel can remove the condom. And the medical personnel are supposed to alert authorities to the alleged rapists whereabouts.
The woman only has to insert the condom and then she can wear it for up to 24 hours. It is recommended to only use it when in dangerous situations, such as a blind date, walking down an alley or other such situations. The female anti-rape condom has “jagged latex hooks that latch onto the skin of an attacker” while trying to rape a victim.
The anti-rape female condom only causes the jagged latex to embed in the skin, without putting the woman at risk with any blood. However, the condom does cause permanent scarring so future women can know what the man has been up to (raping women).
beware ! you may be the next rapist to be caught. and for the ladies who prefer to dress and dress until they have dress naked thereby assaulting the guys sexually the condom is not a licenece o! All in all the best thing is that we all act positively and all will be well.

WORLD YOUNGEST PROFESSOR AT 19

If you ever have the privilege to visit Konkkuk University in Korea what else would you have loved to see? Or who will you like to meet. Well, maybe you should not think too hard because there is someone you should meet. She is Alia Subair, the world youngest professor

. She is 19.
Perhaps in Alia Sabur’s wildly advanced studies she came across a famous quote from a German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which says “Knowing is not enough. We must apply.”That could serve as explanation for what prompted the 19-year-old to become the youngest college professor in history.

Sabur, from Northport, N.Y., has clearly been ahead of the learning curve since an early age. Report had it that she started talking and reading when she was just 8 months old. She had elementary school finished at age 5. She made the jump to college at age 10. And by age 14, Sabur was earning a bachelor’s of science degree in applied mathematics from Stony Brook University - the youngest female in U.S. history to do so. Her education continued at Drexel University, where she earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering.
With an unlimited future ahead of her, Sabur directed her first career choice to teaching. She was three days short of her 19th birthday in February when she was hired to become a professor at Konkuk University in Seoul, Korea. In traditional Korean culture, children are considered to be 1 year old when they are born, and add a year to their age every New Year instead of their actual birthday, so in Korea Sabur is considered 20.This distinction made her the youngest college professor in history, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, beating the previous record held by Colin Maclaurin- the student of physicist Isaac Newton in 1717.
Sabur said she is merely gravitating toward putting what she has learned to good use. At Konkuk University, She said she will take part in classroom instruction, but will also focus on research into developing nanotubes for use as cellular probes that could aid cures for diseases.
On top of her unprecedented academic achievements, Sabur has a black belt in the Korean martial art of tae kwon do and is also a music prodigy. She has been playing clarinet with orchestras since her solo debut at age 11, playing with recording artists Lang Lang and Smash Mouth. So is there anything Sabur can’t do? Well, I won’t be surprised if you say nothing but I’m sorry to disappoint you, she struggles with basketball and with long writing. In fact, sometimes she forgets just how special she really is.

An amazing teenager you would say, however the big question is if we can look forward to having this kind of achievement in Africa? Well the likes of Reuben Abati of Guardian newspaper who had his Ph.D at 26 are indications that we are closer to the Olympia height if we are able to change our education sector for better. Where long strike of lecturers will move the government and public office holders will bring their children from other land to learn side by side with an average Nigerian child in those classrooms provided by our governments for our public schools. It will really be a dream come true.

AS UNILAG GOES DIGITAL

CITS,unilag, where the server is located

Just like yesterday, when Professor Adetokunbo Shofoluwe assumed office, as a communicologist, what came to my mind first was to have a word with him. I tried for nearly two months to go through protocol but the VC never had chance to speak with me and my team. Not because he was proud but I later got to understand fully the nature of his busy schedule.

To this end I decided to lead a team of fellow communication students to lay ambush for him at his 60th birthday anniversary held at the chapel of Christ our Light, Unilag. To my greatest surprise, the VC appreciated the effort and immediately rescheduled his plans for the next day to meet with us. That was where it all began. The following day, i matched majestically with my team to the eleventh floor office of the VC where we had an extensive interview with him. The vice chancellor stated that University of Lagos can be fully computerized by 2012. Prof. Shofoluwe averred that the University has what it takes to become an e-University in the next two and half years. As a professor of computer science, he believed that the institution is ready and has all it takes. According to him“e-University is about leveraging information and communication technology, leveraging of the processes of the University’s activities on ICT. He mentioned that there were already some faculties like wireless connectivity and computers in place and that all that is needed is to train the staff and provide more infrastructures”

True to his words, as part of its efforts at preparing for the post -Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), the University of Lagos has built a 500 seat electronic test centre.

The building which was a partnership between University of Lagos and Electronic Test Company of Nigeria was opened last week when a memo was sent to all the departments of the University to allow their students to come to the test centre and checkthe good working condition of the equipment.

Speaking with one of the facility manager, mr Olawale, the concept of electronic test is not a new invention in Nigerian Universities. He made reference to other Universities where their company has been to install the equipment. Some of the Universities according to him are; University of Maiduguri , Federal University of technology, Akure and University of Ilorin among others.

He added that the computer-based test will among other things generate the result of the students for them instantly and will help to avoid examination mal-practices especially as regard impersonation. According to him the student’s finger prints will be registered and closely examined to detect anyone who comes around to represent other students,

A cross section of sociology students at the centre also commented that they will prefer the computer base test not only for the post UTME but also for the school examinations. In trying to justify this, the students (Ajayi Damilola, Efunkoya Damilola and Efe- all 200 level) said that it takes longer time for the school to release their result and as such will prefer the electronic system which guarantees instant result.

Meanwhile, the VC himself acknowledged that the state of electricity on Unilag campus is one major hindrance that has the capacity to be-devil the digitalization process but he said that the university is working on research into alternatives. The question is how soon will these alternative come seeing that the electricity situation on the campus has since not change. As much as I really appreciate these computerisation efforts, I hope something will be done on electricity very fast, especially as we await another exam. Long live VC! Long live UNILAG! Long live AKOKITES! GBOSA!!!