HOW NIGERIAN INSTITUTIONS COERCED STUDENTS INTO BECOMING HALF BAKED GRADUATES

By Abdulrazaq O Hamzat

‘’Take your certificate and go, don’t ask questions, don’t develop your reasoning, don’t experiment what you learn, just take your certificate and go’’.

It is no longer news that some Nigerian graduates have been described as half baked graduates. Close observation of some graduates sometimes give credence to that description.

However, while it is true that half baked graduates themselves should take adequate responsibility for their inability and incompetence, other parts of the blame should actually be directed at the Institutions that produced them.

It is instructive to note that, lack of facilities doesn’t necessarily make a graduate half baked, neither do lack of adequate funding, what often make graduates half baked is the attitude inbred-ed into them.

Let me state that, anyone that has passed through Nigerian higher institution in recent time would agree with me that, management policies in many of these institutions are geared towards producing weak and docile students. Students may enter higher institution with positive attitude towards learning, but end up come of with negative attitude. Hardly do students go into institution with negative learning attitude and come out with positive one. This is the reality of the situation.

Indeed, some of these institutions parade world class lecturers and study materials, but the sharp practices they engage in are such, which force students to conform to negativity.

While education is the ability to ask critical questions about situations with the aim of finding solution,Nigerian institutions often force students to keep mute in face of questionable practices. Students who defy the general norm of keeping silent in face of such questionable practices are adequately punished for doing what responsible students should do. Some times, they are expelled for doing the right thing.

It is true that students read about best practices in books, but their lecturers, leaders and management often engage in something different. Any attempt to ask questions often lead to coercive shutdown.

On 10/11/2015, Students of National Open University of Nigeria under the aegis of Congress of Noun Students called for the immediate sack of the institutions Vice Chancellor, Prof Vincent Ado Tenebe and 4 others over accusation of monumental corruption and extortion. In return, the University announced the expulsion of two leaders of the students Congress.

What was the crime of the expelled students? They asked the university to account for over N14000,000,000.00 (Fourteen Billion Naira) it regularly received annually from students as course material fee without providing those materials. There are other similar demands contained in the 10 points demand of the students.

According to the University’s announcement on its website, it said, ‘’This is to bring to the attention of all students of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and the general public that the under listed persons have been expelled from the University on the basis of being FOUND WANTING IN CHARACTER.

1 Mr. Hamza Abdulrazak Oyebanji Matric Number NOU070173152 Department of Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution: School of Arts and Social Sciences.

2 Mr. Elias Ozikpu Matric Number NOU110770565 Department of Mass Communication School of Arts and Social Sciences.

Both Students are President and Public Relation Officer of the Congress of Noun Students respectively.

By the admission of the University based on its announcement, the students committed no crime. Their lack of character is simple as a result of asking questions which is regarded as a taboo. How dare mere students ask the almighty management to account for funds.

When Section 40 of the Constitution of Nigeria said every Nigerian have freedom to association, expression etc and the management of some institutions decided to deny students those rights, students are expected to conform. Any one who try to question such illegality is punished and all others tends to believe what they read in books were mere illusion about rights, what they see being practiced is regarded as the ultimate.

These coercive enforcement of negativity gradually affected the general reasoning of most students in such a way that, anything they read from book is simply regarded as meaningless. What they are left with is the bad practices they see from their teachers.

For example, If I read in the book that this is the right way, and I see the same institution that gave me that book as acting contrary, any developing mind should ask questions about why the authorities are acting contrary to what is taught. But in Nigeria, such questioning is a taboo. You are expected to conform without saying a word. If you want to prove you are too stubborn like they refer to those who ask questions, they punish you with all might. This is why every student simply concentrate on what they called, ‘’take your certificate and go’’.

Take your certificate and go, don’t ask questions, don’t develop your reasoning, don’t experiment what you learn, just take your certificate and go.

While engaging my University on why certain illegalities are taking place, they felt threatened and reported me and others to the police. Rather than address the issues raised, they reported that we are threatening the Vice Chancellor. After they failed to provide any meaningful evidence to back such claim, the police felt disappointed. But a police officer privy to the issue came close to us and said, ‘’shebi you are already in your final year, don’t argue with this people again oo, just take your certificate and go’’.

In a similar development, when my colleague went to the University, the PRO of the school said similar thing to him. ‘’This one that you are proving to be intelligent, are you not simply planning to be here for like 20 years? Instead of just taking your certificate and go, you are busy showing yourself.

The following week (last week), myself and the colleague were eventually expelled from the National Open University of Nigeria for simply asking what the University does with our money,since it doesn’t provide the materials paid for.

In conclusion, we should all understand that, students who graduate under similar exploitative environment, but remained silent or see nothing wrong with the system could hardly change when they are out of the system. Their ability to reason properly and express themselves have been damaged by the same institution that should build them. That institution should be held accountable for heir half baked nature.
http://mrrights.com.ng/index.php/2015/11/19/how-nigerian-institutions-coerced-students-into-become-half-baked-graduates/

the half baked graduate talk is as ambiguous as the chicken and egg problem; everybody, including the institutions, students, and society are responsible for the downturn in the educational sector.

I concur

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To me, all Nigerian Graduates are half-baked.

God help Nigeria and our youths. The worst thing in life is to allow people build a perception about you for you on their own n allow them grow with it. Our leaders built this perception of the youths graduates been half baked so that they can continue to control us and rule over us. when most of them controlling the country today never had a degree. The challenges of modern education they never faced it and all they did we are doing and even more. #IpityNigerianyouths

YOU MAY BE PARTLY CORRECT