Our African hero , Nelson Mandela once said “ Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.
Its no longer news that the federal and state owned universities in Nigeria are not functioning as supposed to due to the industrial action embarked upon by the academic staff union of universities (asuu) since the first of July, 2013. The reason the union gave as the federal government of Nigeria refusing to implement the agreement that they entered into with ASUU in 2009 purportedly willingly, but whether it was signed willingly or not is not our concern as Nigerians, but the fact that it was signed is, and knowing fully well, that anybody or body that signs and agreement has to shoulder responsibilities that come as a result of such agreements, e.g. giving birth to a child, we may as well put the blame on the federal government for the Non-Implementation of the said agreement.
On the other hand, looking at the agreement closely and examining carefully, there are some terms that are undisputedly needed, and urgently too e.g. the payment of certain allowances to lecturers, but on the other hand, ASUU has no business with the landed properties of the universities as they (ASUU) are solely working in the classrooms, and laboratory sometimes, asides that, they are not the only body in the universities, there are other staff unions, student associations and bodies in the universities, and so the federal government should not based on ASUU’s demands , without the consent of the vice chancellors association, the Nigerian universities commission and at least one other body in the universities concede the landed properties to the universities, moreover, there are still “lands” lying in waste in most of these federal and state universities.
ASUU is also fighting for the release of funds for the revitalization of the education sector, mainly universities both now and yearly in order to raise the standards of Nigerian universities. No doubt, this should not even be a bone of contention, as the state of the said universities should warrant an immediate response from the ministries of education and finance in terms of Funds only needing approval from the federal lawmakers and the presidency.
Now, my question is this, and it concerns the Impunity and excesses of ASUU, the clueless ERC (education rights campaign) , student bodies and of course the Federal government that has many issues to deal with, with the new PDP, the Ministry of Aviation crisis and “boko haram” topping their agenda. ASUU is saying and lamenting that the federal universities in Nigeria are sub-standard and are not on par with those abroad and that private universities are too expensive, including claims that only the affluent and politicians can send their children or wards there. Well, good, correct and well said, except for the fact that they are too expensive. WALTER CRONKITE once said “whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation”. For what it is worth, education can never be too expensive.
Education rights campaign and students bodies calling for the federal government to release funds are ignorant and clueless of the fact that Quality education does not come cheap and that the Nigerian universities and lecturers have tried and deserve praise for producing quality graduates until the last 3 years (no offences meant to those that graduated during this period), and they (the ERC and student unions) should be asked what they are willing to sacrifice themselves for their better futures and the future generations of those that will still go through the Nigerian university system. ASUU is not also let out of this question; what are they also willing to sacrifice? Because the fight should not be taken to the FG, but the ministries of education and finance and the lawmakers. The FG should simply give the go ahead for the implementation of the decision of the federal lawmakers.
As for the ERC and student associations and to all aspiring youths in search of quality education, it cannot and should not come cheap. When the university rankings were released and the Obafemi Awolowo University broke into the top 10 universities in Africa, We Nigerians were happy at the achievement, but I doubt if OAU will be able to maintain the same ranking by the next time they’re published, all thanks to the universities not working as It should for the past four months. Even in the world, the number 8th ranked university in Africa is not in the top ranked 1000 universities, which Is saddening. Have a look at the table below:
Rank in Nigeria World ranking University
1 1113 Obafemi Awolowo University
2 2106 Auchi polytechnic
3 2109 University of Ibadan
4 2149 University of Lagos
5 2640 University on Nigeria
6 3156 University of agriculture,Abeokuta
Calls came from different professional bodies( ASUU included)and well-known individuals, for the revitalization of the educational system and to make the universities world standard, forgetting that a huge sum of money is need. Asuu on the other hand brought up the 2009 agreement and went on an industrial action, for the FG not honoring its agreement with them, as earlier said, and this brings us back to the bone of contention in the agreement and gathered from reliable sources the stand out agreements are the allowances of lecturers and the funds for revitalization both of which both parties are yet to come to an agreement. To those calls from professional bodies, the ignorant ERC, NGO’s and prominent Nigerians for the level of Nigerian universities to be raised to world class standards; have a look of what those world class universities students each pay and what an average Nigerian student pays for education per year which we are all clamoring to be world class:
University Tuition fees
Average Nigerian university student #20,000 = $123.46
Harvard university $38,891
Cambridge university $14,000
Massachusetts institute of technology $36,000
University college, London $14,000
University of Oxford $14,000
Stanford University $42,690
Yale University $43,100
University of Chicago $45,324
German Universities on the average 20,000 euros
University of halifa
Having looked at these statistics for a single student in these universities, how will we Nigerians expect the Federal government to bear the grunt for the remainder of over 700,000 students in the federal universities paying just about $123.46, about twenty thousand naira for tuition per year? If ASUU wants world class schools with efficient accommodations and well stocked laboratories, then their focus might as well want to be shifted to something else, after the Federal government pays probably a hundred or more billion for the first phase of the revitalization, and let the federal government begin to subsidize new tuition rates in these Nigerian federal higher institutions, except they are of course in the strike for something else; of personal gains perhaps. I am not absolving the federal government of due blame for waiting so long to revitalize the education sector, but the true solution is letting the students pay for what they truly need. And I’m sure in reaction to this, the student associations and unions, the ERC, will protest. It is simple, you cannot eat your cake and have it, you cannot want the best without working for it. Nigerians in general, love having things easy and free of charges( sorry to those who work hard, and those who work hard and not paid well) If a new payment system is introduced into federal higher institutions( a new subsidized tuition fees, 50,000 will not be bad for a start ) in Nigeria, the next focus then is how to manage the garnered resources and not allow corrupt university officers to cart away with the proceeds of the sweat of innocent people and not trying to add another wave of corruption in the universities to the present corruption crisis in our nation. And to really step up the system, all our corrupt leaders and past politicians who through past campaigns said they loved our great nation Nigeria and not our resources should make donations or/and scholarships of the money they embezzled while in power and those still in power, to at least be remembered for something worth the while.
“those who live in glass houses do not throw stones” . The FG should only be made to check the rate at which it subsidizes education in the Federal universities. And as for state governments, they are not meant to be on strike with the federal body ASUU because as state universities, they know their alliances rest with their respective state governments.
If after the federal government has made public primary and secondary schools almost free, then each family should be able to save towards the university education of their respective wards.
A Concerned Nigerian
KTO
No comments:
Post a Comment