People often fear what they rever (People believe in hope, but trust in fear-anonymous)
That why everybody comes to talk about what a waste of time a first class is or what a waste a Phd is.
Some that even droped out of school would even tell you what a waste o time it is to go to school at all, sighting Bill Gates, or steve Jobs as examples forgeting that this guyz didn't drop out because they failed (these are VERY smart guys who had almost perfect SAT scores).

Sorry to rain on you parade, but getting a Phd is not a waste,
1) Firstly, you would contribute imensely to the field of knowledge for which other developements come from. Most people that play down the role of academics are just like the "Boko Haram" which is against western education, but would use a laptop, internet, AK47, explosive chemistry to get their work done.
2) Secondly, contrary to common belief, lecturers are very well paid world wide, even in Nigeria a fresh lecturer with Msc earn better than at least 70% of paid employees in NG. When u now get to talk about an even higher rank o a lecturer with Phd, he would almost be earning more than you. The thing is that unlike
The banking or telcomm world lecturers don't have to meet up with any jones (N:B the lowest paid lecturer "G.A" earns more than a call assistant in MTN or teller in banks)

So kids out there...bag ur Phd or even Dsc, flaunt it...."There once was a dream that was a Phd, its was only wispered, anything more and it'll vanish)

*typos due to medium of typing

SBabaJ: A Genius Does Not Need A PhD....

What is your definition of a genius? Einstein? Newton? Heisenberg? Schrodinger? All these people have phds, so I don't know what you are talking about.

SBabaJ:
Some Professors Complain....The Only Reason They Did A PhD Was Because They Were The Brightest/Smartest In Their Undergrad Days...Not That It Was What They Would Have Done If They Had Entire Freedom Of Will.

What kinds of people are you meeting? yes there are people that go into a phd because they are incredibly smart and that seems like what they smartest kids from undergrad go on to do, but these people tend to be in the minority in my opinion, and if they don't have passion for research they all almost end up not completing it. There is so much misinformation on this thread. I am not really arguing that a phd is great, am just saying there are tons of people that actually go into it for the right reasons. You people and your phd bashing sef. If you are going to bash something get your facts right at least.

If embarking on a Ph.D is a waste of time then the Professors who taught you in School wasted their time as well since by implication of your premise they shouldn't be teaching.

STALE

Knowledge is good and it is incumbent upon man...yet it is a sword.
A key to success, and a key to failure. Failure in what sense? Arrogance, Ego, Hatred e.t.c
How would you feel if you lose most competitions amongst your contemporary and yet you're brilliant?
Phd is a sword, if you are opportuned, use it well to cut something (meaningful), else, it will cut you.
At least, it is our bus stop for now, but the journey (search) for knowledge continues. Till death.

I think is not a waste oohhhh But me no need am walahi!
Discover how to make 200k Before Christmas, download free ebook at http://www.4shared.com/office/Sdf6rJDx/bloggingcash22.html now.

Getting over-qualified to be qualified for a job...Naija.

Let's get this in better perspective. The Economist is a U.S based publication so the context is U.S based not Nigeria....that said. Apart from the hard sciences or engineering. In the U.S you can teach without a PhD.

I repeat you can teach without a PhD. All you need to be is be successful in your field.

Some 80s rappers teach at Harvard, if you own a successful business, Juris Doctors (JD) teach as well, an expert in the field. Some successful bloggers have even become professors.

Whoever knows the U.S higher education terrain, knows there's been a spike in adjunct professors and less tenure tracked based positions.

Hope this helps when responding to the article.

not true

rodeo0070: Getting over-qualified to be qualified for a job...Naija.

Talking about jobs, what creates job? Research. For out of research springs new invention.

The more we invest into research, the more jobs are created and skills acquired.

Being a Ph.D student gives you the opportunity to access various works and materials that would be needed to carry-out your own research. Plus, you have a supervisor/mentor who leads your through the night.

And mind you, being over-qualified is relative.



Frawzey

obowunmi: So many men viewing and commenting on this topic. I guess the women are only planning to get married, have children, and hawk pure water. No phd in sight.

You are very stupid. U don't have 2 comment u kno, u can as well STFU cuz u sounded so dumb right dere.

foluberry:

You are very stupid. U don't have 2 comment u kno, u can as well STFU cuz u sounded so dumb right dere.

Stop stalking me around the forum.

Erelu_Y: [size=14pt]DID I HEAR THAT JONATHAN GOODLUCK HOLDS A PhD AND OBAMA HOLDS NONE? WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT? I'VE HAD SOME GLASSES OF WINE....GRRHHH IT'S 03.00 HOURS. THANK GOSH IT'S A SUNDAY, NO WORK.[/size]

Why are you comparing Goodluck and Obama? Cant Goodluck bag Phd jst because Obama does nt av?

icydoc: we r shifting into an era were ur academic qualifications greatly determine ur chances of getting a job and ur perceived worth in the society..this is particularly seen in recent times in Africa were paper qualification far supersede ur skills.well if u can,then go for a higher degree.it will sure add some spice to ur cv.

Nope u got it wrong, this present dispensation requires more of your skills and your talents to be outstandingly sucessfull.

Most great and influencial people in this world don't really have big qualifications. It all boils down to skills, knowledge and talents.

icydoc: we r shifting into an era were ur academic qualifications greatly determine ur chances of getting a job and ur perceived worth in the society..this is particularly seen in recent times in Africa were paper qualification far supersede ur skills.well if u can,then go for a higher degree.it will sure add some spice to ur cv.

Nope u got it wrong, this present dispensation requires more of your skills and your talents to be outstandingly sucessfull.

Most successfull and influencial people in this world don't really have big qualifications. It all boils down to skills, knowledge and talents.

violent: In an overtly competitive efficient world where almost everyone has an access to the same sort of information and knowledge, the only way you stand to differentiate yourself from a billion other humans living on this planet is to search and discover more knowledge and contribute this to the jillions of knowledge already available for onward transfer to the nth generation.

Doing a Phd is an extremely wonderful thing. Unlike masters or bachelors, where you simply learn what others have discovered, it puts you in a position to write in a complete clean sheet...you build on pieces of information to arrive at a completely new information that may change the way the world views itself forever...this is not some overly priced and packaged MBA nor some "extracurricular BSc", packaged as MSc, a Phd is beyond all that. A Phd is a true quest for knowledge, if seen as anything short of that, then it's meaning itself may be lost.

More knowledge is never a useless thing. I will rather associate with people who can challenge conventional wisdom than those who simply take things as given.

The argument that vocational experience may fill this void is completely without merits. 500 years ago, perhaps vocational experience may have dictated and thought people at that time to drown themselves once they are inflicted with smallpox. It would have taken someone or a group of people to dedicate a significant amount of time and their life into discovering the nature of Smallpox virus and subsequent treatment...and for that reason, you and I live in a better world.

Phd is never a waste of time, oftentimes, the purpose of obtaining one is what makes the difference. Many people get a Phd simply to strut their shoulders.

Thank you. I have seen that the people who know they can never get a PhD in their life are the ones who come to condem it.

How many billionaires have PhDs?

A lot of ignorant nonsense posted here but i will restrict myself to the bleeding obvious...

obowunmi: Let's get this in better perspective. The Economist is a U.S based publication so the context is U.S based not Nigeria....that said. Apart from the hard sciences or engineering. In the U.S you can teach without a PhD.

this is highly debatable and also depends on where you are "teaching". you cannot teach in a research college here without a phd. Perhaps you are allowed to do so in smaller community colleges that award an associates degree.

obowunmi:
Some 80s rappers teach at Harvard, if you own a successful business, Juris Doctors (JD) teach as well, an expert in the field. Some successful bloggers have even become professors.

that is the law equivalent of a phd.

obowunmi:
Whoever knows the U.S higher education terrain, knows there's been a spike in adjunct professors and less tenure tracked based positions.

That's because the tenure track positions are saturated and more industry-based phd's are taking the advantage of combining their jobs with some teaching at smaller schools either for the love of it or to keep up with their research areas. I've worked with a few industry phds with adjunct positions and this is more of a side attraction for them.

obowunmi:
Hope this helps when responding to the article.

Nope. obviously you have very little knowledge of this area.

ekt_bear: Doing a PhD is a very bad idea unless you strongly think that you want to enter academia (i.e., be a professor/researcher somewhere). A MS/MA is sufficient for most other purposes.

Crazy. A large number of science-based industry positions here in the US require a phd.

okpara ugo:

Having a Phd doesnt show you are a genius. Most intelligent ones dont go for a Phd because they have made it earlier in life before they could enroll for a Phd.

Most Phd holders are in paid employment which a prodigy can never do.

Laughably nonsensical. Where did you get this from?

obowunmi: How many billionaires have PhDs?

Dr. Goodluck Eblele Jonathan

ignis:
Dr. Goodluck Eblele Jonathan

I like you jooor.

@ davidylan... Not claiming to be an expert sir. Just sharing the little that I know. Cheers.

This is an example of what am talking about

PHD!!! eemm

Knowledge they say is power, PHD gives u knowledge but you may never be knowledgeable in making money which is the koko!!! In Africa we are a consuming country so PHD may not mean anything to us. it's purely a research thing, if the white man trust us for research the likes of Ericsson, Huawei,IBM, DELL, HP would have engaged us in research now, but they only give us finished goods,well they understand our systems, every evolution u see today was a painstaking work of one research man or woman, without them the world will sit at a standstill, so i give kudos to them , but i know they will only help make billionaires out of people, they may never be one, which is why they all go to school as academia, India is full of all this companies doing research for them though leveraging on their cheap labour cost also, they get research done there , go to China to manufacture and sell to the rest of the world. Sweden's ericsson sponsors research in all universities in Sweden, pouring so much money(they collect from Africa) there to get us to the next thing, if they put such in Africa, am sure all politicians would become Academia's.

so my take on this is that PHD isn't a waste of time, but in africa ..., we don't have time for R&D , do and give us the thing is our own, yet abroad , we do most of the research for them, with scholarship. In the western world, Research is their life, they don't care about the cash much , they just want a name attached to it they made it happen and besides they have all basic amenities so whay can't they read. God lives there, they do things differently thinking for the world.

Billyonaire: PhD is for the intellectuals not really for people whose vision in life and about life revolves around naira and kobo. No one has the right to downplay the role of PhD in progress of any country. The more PhD holders in a system, the more knowledgeable a populace. No one should leave this planet without a PhD, even in cookery, carpentry or in medics cos they only thing anyone dies with, is KNOWLEDGE, And when you reincarnate, the inert knowledge based presents itself in form of talents and people say you are gifted, not knowing you had PhD on the field in a previous life. A lot of people still believe Michael Jackson was a bunch of talent, without knowing he sowed into Music in a previous life. Congrats to all PhD holders. Do not be discouraged.

This is a good comment.

PhD is not a joke. It's not the nonsense going on in some Nigerian universities called research. It's a rigorous intellectual activity that will stretch the limit of one's mind . The article no doubt has a lot of good points but is based primarily on a weak premise that a PhD should fetch more money than an MSC. That's wrong. What determines your earning is job specifications and not degree. Can you do the job and do it effectively? Have you done it before-any experience? I will personally not employ a PhD without work experience for an industrial position except in R&. Simple

If you want to embark on PhD, the questions to ask are simple: which discipline do you want to major in? Which school do you want to get the degree? Which supervisor do you want to work with? What's the history of past PhD students in my line? If your discipline is not "related" to industrial job, you will end up in academia.It's as simple as abc. Then if you don't like teaching, forget the idea of going for PhD. However, if your discpline is very much in tune with industry, get at least two years working experience before embarking on doctoral studies. That experience will be of help after graduation. If you have work experience, then have a PhD in same field, you are nothing but hot cake after graduation.

Closely related is the standing of your school. Don't even bother, if your school is not among the top global 50 in your field. Work with faculties who have established reputation in their field and examine closely the history of past students in their group. If guys have always been leaving for industry, then yours should not be an exception if you play your game well. Don't just join any group because you like the professor or you like someone working there. Join because first, you like the research and it's in tune with your career goals.

Doing PhD for degree sake is never a good idea to embark on graduate studies! Many a times you will be lonely, your advisor will have no answers to your questions and you must still figure out an answer because it's your research. What keeps you going is your interest in the research. If the interest is not there, I am confident you can't complete a PhD. So I wanna do a PhD because I've got no jobs might not be a great idea. In any case, advisors are usually enthusiastic to take students who are coming from industry because of high level of motivation. They know you have a career plan for yourself already.

In summary, if you have a plan before starting a doctoral program, it's never a waste or bad idea. You will reap bountifully from it. But if you are just one of "them"-start graduate studies because other plans failed, there is high chance you wont get much satisfaction from it. It's all about individual plans.

I think a lot of ground has already been covered: it looks like the general consensus is that people should go into a PhD with the right mentality and at the right schools. They should also keep in mind the realities of the job market (the focus on the Sciences in Nigeria drives me insane when the country obviously needs more in the managerial, skilled trades, leadership and behavioural area)

In terms of "stretching ones mind..." PHDs are very specific and given the nature of research, at the end of the 4 years, a thesis might contribute virtually nothing to the knowledge-base in a particular field or, worse, yet, might contribute incorrect knowledge (like in the area of international development (as one other has pointed out))


X-fire, thanks for your comments. I'll repeat one again here: Knowledge NEEDS to be applied properly to be of use to anyone and society as a whole.

Not for long in Nigeria. You know how paper-crazy we are. Several universities have adopted the no-lecturing-without-phd policy already.

obowunmi: You can teach at a Uni without a PhD. All you need is to have connections. Probably for most things in life.

bayooooooo:

This is a good comment.

PhD is not a joke. It's not the nonsense going on in some Nigerian universities called research. It's a rigorous intellectual activity that will stretch the limit of one's mind . The article no doubt has a lot of good points but is based primarily on a weak premise that a PhD should fetch more money than an MSC. That's wrong. What determines your earning is job specifications and not degree. Can you do the job and do it effectively? Have you done it before-any experience? I will personally not employ a PhD without work experience for an industrial position except in R&. Simple

If you want to embark on PhD, the questions to ask are simple: which discipline do you want to major in? Which school do you want to get the degree? Which supervisor do you want to work with? What's the history of past PhD students in my line? If your discipline is not "related" to industrial job, you will end up in academia.It's as simple as abc. Then if you don't like teaching, forget the idea of going for PhD. However, if your discpline is very much in tune with industry, get at least two years working experience before embarking on doctoral studies. That experience will be of help after graduation. If you have work experience, then have a PhD in same field, you are nothing but hot cake after graduation.

Closely related is the standing of your school. Don't even bother, if your school is not among the top global 50 in your field. Work with faculties who have established reputation in their field and examine closely the history of past students in their group. If guys have always been leaving for industry, then yours should not be an exception if you play your game well. Don't just join any group because you like the professor or you like someone working there. Join because first, you like the research and it's in tune with your career goals.

Doing PhD for degree sake is never a good idea to embark on graduate studies! Many a times you will be lonely, your advisor will have no answers to your questions and you must still figure out an answer because it's your research. What keeps you going is your interest in the research. If the interest is not there, I am confident you can't complete a PhD. So I wanna do a PhD because I've got no jobs might not be a great idea. In any case, advisors are usually enthusiastic to take students who are coming from industry because of high level of motivation. They know you have a career plan for yourself already.

In summary, if you have a plan before starting a doctoral program, it's never a waste or bad idea. You will reap bountifully from it. But if you are just one of "them"-start graduate studies because other plans failed, there is high chance you wont get much satisfaction from it. It's all about individual plans.

Wow, was feeling you till you referred to research in Nigerian universities as nonsense.

I know we can be quick to run off everything Nigerian as being mediocre, but this is not always the case.

I've had the opportunity to participate in Phd-level research work at two Nigerian universities, and the attention given to detail and excellence by some of the researchers I encountered was very high. So don't be quick to generalize.

That being said, you made a lot of valid points nonetheless.

mollie12:

Wow, was feeling you till you referred to research in Nigerian universities as nonsense.

I know we can be quick to run off everything Nigerian as being mediocre, but this is not always the case.

I've had the opportunity to participate in Phd-level research work at two Nigerian universities, and the attention given to detail and excellence by some of the researchers I encountered was very high. So don't be quick to generalize.

That being said, you made a lot of valid points nonetheless.

Based on what I have seen in Germany and US, I personally believe one can't do a good PhD in Sciences and Engineering (practical based disciplines) in Nigeria. Quote me anywhere. But a PhD in Law, Arts etc is basically the same as you have them in advanced countries.

obowunmi: You can teach at a Uni without a PhD. All you need is to have connections. Probably for most things in life.

but you won't ascend beyond lecturer 2, u'l be practically stagnant

mollie12:

Wow, was feeling you till you referred to research in Nigerian universities as nonsense.

I know we can be quick to run off everything Nigerian as being mediocre, but this is not always the case.

I've had the opportunity to participate in Phd-level research work at two Nigerian universities, and the attention given to detail and excellence by some of the researchers I encountered was very high. So don't be quick to generalize.

That being said, you made a lot of valid points nonetheless.

hmm sorry maybe that applies to the social sciences. when it comes to the core sciences, what passes for research in nigeria is a big joke.