The Collapse Of The Ivory Tower

Nigerian educational system has had an overdose of
educational reforms. The 6-3-3-4 system was introduced ostensibly to provide
learners with the requisite techno-vocational orientation, as against the
generalist, liberal and bookish system we inherited from the colonial masters.
The 6-3-3-4 system has, however, failed not because there is something wrong
with it, but because government is paying lip service to its implementation.

There are two key indicators used to know how well a
university system is faring. These are Growth Competitiveness Index (GCI) and
Public Institution Index (PII). In growth competitiveness, Nigeria ranks 12 in
Sub-Saharan Africa and 87 in the world. In terms of public institutions index,
Nigeria ranks 20 in SSA and 98 in the world. Growth Competitive Indicators
(GCI) uses hard data and survey data for ranking educational institutions. On
the other hand, the Public Institution Index, is a composite of the contracts
and laws sub-index and corruption sub-index. Ostensibly, Nigeria ranks below
such less endowed countries as Cameroon, Namibia, Ghana and Senegal.

The general perception is that Nigerian universities are not
well positioned to contribute effectively to productivity, growth and the
national economy. The situation is worsened by the fact that Nigeria has not
defined her position in the emerging knowledge economy.

Nigeria spends a paltry 0.1 % on research and development,
yet political power holders pay lip service to development. Besides, the
federal universities spend only 1.3% of their budgets on research. The
implication is that technological breakthrough or development for that matter
cannot happen without engaging in basic, applied research.

Research could be better funded by the private sector; as
such research results may be commercialized for profit maximization. Research
constitutes a veritable catalyst for economic advancement.

The truth of the matter is that like the temple of
Jerusalem, the ivory towers have collapsed. A few Nigerians are making genuine
efforts to rebuild the fallen walls of the higher education system. But there
are very strong bourgeois and neo-liberal democratic pretenders who are playing
the Tobias and Sanballat, surreptitiously sabotaging the efforts of government.
What the bourgeois class does is to divert the commonwealth to build private
universities, which are run on the basis of market principles. The aim is to
bastardize the public education system with a view to excluding the children of
the poor from acquiring quality education.

The education system needs major surgical operations because
of the cumulative decay. It is counter-productive to administer counterfeit
drugs to a patience that suffers terminal illness. The first step to take in
executing genuine educational reforms is for all of us to agree that there is a
problem.

Second, we have to declare a state of emergency in education
sector, even if we have to close down the system for 12 calendar months. This
will be followed by an all-inclusive education summit where fundamental
decisions pertaining to funding, management, infrastructure, teachers’ welfare,
university autonomy and other knotty issues will be discussed. What the
Nigerian education system needs now is neither marketisation nor academic
capitalism, but adequate funding bereft of politics. The cautious application
of this prescription will restore the fast fading glory of education in
Nigeria.

The major challenge facing the Nigerian education system is,
and has always been under-funding. The IMF and the World Bank have granted
funding privileges to basic education to the detriment of higher education.
Given the rising index of poverty in Nigeria as in other developing countries,
the marketisation ideology will certainly make education inaccessible to the
masses. Only the rich will be able to guarantee the education of their
children.

The bizarre proposition and advocacy that unity schools
should be operated along the lines of market capitalism is as unpopular as it
is unpatriotic. The fact that we need reforms does not mean that we should
blindly implement policies that will have grave consequences on the ordinary
Nigerians.

It is sad that our leaders who wear the toga of a reformer
could impose harsh, punitive and unbearable conditions on the people even in
the education sector.

While it is proper to encourage private initiatives, the
marketisation model of the academics certainly negates the fundamental tenets
of the Nigerian education system. The problem with the Nigerian education
system is chronic under-funding and over-rewarding of the political class.
Nigeria is the only country where local government councillors are better
rewarded than university professors. This is very pathetic.

What Nigerian needs now is neither marketisation nor
academic capitalism, but adequate funding and depoliticisation of higher
education.

Nigeria cannot send a satellite to orbit without a good
education system that trains the requisite manpower that will make full use of
the technology.

For our education to regain its lost glory, we must be
sincerely committed to re-building the fallen walls of the Ivory towers and
only the Nehemiah’s in Nigeria can take on the challenge. The bourgeois and
democratic pretenders have failed the nation. They are the bureaucratic elites,
the predatory capitalists, those who purloin the commonwealth; they are the
people opposed to the re-building of the fallen walls of Nigeria’s ivory tower.

John writes from Bayelsa.

Idumange John