The Dwindling Standard of Education in Nigeria:  The Way Forward (1), by Afe Babalola

As the Founder and former Chairman of the Governing Council of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, former Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Council of the University of Lagos, former Chairman of all Pro-Chancellors, the Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti even though I never attended any secondary school or university, I am very well conversant with the Nigerian educational system and the factors that ail its development. 

The problems confronting the educational system in Nigeria is pervasive; it ravages all the tiers of education, from primary one to the university. An analysis of the problems then must start from the beginning.

Our situation can be likened to that of a K-legged man whose attention was drawn to the bent load on his head. He in turn asked the people to look down for the cause rather than what is on his head.

The intakes in our primary schools are now faced with problems of over-crowding in class due to the non-expansion of facilities to correspond with the increase in enrollment, ill-motivated and poorly trained teachers, lack of adequate funding to provide simple teaching materials like chalks and dusters, etcetera. It is these poorly taught children that graduate to secondary schools to confront the same problems. By the time the few eligible ones among them leave the secondary school for the university, they have become what is metaphorically called dry fish – they can no longer be bent without being broken. The havoc is almost permanently done. The efforts then made to correct most of the defects only at the university ends in failure. Corrective measures must be total and holistic.

Origin of the University

The first universities started as charitable organisations founded as corporations of students and masters who were chartered first by the Pope and later by Emperors and Kings and now by Parliaments or State Governments. This was how such universities, as those in Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Athens, started. They were largely independent so long as they avoided the teaching of atheism or heresy. These universities minded their own affairs and funded their own needs. They did not have any permanent structures and their corporate properties were few. Education was conducted essentially in cathedrals and monastery schools, or in the homes of wealthy members of the society. George Washington University was a quintessential institute of higher learning which opened in the then colony of America. The university was established by some ministers and laymen who had passion for missionary work and desired a learned clergy. These people sponsored a movement for the establishment of a College in the District of Columbia. They raised funds amongst themselves with which they purchased a site and petitioned Congress for a Charter which was eventually approved on February 9, 1821 by President Monroe.

Oxford University was founded by a group of masters and students then resident in Oxford in the 12th Century. The first classes were held in the churches of St. Mary’s and this practice continued until the 16th Century. Similar history of establishment is shared by other centres of learning in other parts of Europe, notably in Bologna and Paris.

Establishment of universities in Nigeria 

The first university in Nigeria started in 1948 as a “College of the University of London. This was decades after the first Nigerians had been exposed to university education.

The University College, Ibadan evolved out of the desire of the British government to establish universities or University Colleges in the Commonwealth, particularly in West Africa, during the second World War. It was for this purpose that the Asquith and Elliot Commissions were both set up in 1943. They submitted their reports in 1945. The Elliot Commission in its majority and minority reports recommended the establishment of a university college in Nigeria. The Asquith Commission on the other hand focused the report on the fundamental principles which were to guide the development of institutions of higher learning similar to the University College subsequently established at Ibadan. The report also emphasized the principles of residential university, high academic standards in admissions, staffing and employment.

It is worthy of emphasis to state that as an affiliate of the University of London, the University College, Ibadan was structured after the parent university. After its metamorphosis as an autonomous university, the same structure was retained and was later adopted by other universities established subsequently in Nigeria.

The Problems of the University

The products of our first universities, especially the six at Ibadan, Ife, Lagos, Benin, Nsukka and Zaria, compared very favourably with those of any university in the world. They were sought after by Universities at Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford and London for post graduate degrees. When they were eventually admitted, they recorded record-breaking performances. They were offered the best jobs on graduating by the multi-national companies and other big corporate bodies. Those who chose to remain and teach in the universities either here or abroad ranked favourably with their foreign colleagues.

Then suddenly, things nose-dived. Standards began to fall, especially with the advent of the military in the civil governance of the country. The system was militarised. The schools were deprived of adequate funding. Old infrastructures were not replaced or repaired. Teachers who had previously been well remunerated suddenly became over-worked and underpaid. Morale became low. The worsening economic situation did not help matters as unemployment ravaged school graduates. They became despondent. Our university graduates suddenly turned into a shadow of what they used to be, and the outside world treated them as such. They were no longer the beautiful brides that they were among foreign universities and employers. Eventually, the problem got to the peak of its badness when employers began to reject and discriminate against graduate of polytechnics and of universities established by the states. The situation has got to a frightening proportion that all stakeholders now agree that something has to be done, urgently and decisively.

The problems facing our universities are monumental and multifaceted. I wish to highlight some of them:

i. Unpaid pensions and gratuities for retired university staff which ran into several billions of Naira.

ii. Salaries and other remunerations paid to professors and other lecturers which did not compare at all with what their colleagues earned elsewhere.

iii. Hostels which were in a pitiable condition. 

iv. College buildings, including lecture rooms and offices, which need refurbishment 

v. Libraries which are poorly equipped and are in need of  modern books and equipment

vi. Laboratories equipment which are obsolete and are calling for modernisation

vii. Campus roads which are in a state of disrepair

viii. Short supply of electricity (though this is a national problem, students show no tolerance. What is more, generators where they are available, need refurbishment or replacement)

ix. Water supply which in most cases is inadequate.

The questions we must ask ourselves is: why have things gone so bad?

The answer is that the Federal Universities and States Universities which we ran until the recent introduction of private universities are creations of the government and are funded by the government; in fact, many state universities are not much better than secondary schools and in some cases cannot campare favourably with some secondary schools. The bitter truth which the populist do not want to hear is that ours remains the only country where education is funded absolutely by the government.

Nigeria presents a classical study in over dependence on government for the provision of virtually everything. Total dependence on government for the provision of everything has not and will never solve our problems.

•Please send your comments to president@abuad.edu.ng

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