Grandiose Parlor

Good tidings for my Alma Mata:

THE University of Ilorin (Unilorin) has now occupied the top position among Nigerian universities, according to the latest ranking of the world universities in webometric ranking.

The Vice-Chancellor of Unilorin, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, disclosed the position of the institution while being commended by the new Commander of the 227 Wing of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Peter Gbujie.

According to the 2010 webometric ranking result, which was released on February 10, the University of Ilorin, which ranked 77 in Africa last year and second to the University of Benin in Nigeria, now ranked 55 in Africa and first in Nigeria.

The 2010 results revealed the same pattern of the 2009, with only five Nigerian universities among the best 100 in Africa.

However, only the University of Ilorin was found among the best 6,000 world universities in the world as presented in the ranking.

The current ranking was considered a welcome development by stakeholders of the institution, though the university said it was set to be among the best 10 in Africa and one of the leading institutions in the world.

Source: Tribune

Pupils whose parents cannot afford chairs and lockers make do with the floor. Photo: GBENRO ADEOYE / 234NEXT.com

This is an image that breaks the heart! Hattip

The Nigerian state appears gray and stuporous at the moment. Check this out:

Corruption continues

In the last 8 weeks, some big wigs have been docked over financial misappropriation - two former aviation ministers (Babalola Borishade and Femi Fani-Kayode) and an ex-governor (Michael Botmang). There are also fraud allegations against the sitting governor of Oyo state.

In addition, the Osun State election tribunal got entangled in a web of controversies over some telephone conversations between the tribunal Justice and the lawyer to the defendant (the state governor). The tribunal has since passed its verdict in favor of the defendant.

While on elections, it is strange that since the Edo state PDP governor lost the tribunal verdict on the governorship election on March 19 2008, four months ago, the Appeal Court has yet to seat on the case. As long as the appeal stands pending in court, the incumbent remains the substantive governor, even if the tribunal has ruled otherwise. Interesting!

Teachers on strike

All public primary and secondary schools in Nigeria have been on forced holidays following the industrial action of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), a labor organization for primary and secondary schools’ teachers.

The strike is now in week 4, and news media reports indicate there’s no resolution in sight. The Minister of Education, quoted by the media, insists the Federal government has no business dealing with the teachers!

While the NUT impasse ensures, Nigerian governors and public administrators wasted some 30 million naira congratulating the president on his birthday on the pages of Nigerian newspapers…on the wrong day!

NNPC buys protection

Yesterday, this blog reported that the NNPC, Nigerian-richest public corporation has been paying monthly ‘protection fees’ to the Niger-delta militias.

Probe panel under probe

Today, the Nigerian Tribune drops another bombshell: “Power probe panel under probe - Over N100m bribe allegations.”

The “power probe panel” is the same House of Representatives panel investigating how the administration of former president Obasanjo handled the electricity projects between 1999- 2007. It has been more than two months since the panel finished work, but yet to formally publish its recommendations as expected. Some of its discoveries have been discussed on this blog.

Power generation has dropped even below 2004-levels at the moment, even as the nation waits patiently to hear from its president on his ‘emergency power plan’… It’s been more than 12 months since the announcement, can you believe that?

Three out of every five new graduates of Nigerian medical schools ‘eye jobs in telecoms companies and banks’, according to Nigerian Tribune.

Those that do not go for jobs in telecoms companies and banks ‘now prefer to set up health-related non-governmental Organizations through which they could earn hard currencies from foreign bodies.’

In 2007, some 37,000 doctors left Nigeria to seek better jobs abroad, according to Nigerian Medical Association/Guardian.

Of its 50,000 members, the association could only register about 13,000 in 2007 renewal of practicing licences.

The 13,000 registered are unevenly distributed in urban areas; about 6,000 doctors are in Lagos, some states have fewer than 300 doctors.

International aid to Africa should be used to boost doctors’ salaries and strengthen the recruitment and training of medical staff, according to WHO experts. The agency predicts that by 2015, countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Nigeria will still be short of doctors to meet their needs.

Nigeria doesn’t have to wait till 2015; there is crisis in the hospitals already. Is there going to be an emergency declaration as the Prez did on power sector?

What is the national health strategy? Is there any other mission aside from the UN’s cookie-cutter Millennium Development Goals?

It has been many months since the Health Minister got sacked on graft charges; a replacement is long over-due.

Thirty four years after its inception, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme will be revamped to enable it “meet contemporary and future challenges.” Guardian:

The review would cover the funding arrangement, conditions for exemption and exclusion from National Youth Service, stiff penalties for evasion from service and impersonation of corps members, welfare provision by employers of corps members and the statutory obligation of states and local councils.

There are even talks Corpers - the common tag for NYSC members - may be sent to farms to help boost food production, given the current scarcity and rising prices of food items in Nigeria.

Every year the NYSC mobilizes at least 150,000 members nationwide, but does the agency even conscious of how to put this cheap labor force into best use?

Are the members mentally and socially prepared to face the challenges of the service year?

For starters, shouldn’t Corpers be prepared for the tasks ahead while in they are still in colleges? How about classes and seminars designed to prepare them for the one-year mandatory service? Ask a soon-to-be-Corper what the NYSC is about and you will get all sorts of answers. To me there are only two answers: Nation building and personal empowerment - and the college classroom is the place to start making this clear to the prospective Corper.

Do corpers even need the mandatory 3-week orientation if its focus is strictly to build physical endurance? How about teaching simple survival skills? Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), dealing with snake bites, responding to emergency situations (road traffic accidents, gunshot wounds) are more appropriate skill set to have in accident-prevalent Nigeria I think.

And if the Corpers will be sent to the farms, please they need to be taught about farming, properly, from both practical and business perspectives - and with the purpose of converting some of the Corpers into career farmers. The days of seeing Corpers as “disposable and cheap” should be over.

The Nigerian college graduate faces two major challenges: a reported declining standard of education and an ever-shrinking job market.

Nigerian educational system has taken several head-knocks in past, recently it was the turn of Nigerian apex banker, Professor Soludo, to offer his observations of Nigerian graduates, and it wasn’t nice:

“71 per cent of Nigerian graduates like bad cherries, won’t be picked by any employer of labour because they are not fit for anything even if they were the only ones that put themselves forward for an employment test.”

This is a pretty damning report. According to news report credited to Soludo, Nigerian graduates do not possess the “high level skills needed to tackle the challenges of post-recapitalisation operation in the banking sector and globalization” and “are not employable in the new economy”.

Today, I read some 250,000 new college graduates will go through the annual rites of nation building via the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program.

The revelation of Soludo is nothing new; the news of declining standards of tertiary education have been on-and-off for several years now. And it was what prompted the feds to commence granting licenses for private universities in 2000. While the numbers of those colleges have geometrically increased over the past 8 years, their impacts will not be fully apparent, if at all, for another 5-10 years. Should Nigerians and policy makers fold their hands and wait?

There is no basis to anticipate a quick turn-around - even with the best efforts of the private universities, their student intake isn’t just high enough to reverse the downward trend.

What would I do if I were the Minister of Education in Nigeria?

1. Open communication channels with the banks and other potential employers in Nigeria.

2. Overhaul the college curricula and pay more emphasis on technical and practical learning modules over theoretical applications. I will add classes on entrepreneurship and writing, promote social-academic societies, and encourage mentoring programs.

3. Seek new funding sources through private partnerships and fee-based consultancy work, and encourage private endowments of faculty chairs.

4. Offer career counseling to first year students. Create functional and well-staffed student affairs offices in all campuses.

5. Offer university dons continuing education/learning opportunities through professional classes and conferences.

6. Lobby to re-align the activities of the NYSC to one that is more relevant to ‘Nigeria of 2008′ and beyond. The paramilitary drills have become redundant!

For instance, while I was in college, there was never any class on what to expect during the one year NYSC period. No academic and mental preparation were offered, none, not even simple CPR and first aid training! Yet, graduates are expected to live safely and productively for 12 months in the most unfamiliar terrains! This is an unrealistic expectation.

7. Lastly, institute a student-review process for the lecturers where all lecturers will be assessed anonymously by the students at the end of each class or semester, this will be in addition to the existing peer-review system.

I can think of more, but what’s the point? I ain’t the Minister, and the probability of him reading this post is next to zero! It just pains me greatly that those in charge would rather talk and play the boss …than think and do their jobs!

Nigeria has a national virtual library (here: http://www.nigerianvirtuallibrary.com/) built and maintained by the National University Commission (NUC). Great idea, right? But wait until you try to use… and you get this:

Several questions ran through my mind when I saw the message:

1. Why would users have to register with their “school librarian” and not online?

4. Isn’t this a clear example of how government-managed initiatives quickly become redundant in Nigeria?