Rapid growth and expansion of universities, both public and private ones, can rarely be described as real evidence of development. Rather, the phenomenon points towards competitiveness arising from availability of surplus funds calling for investment. Rapid growth of tertiary institutions which does not translate into a rapidly expanding economy can result in an overproduction of unemployable graduates. A historical event known as South Sea Bubble, involving scrambles to invest capital for quick gains, ended up in regrets and losses. We have scrambles in education.
Thanks to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) as well as availability of money from oil and gas resources, Nigeria can afford to have a rapid growth of tertiary institutions. Apart from the federal government taking the lead, state governments and private organisations and individuals are investing rapidly in establishing universities. Despite stringent conditions required for establishing a private university, there are many applications for approvals to do so. Yearly, a large number of Nigerians apply for university admission.
With jobs hardly available after graduation, many Nigerian graduates go back to university for further studies. Consequently, the number of Nigerians with postgraduate degrees rises higher every year, including Ph.D holders, some of who now teach in public and private primary schools. The situation has become such that some of the women who sell “bole and fish” by the roadsides, may be holders of post-graduate degrees. Can we not say that there are lots of unemployable graduates in Nigeria currently?
A vital phenomenon or truth about academic learning is that knowledge which is not applied, refreshed and reinforced regularly, soon goes into a state of atrophy. Therefore, having a university certificate a few years ago is not same thing as having knowledge of current value and relevance, in spite of what the certificate testifies. Knowledge and skill can become stale, obsolete and irrelevant when not utilised, updated and challenged for validity.
Current trends in education of value and relevance include activity-based experiential learning, skill competence, on-the-job training and orientation, coupled with some aptitude and proficiency tests. It is not difficult to identify serious, diligent and creative people looking for jobs or admission into some institutions. Little and insignificant things which people do or say in casual manners can reveal real character and capacity. But in a situation where patronage and sponsorship take the place of impartial and impersonal testing and selecting process, then corruption destroys what it takes to select best candidates.
The result of a faulty and corrupt system of screening and evaluation is usually the enthronement of fake certification and an unproductive economy. Advanced and productive countries apply the true principles and ideals of bureaucracy which demand impartiality and impersonality in selecting and staffing activities. It takes such reliable, transparent and just process to be able to install an efficient, effective and sustainable public bureaucracy. Thus, a vibrant and strong economy would not condone indolence, laxity or low productive capacity. Similarly, “sorting” in the school system would carry severe penalty.
Absence of diligence and seriousness at work often reflect in the value of a nation’s currency and monetary system. In serious economies, employees work diligently to be able to keep their jobs, such that vibrant workforce produces a vibrant economy. Industrial policies of downsizing and closures are not only intended to revamp and strengthen the economy, but also serve as means of capacity-building and waste-reduction. Organisations and nations where unproductive workers are protected, pampered and promoted run the risk of closing down.
Crisis in the Nigerian education sector is largely the crisis of sustainability. To say that All’s Well That Ends Well, is to say that the litmus test of any undertaking is the end-result, joyful or sad. It is not enough to have hundreds of universities and produce millions of graduates; neither is it ideal to become obsessed with high-sounding certificates as we are in Nigeria. There is a need for some shifts away from prevailing euphoria and trends towards enhanced productivity and creativity, whereby an educated individual must be a role model.
Crisis in Nigerian education sector is rooted in a copy-cat mentality, whereby personal conviction is not the driving force and steering element in what an individual does. Imitation, wanting to be like someone else, rather than who and what we are inherently, etc, manifest in various ways. To attempt to clone and fake everything cannot amount to intelligent use of ability. Nigerian students, from undergraduates to those on Ph.D programme, rarely produce anything original, but engage more in padding, cloning and compiling of bits, here and there.
Behind the condemnable activities of Boko Haram insurgents lies a philosophy of rebellion against the hollow rituals of intellectual learning and the culture of imitation. Western education and religion carry some elements of cultural imperialism from which we have not separated ourselves. To design an indigenous education system would obviously take a long time and focused leadership. Any curriculum of an indigenous nature would place emphasis on personal productive capacity and honesty.
Omereji, Ezeji, etc, as traditional names of honour give a testimony of a typical value orientation which we have estranged ourselves from. Industrial and agricultural revolutions in Europe brought about radical shifts in every sphere of life, including education. Currently, we are going through some inevital crises arising from some errors of the past, one of which is embracing Western education curriculum without modifications to suit our traditional values and ideals.
Hostility towards academic learning in some quarters arose from the failure of academic and learned giants in the society to be role models and examples to the masses. Talk about corruption, hypocrisy and sharp practices, they play leading roles; talk about conceit, arrogance, greed and avarice, the educated class are the pace setters. Then what are book learning and academic laurels for? Learning without character is hollow, neither must we glorify those who intimidate others with high-sounding academic qualifications. Does the Nigerian reward system place emphasis on productivity and creativity?

Dr Amirize is a retired lecturer from the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.