Nice post. U stole my thoughts, and started a thread here. I wont fight you for that anyway.

I have no problems with the Multinational Oil Companies. They are taxed heavily by our government, and yet they still come up with schemes that are targeted towards the Nigerian scholar. Shell, Mobil, Total, Agip, etc, despite the tax and royalties they pay to the goverment, they still come up wit various Scholarship schemes. Mobil has built a number of schools and training centers in Akwa Ibom state. Total started up a program with the University of PortHarcourt for training Nigerians for a masters in Petroleum Engineering, etc, etc.

My Issue is with our own Companies. What are they contributing? Despite posting trillions of Naira as profit every year the best Zenith Bank could do is put up a cyber cafe at Unilag which isnt even free. Av never heard of GTB scholarship or Access Bank Highway. What is wrong with seeing headlines like "Glo launches research center for Telecommunications in OAU? It is hightime a serious level of social responsibility be imposed on these our companies.

Sorry I dont write well, u get the gist sha?

Server34, howfar now? We neva jam here for a while now o. . .

@ topic, true that. If they aren't part of the solution, then they are part of the problem. Our indigenous companies do little or nothing to assist in raising educational standards. And then begin seeking foreign grads.

Why the bad belle on multinational companies? Are they the unit responsible for providing scholarships and jobs for nigerians? The only problem i have with these multinational companies is that they evade taxes at will even though they are being taxed heavily.
Its a pity that at this stage, nigerians have not been able to identify the unit responsible for their woes. The problems are nigerians and their leaders.
These same people complaining about how bad the government is will be the same people stealing ballot boxes for 500 hundred naira and a bottle of star beer. That can be pardoned if the same youths can stand up now and say enough is enough instead directing their anger to the unit that is not responsible for their problems.
As for the multinationals hiring nigerians expatriates, its obvious that these companies are here solely for profit making and would not want to risk loosing their companies because of half baked nigerian graduates. (am one though)

Nigerians, i say, stop being foolish intentionally and identify and deal with the real problems. Stop waiting for any company; be it local or international to provide for you what your government should be providing.

Nigerians are to blame. Everyone wants to work for EXXON, Chevron, Shell, and Schlum. There are other fish in the sea damn it.
There is a huge demand for technical jobs but we lack the expertise. Everyone has "gone to the university" to "catch" that dream oil job.
See philipinos all over lagos doing jobs that Nigerians should be doing. Mind you, these jobs pay well. Forklift operators, crane drivers/lifters e.t.c.
No one wants to do these jobs. Everyone wants an OIL job so i'd expect the companies to hire the best they can lay their hands on.

Nobody is blaming the Multinationals for seeking the best graduates. Everyone wants to work with them, if I were in their shoes, I'd select the very best too. Nigerian Expatriates (If u mean Nigerians that school abroad) are better trained than their counterparts in Nigeria, so why wouldnt the multinationals seek to hire them? They are Nigerians anyway.

The point is "Dog dey find bone to chop, fowl sef wan follow chop" Why are our local companies also seeking to higher Nigerian Expatriates when they do very little to contribute to their education. If they really appreciate good education, they should contribute to our Schools and Universities. Yes Nuzo, Education is the responsibility of the government, it is also a responsibility of corporate organizations - Its called Corporate Social Responsibility. And it is a fundamental value of every responsible organization in any society.

In fact, from now on any company (whether local or international) that publishes any balance sheet or profit statement in any of our newspapers should continue in the preceding page with a statement (or list) of what they have been able to give back to the local community or society. That is simple JSS3 Social Studies. Haba!

@ Hesperus, How far? I dey jare, av been seeing ur handwork here silently.

server34:

Nobody is blaming the Multinationals for seeking the best graduates. Everyone wants to work with them, if I were in their shoes, I'd select the very best too. Nigerian Expatriates (If u mean Nigerians that school abroad) are better trained than their counterparts in Nigeria, so why wouldnt the multinationals seek to hire them? They are Nigerians anyway.

The point is "Dog dey find bone to chop, fowl sef wan follow chop" Why are our local companies also seeking to higher Nigerian Expatriates when they do very little to contribute to their education. If they really appreciate good education, they should contribute to our Schools and Universities. Yes Nuzo, Education is the responsibility of the government, it is also a responsibility of corporate organizations - Its called Corporate Social Responsibility. And it is a fundamental value of every responsible organization in any society.

In fact, from now on any company (whether local or international) that publishes any balance sheet or profit statement in any of our newspapers should continue in the preceding page with a statement (or list) of what they have been able to give back to the local community or society. That is simple JSS3 Social Studies. Haba!

@ Hesperus, How far? I dey jare, av been seeing ur handwork here silently.

If you like, convert this your theory to a pre-nursery school social studies, it will never be the solution.
Its also clear that the so-called corporate social responsibilities are not clearly stated out in the contracts they signed with the government. And therefore is not binding so far they pay their taxes as at and when due.

The CSR you mentioned is more of a charity service which companies use to build a good relationship between them and their host communities. Unfortunately, most companies use the CSR deceptively these days.
However, i find it ridiculous that nigerians think that after the heavy taxes their local companies pay, they will also have the interest in investing in nigerians studying locally. Whatever is good for the multinationals is also good for the local companies.

FYI, I hope these companies will do more of CSR, but fact is that its not an obligation and these companies are here to make money only until that is being inculcated in their contracts.

The local companies (esp. Banks) are too busy posting fake profits.

A-town:

The local companies (esp. Banks) are too busy posting fake profits.

Nigerians youths helped massively in rigging their leaders into office. In turn, these leaders collect bribe and wont bother regulating these companies. What then would one expect from these fraudulent companies?

However, the companies are still not the problem as most of them got where they are today without any assistance from the government, host communities and the half baked nigerian graduates who are whining now.

nuzo:

Nigerians youths helped massively in rigging their leaders into office. In turn, these leaders collect bribe and wont bother regulating these companies. What then would one expect from these fraudulent companies?

However, the companies are still not the problem as most of them got where they are today without any assistance from the government, host communities and the half baked nigerian graduates who are whining now.

Its funny how it all comes back to the basics isn't it? Hence imagine my shock when i read the most ridiculous excues people had to make in order to uphold the elections at the tribunal; "national interest", "for the peace", and all that rubbish. This is something that cannot be escaped and should not be escaped, it is time for people to stop being cowardly because there is no getting around this. We need to fight to make sure democracy begins to take actual root in Nigeria instead of the feudal system that attains today, and the beginning is credible elections. From credible elections a more solid foundation can begin to manifest. I hate saying this because it sounds so condescending but work really needs to be done to educate the masses in Nigeria of the importance of such and the importance of going out vote. It is time to stop sacrificing the future, progress and non existent unity of the country on the alter of sleezy, cheap and childish politiking and thuggery. Me thinks the work towards ensuring the next elections are credible should begin today and any hope and effort towards development should be put on the very few credible state govenors because as far as i am concerned, Nigeria does not have a functioning president.

@poster
while i honestly feel you and understand where you r coming from,hope you realise its not the fault of these multinationals, I'm sure you know that western universities and institutions of learnings have yearly ratings showing their strong and weak points, the point of my preamble is that in a situation where our universities are run down both physically in terms of infrastructures and substandard graduates churned out every year,you can't blame them for employing these they can vouch fr their school, i saw an article last year about a university vc in nigeria alledging that he used 250million to build a swimming pool,imagine that ,yet we are quick to blame the government for everything, why don't the various vc s use the funds available to renovate these universities?
why don't they renovate the hostels and inject the funds back into the university?imagine what students will pay fora clean and tidy university hostel,
why can't they generate funds internally and then inject it back into the universities e.g university halls to be used on weekends for receptions e.t.c
university farms,mentoring and entrepreneurship programmes,open university programmes e.t.c
i bet you if any state government sees a genuine effort from a vc,they ll be encouraged to support the initiative,if not for anything but to score political points, the point here is that lets not be too quick to blame politicians but the vice chancellors in these universities,who are no better than corrupt politicians

Fact is that nigeria will never change if we keep thinking that the solution to its problem is when all nigerians will begin to do the right thing without being pushed to. (including the so-called VCs). It can never happen.
The solution is when the nigerian youths decides to stand up and challenge themselves by making sure they rightly elect the right leaders who will in turn set up efficient, effective and sustainable law enforcement institutions that will tone down corrupt practices in nigeria. With such reliable institutions in place, nigerians will immediately get used to doing the right things just like how they are used to doing all the wrong things now.

One would think that everyone in developed world had the morality to do the right thing when they were born.

nuzo:

Fact is that nigeria will never change if we keep thinking that the solution to its problem is when all nigerians will begin to do the right thing without being pushed to. (including the so-called VCs). It can never happen.
The solution is when the nigerian youths decides to stand up and challenge themselves by making sure they rightly elect the right leaders who will in turn set up efficient, effective and sustainable law enforcement institutions that will tone down corrupt practices in nigeria. With such reliable institutions in place, nigerians will immediately get used to doing the right things just like how they are used to doing all the wrong things now.

One would think that everyone in developed world had the morality to do the right thing when they were born.

With that, you would think you just contributed to the topic?

lucabrasi:

i bet you if any state government sees a genuine effort from a vc,they ll be encouraged to support the initiative,if not for anything but to score political points, the point here is that lets not be too quick to blame politicians but the vice chancellors in these universities,who are no better than corrupt politicians

In Nigeria you don't need political points to advance politically

lucabrasi:

, i saw an article last year about a university vc in nigeria alledging that he used 250million to build a swimming pool,imagine that ,yet we are quick to blame the government for everything, why don't the various vc s use the funds available to renovate these universities?

Are you serious? Good lord. 250 mil for a swimming pool. Where's the EFCC?

server34:

With that, you would think you just contributed to the topic?

I already contributed all i could to the topic in my frist and second comment. My last contribution was a direct response to lucabrasi's contribution.

Not my fault if you've not been following.

true,but which is the fastest and has the best chance of working?
with the political system we have in place,its highly debatable that students in nigeria will be a ble to mobilize themselves to a level where they will form a strong opposition or to elect who they want,remember the vice chancellor is living and working amongst them,what happened to the student unions of the 1980s/1990s?
what happened to making the vice chancellor account for whatever he gets from government,i thought they were supposed to work with the vice chancellor and his staff in pointing out what needs being done with the resources and how to internally generate more money,
i listed a few avenues where vice chancellors presently generate funds internally and could generate more if done right,in spite of the stet of the hostels in unilag,do you know how much these girls pay for a bed space?imagine if it was revovated extensively,flowers planted,lawns e.t.c with generators and then the fees increased substancially,imagne how the students ll rush to fill the spaces,
imagine renovating the university hall to standard and which unilag has done and charge in excess of a million or so, where s the money going to?

they also have an hotel or guest house which is a money spinner as well,they have professors,doctors e.t.c which the university can fund their researches and be part owners of their patents and lease out to private companies for a fee,
i mentioned university farms as well,they can have accredited private landlords who have to register with the university annually for a fee
and these deas are just from me,a complete novice in running an establishment of that sort,how much more a seasoned profesional, personally i blame the sucessive student union regimes who have allowed themselves to be compromised,hence powerless over these vice chancellor's execesses
necessity is he mother of invention, tinubu raised money to float and run lagos state when obasanjo refused to release the federal allocationmcant the vcs do same?after all they are supposed to be above board
@a town
exactly my point, the problem is that we nigerians are so fixated on corrupt politicians that we have neglected to put these vcs under the spotlight, i heard the owner of sahara reports was a rpoduct of unilag,how come he hasnt done a piece on unilag and corruption
@micro giant
i get you,but im saying a well run university with the available funds given to them will encourage any state government to help out more, i read about a niversity i think in rivers or delta where the government gave them some hundreds of millions and a big fight started on sharing, yet the student union were alive and ouldnt do anything to deal with the situation,yet we r quick to blame govt

@ Poster, direct your ire at the Nigerian Govt who run an education system which produces half-baked graduates. Multi-nationals are not your concern.

@Poster, I understand your concern but I think you also need to look at this from the point of view of the companies you seem to believe owe you and others employment of some sort. Every company exists to provide some product or service and in order to maintain their edge over the competition, they are forced to hire graduates who are well equipped for the job. It costs companies a lot to have to train people from scratch, than it would to hire, directly, those who already have what they are looking for.
The “youths” in this case need to focus on getting their government to provide them tools to help them better compete with the “expatriates” in this case. That is the only way to solve the problem you state above. Companies are not messiahs for the people but simply private/public establishments set up to make profit for shareholders.

true,but which is the fastest and has the best chance of working?
with the political system we have in place,its highly debatable that students in nigeria will be a ble to mobilize themselves to a level where they will form a strong opposition or to elect who they want,remember the vice chancellor is living and working amongst them,what happened to the student unions of the 1980s/1990s?

Are you kidding me? So you truely believe that all nigerians will wake up one morning and collectively think they have to start doing the right things without being pushed? I just cant believe that line of thought,
First of all, it has never work anywhere on earth though i do hope it works in nigeria.

What happened to the student union of 80s/90s during the millitary era? I will also want to know if you are mistaken the 80s for 2010.

[b]what happened to making the vice chancellor account for whatever he gets from government,[/b]i thought they were supposed to work with the vice chancellor and his staff in pointing out what needs being done with the resources and how to internally generate more money,
i listed a few avenues where vice chancellors presently generate funds internally and could generate more if done right,in spite of the stet of the hostels in unilag,do you know how much these girls pay for a bed space?imagine if it was revovate
wd extensively,flowers planted,lawns e.t.c with generators and then the fees increased substancially,imagne how the students ll rush to fill the spaces,
imagine renovating the university hall to standard and which unilag has done and charge in excess of a million or so, where s the money going to?

they also have an hotel or guest house which is a money spinner as well,they have professors,doctors e.t.c which the university can fund their researches and be part owners of their patents and lease out to private companies for a fee,
i mentioned university farms as well,they can have accredited private landlords who have to register with the university annually for a fee
and these deas are just from me,a complete novice in running an establishment of that sort,how much more a seasoned profesional, personally i blame the sucessive student union regimes who have allowed themselves to be compromised,hence powerless over these vice chancellor's execesses
necessity is he mother of invention, tinubu raised money to float and run lagos state when obasanjo refused to release the federal allocationmcant the vcs do same?after all they are supposed to be above board

There's no doubt that you do know how to improve the quality of nigerian universities but come to think of it. Which government are the VCs going to be accounting the college funds to? To the same corrupt leaders who unduly appointed them there for corrupt purposes? Which governor will be questioning any VC if the governors has a financial quota from the VC? Remenber that these governors also have the governors list among the people to be admitted into the college?

@a town
exactly my point, the problem is that we nigerians are so fixated on corrupt politicians that we have neglected to put these vcs under the spotlight, i heard the owner of sahara reports was a rpoduct of unilag,how come he hasnt done a piece on unilag and corruption

Must he do a piece on unilag before nigerians recognize the good job he's doing? Why cant another reporter take up that task? However, I think he concentrates more on what bothers him and his readers most. Any bad in that?

I will still love him more for his brave and energetic actions while in unilag than his works at sahara reporters. He is a true patriotic nigerian.

nuzo:

Are you kidding me? So you truely believe that all nigerians will wake up one morning and collectively think they have to start doing the right things without being pushed? I just can't believe that line of thought,
First of all, it has never work anywhere on earth though i do hope it works in nigeria.

i dont believe nigerians will wake up suddenly and start doing the right thing,but i believe the students under a vibrant and morally upright student union can wake up one day and do the right thing, the reason for my insistence on this line of action is manifold,
first because students have always been the catalyst to re awakening any sort of protest especially the ones you are advocating for,secondly when two elephants fight,the grass suffers, while the politicians are doing their things,diasporaians doing theirs,nigerian parents e.t.c
university,polythecnic,colleges of educstion e.t.c are suffering and graduating half baked in their millions, remember a student syllabus will go on irrespective of what the political climate is?if you graduated in a nigerian university half baked,the fact that the country gets better several years later will not make you go back to the university to start again will it?

nuzo:



What happened to the student union of 80s/90s during the millitary era? I will also want to know if you are mistaken the 80s for 2010.

well,they were more vibrant,pro active and didnt stand for a quarter of what the present day compromised student leaders are standing for, from what i bn told,the owner of sahara reports is a product of the student union of that era, validates my point,doesnt it?

nuzo:



There's no doubt that you do know how to improve the quality of nigerian universities but come to think of it. Which government are the VCs going to be accounting the college funds to? To the same corrupt leaders who unduly appointed them there for corrupt purposes? Which governor will be questioning any VC if the governors has a financial quota from the VC? Remenber that these governors also have the governors list among the people to be admitted into the college?

the beauty of vice chancellors and university running is that,they do not have to remit funds back to any government agency, all they have to do is account for generation and spending,dont forget this is internally generated funds,not a government allocation of any sort,imagine a government agency threatening a university and a vibrant student union gets wind of it, the rallies,the protests and embarrassement for the govt?
while i get the valid concerns you have raise,remember while all this is going on,students will have quality education, a vc doing all that for students will not be allowed to suffer any harrassement by students

nuzo:





Must he do a piece on unilag before nigerians recognize the good job he's doing? Why can't another reporter take up that task? However, I think he concentrates more on what bothers him and his readers most. Any bad in that?

I will still love him more for his brave and energetic actions while in unilag than his works at sahara reporters. He is a true patriotic nigerian.

yes i think its imperative that he does,remember that s his alma mater, my dad graduated from trinity uni in ireland in the 1950s and till last year,they still invite him to give lectures in the school same as other universities he attended in the united states,even sierra leone,not beause he is indispensable,but identifyng with all their past students,and letting the present students learn from them, why cant he do that for the university that he graduated from?remember with that medium,it ll have a knock on effect wtih other nigerian universities, im frankly flabbergasted if that doesnt bother him enough to do a piece on it by now

@ Lucabrasi

I must confess that the guy from Sahara Reporters is doing enough to deserve our praise and not until he investigates Unilag before he should get the requred kudos from us, come on guys, he's done enough and maybe he's not yet seen anything newsworthy yet (just maybe).

That guy is definitely doing well and I for one wouldn't start criticising him now because he just hasn't investigated Unilag.

B.O.S.S.:


That guy is definitely doing well and I for one wouldn't start criticising him now because he just hasn't investigated Unilag.

Precisely!!

B.O.S.S.:

@ Lucabrasi

I must confess that the guy from Sahara Reporters is doing enough to deserve our praise and not until he investigates Unilag before he should get the requred kudos from us, come on guys, he's done enough and maybe he's not yet seen anything newsworthy yet (just maybe).

That guy is definitely doing well and I for one wouldn't start criticising him now because he just hasn't investigated Unilag.

im not disputing that,all im saying is that the onus is on him to highlight the deplorable conditions of his alma mater,its not like it ll cost him a lot to dedicate some bandwith to the university he graduated from,and the fact that he is doing a good job doesnt mean that highlighting the conditions of nigerian universities and what the guy can do with the medium he has is a no go area, even the guy that started nairaland,while he has done a good job,gets criticisms severally from many people on here,unles you r saying that he shouldnt be criticised at all,the way i see it and that is my personal opinion,the state of universities and other institutions of learning and corruption within the vice chancellors and other staffers stunting the growth of these institutions of learning is of a higher priority and importance than corruption within political leadership and should be addressed

We Nigerians!!

I think the problem is more with Nigerians than it is with the Government or the Local or Multinational companies!
The two biggest culprits are the graduates themselves and the lecturers that tutored them.
If you were an employer, you would know that Nigeria's biggest problem is in it's very poor Human Capital.
An employer wants the best for his Organization, so he would naturally employ a Nigerian expatriate which by most parameters are much better than on the Job than Nigerian graduates.

Don't you know that loads of the graduates produced by Nigerian Universities don't have an inkling of what to do on the Job!
Many come on board, not half baked, but quite empty!

And the reasons are plenty.Many graduates cheated/bribed their way through university.
Those that didn't cheat/bribe, were taught without any form of practicality, just some nonsense old school theoreticals!

So I ask these few questions:
Whose fault is it that instead of going through the rigors of education, some students choose to cheat/bribe their way through?
Is it the Government, the companies or the students/lecturers?
The only way government failed in that regard is not prosecuting those involved!
Even if the multinationals sponsored such universities, the students would still bribe their way through.

Whose fault is it that everybody wanted to study cliche "proper" courses like Medicine, Law, Engineering,etc and when they couldn't, they had to manage cliche "second-rate" courses like Botany, Philosophy and Building Technology,etc?
What happens is that people that study these so called "second rate" courses end up never really paying attention, first because they think its useless and second because they assume they'll never make use of it. They end up empty!
I'll blame that on the Parents for their emphasis on the so called first rates and the Students for not giving their best.Not the Government or the Local companies.

Whose fault is it that many graduates cannot construct a full sentence? Is it the Government or the Companies

I think the problem is mainly a cultural one. Culturally, the stereotypical Nigerian is averse to excellence. Our culture promotes an easy way to everything.
We would rather find a short cut-no matter how wrong, than go through the process required to excel.

And this attitude always has consequences, one of which is the reason why  companies would always prefer Nigerian expatriates over local graduates.

I'm not in anyway trying to absolve government of complicity.

interesting debate.

@Lucabrasi, i will also tow line with @B.O.S.S here, i can't see the founder of sahara reporter not investigating unilag as something worthy of critiscm at all. It could simply be a matter of focusing on what one thinks is more important; the government and political system or the corruption in Unilag. In this case, if i were in his shoes i will also focus on where he is focusing on because i deem it more impoertant too. If Nigeria can get government right i really do think it will be the first genuine step towards real progress that would have been made in a very very very very long time. Does that mean the educational system should be abandoned? Of course not, but why on earth should we be putting such an onus on one person? Is he the only Nigerian in the country? I am pretty sure people on nairaland will be able to focus on areas they deem more important and bring things to light too if they really wanted to. The founder of Sahara reporters does not have 2 heads, does he?. There are no doubt a multitude of things to focus on ltoher than government, i agree, but i am of the view that good governance would be a potent catalyst to development in Nigeria in almost all sectors and beating around that bush is just futile and is tantamount to all motion with no significant movement on the national scale in the proportions that seem to be sorely sought.

Just last month, one of the permanent secretaries in the ministry of education, Dr Goke Adegoroye, painted a gory picture of the decay that is the hallmark of the Nigerian University System in a speech purportedly written and presented on behalf of Yar’adua at the convocation ceremony of OAU, Ife.

He mentioned many of the corrupt malpractices prevalent in the ivory towers of education in the country, the consequences of which have eroded the quality of university education in recent times. These include cases of sex or bribe for grades, lecturers indulging in absenteeism, interferences in promotional cases and many more vices.

Although Mr. Servant Leader denied that he did not approve of the speech which cast the lecturers and the educational system in bad light, nobody is fooled (except the Servant Leader) because the level of decadence in the tertiary institutions is an open secret.

With that background about the quality of education in Nigeria, would anyone blame the Multinationals if they go after graduates produced outside Nigeria? In today’s economic world characterized by globalization, human capital is the most potent source of a company’s competitive advantage. How can a company strategically operate in business arenas dominated by sharks in the traditional Red Ocean territory – a euphemism for the bloody competition prevalent in industries where many companies are fighting for a congested market place? Do they have the technical know-how to carve out a Blue Ocean territory which their company alone will keep to themselves without having to contend with any rival?

While there are some good graduates produced by the system, the overwhelming majority will not be able to deliver on the strategic mission and vision of Multinationals; hence nobody can falter their preference for graduates produced outside the shore of Nigeria. If you are a human resources guy, will you go for half-baked graduates as part of your professional recruitment for your company? That will surely sound like a death-kernel for your company and your career as well.

Abeem:

Just last month, one of the permanent secretaries in the ministry of education, Dr Goke Adegoroye, painted a gory picture of the decay that is the hallmark of the Nigerian University System in a speech purportedly written and presented on behalf of Yar’adua at the convocation ceremony of OAU, Ife.

He mentioned many of the corrupt malpractices prevalent in the ivory towers of education in the country, the consequences of which have eroded the quality of university education in recent times. These include cases of sex or bribe for grades, lecturers indulging in absenteeism, interferences in promotional cases and many more vices.

Although Mr. Servant Leader denied that he did not approve of the speech which cast the lecturers and the educational system in bad light, nobody is fooled (except the Servant Leader) because the level of decadence in the tertiary institutions is an open secret.

With that background about the quality of education in Nigeria, would anyone blame the Multinationals if they go after graduates produced outside Nigeria? In today’s economic world characterized by globalization, human capital is the most potent source of a company’s competitive advantage. How can a company strategically operate in business arenas dominated by sharks in the traditional Red Ocean territory – a euphemism for the bloody competition prevalent in industries where many companies are fighting for a congested market place? Do they have the technical know-how to carve out a Blue Ocean territory which their company alone will keep to themselves without having to contend with any rival?

While there are some good graduates produced by the system, the overwhelming majority will not be able to deliver on the strategic mission and vision of Multinationals; hence nobody can falter their preference for graduates produced outside the shore of Nigeria. If you are a human resources guy, will you go for half-baked graduates as part of your professional recruitment for your company? That will surely sound like a death-kernel for your company and your career as well.

Fantastis summary. Weldone. Your extract seems like it's well researched and I wholeheartely agree with your post.

@skyblue
You just took words right from my mouth.Is Sowore the only former student of unilag?That is how we personify everything in nigeria.

Sky Blue:

@Lucabrasi, i will also tow line with @B.O.S.S here, i can't see the founder of sahara reporter not investigating unilag as something worthy of critiscm at all. It could simply be a matter of focusing on what one thinks is more important; the government and political system or the corruption in Unilag. In this case, if i were in his shoes i will also focus on where he is focusing on because i deem it more impoertant too. If Nigeria can get government right i really do think it will be the first genuine step towards real progress that would have been made in a very very very very long time. Does that mean the educational system should be abandoned? Of course not, but why on earth should we be putting such an onus on one person? Is he the only Nigerian in the country? I am pretty sure people on nairaland will be able to focus on areas they deem more important and bring things to light too if they really wanted to. The founder of Sahara reporters does not have 2 heads, does he?. There are no doubt a multitude of things to focus on ltoher than government, i agree, but i am of the view that good governance would be a potent catalyst to development in Nigeria in almost all sectors and beating around that bush is just futile and is tantamount to all motion with no significant movement on the national scale in the proportions that seem to be sorely sought.

i think it depends on what we see as the topmost priority,like i said in my past comments, if i had to list priorities i reckon education for the present and next generations is of far more importance which is what has informed my stance on mr sowore and his inability to highlight these issues,
i will re iterate that i do not doubt his awesome achievements highlighting the ills in our society,but if he can find space on his sahara reports for a letter to keyamo,pictures of yar adua's son e.t.c
then surely he could find space to highlight the ills in our universities,i dont know about you but i and i guess others on here have an alternative of studying abroad but what about millions who have no options?
millions of the so called next generation are having to patronise illegal universities being ripped off which are substandard anyway, not my words,the nigerian minister of education's speech a couple of days ago.

many are having to travel abroad to enrich western pockets including ghana and other african countries,and you dont see this as a clear and present danger??moreso as the man was a product of these same university(unilag)i dont see it as asking too much of him to assit his alma mater including highlighting another pertinent issue like he has been doing,

yes he doesnt have two heads,and other nigerians can pick up from where he left off,but i dont have the medium he has re;sahara reports, neither do i have the good will he has built up through his good work over the years with his website,good governance is truelly a catalyst to everything else but the point you r failing to see here is that,while other facets of the economy/nigeria as a nation can bear it,every single day that the ills of education and its failure fails to be mentioned,more and more of "the next generation" are going through a substandard education that will be part of them for life, are you suggesting we should wait till nigeria gets better before the situation in the nigerian educational system is improved?
remember if it gets better say 20 years from no,the issue of half baked graduates ill not go so easily, can you imagine an half baked graduate in 1990 now telling him/her to go back to university this year,is that possible??

asha 80:

@skyblue
You just took words right from my mouth.Is Sowore the only former student of unilag?That is how we personify everything in nigeria.

you are right,he is not the only former student of unilag,but please mention other former students of unilag who have an internet site being visited by millions of nigerians??

lucabrasi:

i think it depends on what we see as the topmost priority,like i said in my past comments, if i had to list priorities i reckon education for the present and next generations is of far more importance which is what has informed my stance on mr sowore and his inability to highlight these issues,
i will re iterate that i do not doubt his awesome achievements highlighting the ills in our society,but if he can find space on his sahara reports for a letter to keyamo,pictures of yar adua's son e.t.c
then surely he could find space to highlight the ills in our universities,i don't know about you but i and i guess others on here have an alternative of studying abroad but what about millions who have no options?
millions of the so called next generation are having to patronise illegal universities being ripped off which are substandard anyway, not my words,the nigerian minister of education's speech a couple of days ago.

many are having to travel abroad to enrich western pockets including ghana and other african countries,and you don't see this as a clear and present danger??moreso as the man was a product of these same university(unilag)i don't see it as asking too much of him to assit his alma mater including highlighting another pertinent issue like he has been doing,

yes he doesnt have two heads,and other nigerians can pick up from where he left off,but i don't have the medium he has re;sahara reports, neither do i have the good will he has built up through his good work over the years with his website,good governance is truelly a catalyst to everything else but the point you r failing to see here is that,while other facets of the economy/nigeria as a nation can bear it,every single day that the ills of education and its failure fails to be mentioned,more and more of "the next generation" are going through a substandard education that will be part of them for life, are you suggesting we should wait till nigeria gets better before the situation in the nigerian educational system is improved?
remember if it gets better say 20 years from no,the issue of half baked graduates ill not go so easily, can you imagine an half baked graduate in 1990 now telling him/her to go back to university this year,is that possible?? you are right,he is not the only former student of unilag,but please mention other former students of unilag who have an internet site being visited by millions of nigerians??

Contrary to what you might think, i happen to believe education is also a very important too and no need to school me on studying or working abroad and enriching pockets of foreign economies. Perhaps the only thread i have ever opened on nairaland was based on this issue of education and was posted on the politics section. Funny enough if you look at the post you quoted from me you would see in it that i was not calling for eduaction to be ignored at all. Apart from focussing on education sector in itself, another indirect way of also focusing on it and many other sector is governance on a national, state and local government scale. Nigeria is choosing to remain stupid because i really do believe the day that stupidity stops, the development pace might really astound you and education as well as other sectors could be addressed too. Don't underestimate the power good direction and visionary leadership can have on a country like Nigeria.

Saying the founder of Sahara reporters is already established and using it as an excuse seems a bit flimsy. I see what you're getting at in terms of the power sahara reporters now has to draw the spotlight on issues, however didn't sahara reporters also start from scratch? There are more avenues than you might think of bringing attention to issues and you don't have to be a writer of sahara reporters to do that.