In the amorphous realm of “natural law”, in contrast to the “laws of nature”, every nation, small or large, goes through cycles of growth and stagnation, beginnings and endings. The tenure of ASUU strike that appears to be on its last legs is symptomatic of the prevailing (idiopathic/enigmatic) dysfunction of the Nigerian nation. I am on record that credibility is paramount in the ongoing strike action but a temporal approach in terms of settlement and implementation of agreement may appease aggrieved parties. An eminent jurist from the UK once opined that when there is an apparent “conflict between the law and common sense the latter should be given a chance to succeed” particularly when the long term interest of public good is considered superior to short term political gains (my addition). Suffice it to say that you cannot manufacture academics overnight just as you cannot manufacture musicians or painters. In some disciplines like medicine, it could take up to 14 years to produce one functional academic and at the end of the marathon training period the professional is at the bottom of the academic ladder. Equity should be dispensed to compensate these specialists like neurosurgeons for the relatively long gestation. Therefore human capacity building should be a national treasure and considered an invaluable asset that should be carefully nurtured and encouraged with suitable compensation. This fact was reflected in salary scales of academics in the sixties when professors including expatriates were paid more than permanent secretaries. I was a beneficiary of this highly favourable condition of service at Ibadan. This predisposed to unparalleled loyalty and dedication to service not replicated since the stealthy devaluation of academics in the early 70s.
Unfortunately a cohort of civil servants in power, permanent and super-permanent secretaries at the time manipulated the salary structure and reversed the trend even though most of these brilliant civil servants spent only 3 or 4 years to get their basic degrees with no postgraduate qualifications. We now see the results and effects on the quality of education in our tertiary institutions. This administrative action that academics failed to protest against marked not only the beginning of a steady exodus of expatriates but a silent decline in the quantity and quality of Nigerian staff devoted to academic duties and research.
This decline was augmented by the civil war (1967-1970) and subsequent proliferation of unplanned universities that still continues to date. One of the unintended consequences of the civil war was balkanization of academics regardless of their states of origin and the ruined philosophy of “Better together” that pervades all institutions of higher learning. The latter predisposed to devaluation of and academics and the upward mobility on the academic ladder including professorial/academic standards due to supply and demand and the politics of indigenization. As a result two apparent categories of professors emerged, namely universal professors and location-specific professors “ local champions” and Vice chancellors selected from the cohorts of professors.
Other factors that played vital roles in academic devaluation included the introduction of federal character in appointments particularly introduction of “University Managers” referred to as Vice-Chancellors and their administrative counterparts. The nocturnal lobbying of the top brass of the military and civilian visitors further devalued academic currencies and defined some academics as purveyors of mediocrity rather than meritocracy. It is a shame to be told of senior academics that circulate their CVs in the corridors of power for political and non-political offices rather than allow merit and acknowledgement to prevail particularly in respect of “primus inter pares” or even for political offices. The innovation of ‘Deputies’ to Vice-Chancellors is an admission of the fact that VCs were no longer full academics but CEOs or managers. For example Deputy Vice-Chancellor academic and Deputy Vice -Chancellor administration evolved to fill a niche as the manager-cum-VC was no longer able to cope or delegate functions. The internecine warfare and prostitution among academics could and should be avoided if all universities could adopt a council-supervised succession plan for VCs either by rotation or ranking of willing professors on annual or biannual basis as practised in some ancient universities abroad or by other tested criteria. The salaries and pensions of all the professors should remain the same and no additional perks including pension should be attached to the post of Vice-Chancellors (VC). The concept of appointing “managers” to occupy the post of VC led to the appointment of some lightweight academics (Vice chancellors without high school diploma but with teachers diploma or similar diplomas pre-degree courses ) who felt insecure and did not command the respect of the University community at large. Suffice it to say that some, not all, VCs of the first and second generation universities were not only local but internationally acclaimed academic champions. The recognition of a few examples, Prof. Akin Adesola as Chairman of the Association of Commonwealth Vice-Chancellors, Prof. Tom Lambo as Deputy Director General of WHO in Geneva, Prof A.O. Lucas as Professor of Public Health at Harvard University, USA, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Managing Director of World bank, Prof Babatunde Osotimehin as Director General of PP of United Nations, and recently Prof M. Pate to Duke University in the Research Triangle of the US are few examples, among many others, of Nigeria’s academic recognition and accomplishments. However, superimposed on the currently imperfect modalities for appointments of VCs are the politically appointed Chairmen of university councils who never bothered to request for annual faculty reports of universities under their watch and neither informed themselves or verified the achievements of their citadels nor did they forward such reports, if any, with their council’s comments to designated ministries (Health and Education) or even to the National University Commission (NUC) that had defended their appropriations.
It is suggested that appropriation for all university funds should be subject to publication of annual reports with audited accounts that should be available in the public domain. It is not surprising that not a single Nigerian University featured in the top 500 universities of the world ranking considering that there are more than 104 universities that continue to consume billions of Naira annually , albeit inadequate. The cyclical components of any great institution are many and the funding of these components should not be politicized but reflected in allocation of scarce, invaluable national and state resources. Morality and intellect of decision- makers loom large over the execution and effective implementation of these executive and legislative functions, hence the relevance of ASUU in trying to enforce specific performance.
As foundation provost of the Calabar College of Medicine no government official or ministry official ever visited the college over a 4 year period except one visit by NUC officials under the leadership of Prof. Jibril Aminu and his expatriate staff, Mr Mayhew. The only other time the Minister of Health, DC Ugwu, visited me as Chief Medical Director of the Calabar University Teaching Hospital was when he came on a fact finding mission to investigate why I was not charging the poor people of Cross River State the exorbitantly high hospital fees approved by the Nigerian Government (Hospital Fees Act). I cannot recall hosting any other Minister, Legislator or Visitor at the university of Ibadan or other Universities hosting them on routine oversight functions except during convocation ceremonies, commissioning of projects or during some student or labour unrest. The systemic and systematic decline of standards in our universities is symptomatic of lack of oversight functions by the funding authorities. The ceremonial office of a Pro-chancellor is exempt from oversight responsibilities since the majority of appointees have never been to any university and if they had been some are beneficiaries (pay back time) of political support given to powers that be during elections while others are on merit. There are a few exceptional Pro-chancellors who are not only professionals but are university graduates or benefactors who are distinguished in their own professions. For examples Prof J. Chike Edozien, the first Nigerian with a PhD in mathematics and a medically qualified doctor and former chairman of biochemistry at Duke University in the United States for 23 years is a Pro-chancellor of one of our universities and Mr Afe Babalola a SAN and a bencher with many years of legal practice. You can recognize them at convocations because they wear their gowns and caps with dignity whereas looking at others the gowns wear them and the caps do not fit properly as shown in published photographs. The budgetary provisions for these Pro-chancellors should be reduced and better used to provide suitable accommodation for students who live and study in unbelievably poor and sub-human environments. It is shameful to see some Vice chancellors lick the boots of their Pro-chancellors on occasional visits to their respective campuses for rest and recreation (R&R). I ask myself if this could be cultural or official reverence for the post or just insecurity of tenure of the appointees?
Considering the relatively small percentage (5% of total population) of fortunate Nigerian students who have studied or are studying abroad it is not surprising that they invariably excel in more suitable and conducive but expensive academic environments whereas the inherently brilliant Nigerian students consigned to their fate in the Nigerian environment face daunting challenges including reading with candle lights, visits to the nearest bust for genito-urinary reliefs, and a myriad of other challenges from inadequate financing, feeding, poor unscreened accommodation, mosquito bites, epileptic power outages, corruption and most important to incessant strikes by faculties. I doff my hat to these home grown Nigerian graduates and diplomates who thrive and survive under horrendous circumstances in these over-crowded universities and halls of residence. I am also not surprised that there are not many more students graduating with first class honours from our citadels of learning.
The fiscal inequality within the Nigerian society is staggering and the galloping impunity with which the corrupt elements flaunt their ill gotten wealth is unbelievable. The “Compulsory acquisition syndrome” (CAS) that is becoming a well recognized disease among the upper crust of Nigerians is characterized by multiple fancy cars with arm-totting security guards, several mansions in high- brow areas, private jets and to top it all multiple concubines called “wives”. Fortunately this group exists in all the states but is ephemeral in society since their clones usually do not appear to prosper visibly as their progenitors alive or dead. Fidelity of replication of this wealthy generation will be disastrous to society in the long run and may predispose to revolution as witnessed in Europe of yore. Academics are amply justified to relate their basic salaries to the executive and legislative arms of government because they are directly responsible for the products that choose to be politicians, judges, civilian heads of states, governors and legislators for the common man. They are also responsible for the production of relevant graduates that make all the difference to the economic growth and prosperity of the country. Emigration stole and continues to steal our prosperity and the developed countries are benefitting at our expense.
I have been particularly fortunate in spending the last 50 years in three vantage positions from where I had been able to see evolution of success stories and failure in many countries including the Nigerian society. My past experiences, summarized in three periods, have prepared me for the next battle of establishing a world class cancer centre, albeit not an easy task. I spent the first 20 years (1962-82) in post graduate academia and research in Nigeria and abroad (Trinity College, Dublin, Queens University, Belfast and London ), the next period of 9 years (1982-91) was spent as an international civil servant/technocrat (representing Nigeria as a diplomat) in charge of technology and research for the African Union (OAU/STRC) while the subsequent 19 year period (1990-2009) was spent as a cancer researcher and physician in adequately funded and topmost US institutions (National Cancer Institute and US Department of Human Health and Services). The battle against the odds are daunting trying to establish a world class comprehensive cancer center in Africa where Africans can be trained in oncology sciences, hitherto unavailable in sub-Saharan Africa, and to treat cancer patients in their native environments with supportive therapy from their families.
My suggestions in this submission will therefore be more descriptive than prescriptive. Nigeria needs a highly favourable policy environment with stronger civilian and technological policy instruments in its nascent democracy, It is a historical fact though sad to see that the vote has been lowered to the voter instead of the voter being brought up to the level of the vote as had evolved in all the modern democracies including Britain and USA. Governance in African countries including Nigeria is usually effected by legislators with minimal educational qualifications and work experience and lack of political mentorship. High school graduates or GED legislators surely are neither comparable nor can they replicate the quality of debates that occurs in parliaments of developed countries where most of the legislators, civil servants and Permanent secretaries are usually first class degree holders and products of top universities ( Oxford, Cambridge, London, Harvard, Yale and Princeton) followed by rigorous political mentorship. Federal character was not included in the Lancaster based Constitution of Nigeria at independence and there is no tolerance for such provision in the constitution of developed democracies. Of possible pertinence is the fact that majority of Nigerian legislators and permanent secretaries (1950-1975) were of similar calibre to those of the UK and US. Nigeria prospered during this period that I refer to as the period of “military sackings with immediate effect” introduced after the fatal bullets that decimated our elected leaders in 1966. The irony of the situation in which the common man finds himself is the unbridled jubilation at these random sackings as if to say that their lot would be improved by unceremonious dismissals of hard working civil servants and professionals. The society is currently paying a high price for this lack of affect and sympathy for those dismissed with immediate effect.
The first public enemy of our democracy and society is the relative preponderance of illiterate voters followed closely by the relatively low educational calibre of some of the elected representatives in the legislature. Regardless of the basic disabilities, known to our colonial masters before and after amalgamation, to our nascent democracy there is an urgent need for a strong and intelligent leader that will be supported by a highly enlightened cohort of Ministers/Technocrats who collectively will make bold decisions on matters that will improve the lot of the common man and society thereby deepening our democracy.
A national dialogue is important but it is doubtful if it will benefit or improve the lot of the common man as previous dialogues have demonstrated. We can borrow a leaf from the British Government that exploited the use of Royal Commissions during troubled times. Scholars of political science will tell you that this was a ploy to buy time and calm nerves on contentious and contemporary issues of the time. Reports of Royal Commissions are known to gather dust just as many reports written in Nigeria at great cost. Other noteworthy public enemies include 1) corruption, 2) federal character-induced mediocrities and 3) religious-induced or associated terrorism that plague the country. Education happens to be a common variable to these factors and it could be argued that education can defeat these enemies of public good and progressive or creative thinking. Therefore, Mr President must take the bull by the horn and invest heavily in education and health instead of indulging in expenditure on celebrations of nativity of the country, establishing more non-viable and impoverished universities, de novo, without funds and trained staff and most distressing expenditure on a stress-relieving national dialogue that has no legal framework.
–– Femi Williams was the first African-Scholar-in Residence of the United States National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland; and currently, Founder of the first African Cancer Centre in Lagos, Nigeria.
...Continues next week.