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Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by thinkafricanet: 11:23am On Oct 19, 2018
Google the oldest university in the world!

https://thinkafrica.net/2018/10/19/the-oldest-university-in-the-world-is-not-bologna/

And No, it's not Harvard!

Africa’s earliest universities, the University of Al-Azhar and the University of Karueein, are older universities than Harvard and Europe’s earliest studia generale.

To all my brothers and sisters in Niaja, become the best - a Master - the money and prestige will follow!

Why do we underestimate ourselves?
Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by Shelumiel: 11:48am On Oct 19, 2018
Nigerian educational system is subjective; not objective . Hence , no Nigerian university or graduate will ever (I say this again ) , ever meet up to Havard standard
Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by Nobody: 11:49am On Oct 19, 2018
Yes we can. We should remove sentiment aside and look inward in what most private universities are doing. Harvard isn't a public university yet it is rated as one of the best universities in the world. The beef between public universities and private universities must enter before we can move forward. Every university has its own uniqueness that makes them stand out. The private sector is the way forward as they are more efficient in their delivery
Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by thinkafricanet: 1:39pm On Oct 19, 2018
Shelumiel:
Nigerian educational system is subjective; not objective . Hence , no Nigerian university or graduate will ever (I say this again ) , ever meet up to Harvard standard

Ever is a long time. Harvard was established in 1636 AD.

At the time Harvard was created, Oxford had already been around since 1137 AD ; that's a gap of 450 years.

Imagine , if Americans had the attitude of "We suck! We'll never be better than them!"

Excellence starts in the imagination and having vision, not looking at what you see today.

Nigerians already get into Harvard and graduate from Harvard. We already attend all the best Universities in the world, our best students at that Clever, with a capital C.

Next to take down Oxford university, here is what the Romans 1000 years before Oxford said about Britain:

Strabo's comments on Ireland. (20-60 AD; 2000 years ago) "Lying beyond Britain, the men there were rumored to be even more debased, who slay and eat their fathers, and sleep with their mothers and sisters" (IV.5.4)

Diodorus Siculus about Britain/ the United Kingdom, (30-90 AD; 1,900 years ago) "The home of men who are complete savages and lead a miserable existence because of the cold; and therefore, in my opinion, the northern limit of our inhabited world is to be placed there" (II.5.cool.

The farther away from the civilizing influence of Rome, in other words, and the more mysterious and unknown the land, the more fearsome and barbaric its inhabitants.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/britannia/miscellanea/geography.html

University of Chicago.

Is it not the job of other countries to laugh at our potential ; and for us to SMACK OUT OF THE BALL PARK our potential?

Our universities are not respected abroad because we don't respect ourselves.

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Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by thinkafricanet: 2:24pm On Oct 19, 2018
asuustrike1:
Yes we can. We should remove sentiment aside and look inward in what most private universities are doing. Harvard isn't a public university yet it is rated as one of the best universities in the world. The beef between public universities and private universities must enter before we can move forward. Every university has its own uniqueness that makes them stand out. The private sector is the way forward as they are more efficient in their delivery
Harvard has endowment funds. Investments created from the donations of former students. In addition to being private , a big proportion of students can receive scholarships to attend with bills paid from the endowments.
Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by Nobody: 4:04pm On Oct 19, 2018
thinkafricanet:
Harvard has endowment funds. Investments created from the donations of former students. In addition to being private , a big proportion of students can receive scholarships to attend with bills paid from the endowments.
All these you highlighted are not in Nigeria
Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by Shelumiel: 8:26pm On Oct 19, 2018
thinkafricanet:


Ever is a long time. Harvard was established in 1636 AD.

At the time Harvard was created, Oxford had already been around since 1137 AD ; that's a gap of 450 years.

Imagine , if Americans had the attitude of "We suck! We'll never be better than them!"

Excellence starts in the imagination and having vision, not looking at what you see today.

Nigerians already get into Harvard and graduate from Harvard. We already attend all the best Universities in the world, our best students at that Clever, with a capital C.

Next to take down Oxford university, here is what the Romans 1000 years before Oxford said about Britain:

Strabo's comments on Ireland. (20-60 AD; 2000 years ago) "Lying beyond Britain, the men there were rumored to be even more debased, who slay and eat their fathers, and sleep with their mothers and sisters" (IV.5.4)

Diodorus Siculus about Britain/ the United Kingdom, (30-90 AD; 1,900 years ago) "The home of men who are complete savages and lead a miserable existence because of the cold; and therefore, in my opinion, the northern limit of our inhabited world is to be placed there" (II.5.cool.

The farther away from the civilizing influence of Rome, in other words, and the more mysterious and unknown the land, the more fearsome and barbaric its inhabitants.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/britannia/miscellanea/geography.html

University of Chicago.

Is it not the job of other countries to laugh at our potential ; and for us to SMACK OUT OF THE BALL PARK our potential?

Our universities are not respected abroad because we don't respect ourselves.
You still do not understand my post. Education is objective ; not subjective . That is why we have graduates who cannot offer society anything once they come out of tertiary institutions. Secondly , you forgetting the fact that an educational systems is supposed to be designed to solve problems in society. Now I ask you this question : can the current educational system in Nigeria , solve the problems in of today ?
Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by thinkafricanet: 2:26pm On Oct 20, 2018
asuustrike1:

All these you highlighted are not in Nigeria

You are right. Although the point I am making is about opportunity to be excellent.

It is all driven by vision in my opinion.

Europe was not the first to have universities and the United States were not the first to have universities. But today, they have the top 3 universities.

Just because the best university in the world isn’t in Nigeria today doesn’t mean we can’t create the best university in the world.

What I would like to ask if why no-one wants to develop the best university yet?
Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by thinkafricanet: 2:40pm On Oct 20, 2018
Shelumiel:
You still do not understand my post. Education is objective ; not subjective . That is why we have graduates who cannot offer society anything once they come out of tertiary institutions. Secondly , you forgetting the fact that an educational systems is supposed to be designed to solve problems in society. Now I ask you this question : can the current educational system in Nigeria , solve the problems in of today ?

I would suggest education is both subjective and objective.

To illustrate the subjective nature, consider history. History in Europe and United States is taught with those two regions as the good guys. Most of the time.

Subjective maths: in a 1 to eight numeral system. Without 9 and 10. Sixteen is two eights. (2 * 8 )

In a 20 based system, Yoruba , 60 is ogota (20 * 3). In a 10 based system , American 60 is 6 * 10.

A billion as you understand it today is a thousand million , but when Britain controlled 25% of the world, a billion was a million million.

To illustrate that even objectivity is subjective I will use English and Yoruba.

Grey = Dudu
Black = Dudu
White = funfun

To a colour blind person, how do they tell particular colours?
Prior to SI units , what was one kilometre? Or one mile?

Education doesn’t solve problems , application does and imagination.

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Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by Shelumiel: 3:14pm On Oct 20, 2018
thinkafricanet:


I would suggest education is both subjective and objective.

To illustrate the subjective nature, consider history. History in Europe and United States is taught with those two regions as the good guys. Most of the time.

Subjective maths: in a 1 to eight numeral system. Without 9 and 10. Sixteen is two eights. (2 * 8 )

In a 20 based system, Yoruba , 60 is ogota (20 * 3). In a 10 based system , American 60 is 6 * 10.

A billion as you understand it today is a thousand million , but when Britain controlled 25% of the world, a billion was a million million.

To illustrate that even objectivity is subjective I will use English and Yoruba.

Grey = Dudu
Black = Dudu
White = funfun

To a colour blind person, how do they tell particular colours?
Prior to SI units , what was one kilometre? Or one mile?

Education doesn’t solve problems , application does and imagination.
Point of correction : the application of education solves problems. Nigerian educational system is subjective in nature and cannot solve the current problems plaguing the country . How ? From the onset , student learn things like atoms , molecules , fórmulas , and theories . They look nifty but only to those who understand it's application . I remember my days as an undergraduate studying Chemical Engineering ; we were studying things like mass and material balances on reactors and columns. Sometimes(out of curiosity )would ask our lecturers saying , " Sir , what is the use of all this ?" , and he would answer "Don't worry; you will get a better understanding once you do your Masters!". Imagine that ! How can you understand B when you do not have an understanding of A; how can you be productive when you do not even know the use of the knowledge you have gained ? This is now the trend in education in Nigeria ; it is now a norm that we have accepted .

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Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by livingseed: 10:36pm On Oct 20, 2018
Let me share a little of my own thoughts. The answer is simply yes probably due to the fact that any goal attacked with the right actions in the right amounts with doggedness is attainable. What I mean is that regardless of a few unexpected events, the right acts done to the right degree over time will produce a prototype of Harvard anywhere.

I also can assure you that for instance, if all Harvard students moved to a Nigerian University and vice versa, those Nigerian students now studying in Harvard for some reason will definitely not be able to keep, sustain and possibly innovate the Harvard narrative while their counterparts would of course I'm sure you know what they can create. I'm not trying to be a pessimist but that should clearly tell me something likely on where I should be wrapping my head which should be my focus. A focus on a type of system that builds upon itself, that is perpetual and doesn't happen only one time in one state or in a country.

Think of it this way in business terms: You don't start a business, you ARE a business.
Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by thinkafricanet: 8:29pm On Oct 22, 2018
Shelumiel:
Point of correction : the application of education solves problems. Nigerian educational system is subjective in nature and cannot solve the current problems plaguing the country . How ? From the onset , student learn things like atoms , molecules , fórmulas , and theories . They look nifty but only to those who understand it's application . I remember my days as an undergraduate studying Chemical Engineering ; we were studying things like mass and material balances on reactors and columns. Sometimes(out of curiosity )would ask our lecturers saying , " Sir , what is the use of all this ?" , and he would answer "Don't worry; you will get a better understanding once you do your Masters!". Imagine that ! How can you understand B when you do not have an understanding of A; how can you be productive when you do not even know the use of the knowledge you have gained ? This is now the trend in education in Nigeria ; it is now a norm that we have accepted .

Very well explained. I agree with everything you said.

In my head, I think it’s structural and systematic poverty. The government, rich and poor have no awareness that the game is rigged and everyone points the finger at each other.

The US became rich on its military, slave labour and loans they defaulted on. However, everyone born today is taught that they became rich based on capitalism, hard work and innovation. There are companies Today and institutions today that were built on the foundation of the transatlantic slave trade.

When slavery was abolished in America, every slave owner was paid $300 per slave. Each slave was allowed to leave the plantation, but vagrancy was made illegal.

Don’t get me wrong many businesses have been built on other things. But the wealth shifted west based on Africans paying with raw materials, gold and slaves (present value of future income) for finished goods (raw materials plus markup). Such olodo behaviour by our historic rulers.

After 160 years , that money has been “cleaned” through reinvestment in every new industry that came along.

At the time all this happened even Property-less white men could not vote. I am explained this so that you can understand that , the outcome Today isn’t explained by the system today. It travelled through Time, The Mindset of the Past, The Systems Of the past and power structures of the past to get here.
Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by thinkafricanet: 8:45pm On Oct 22, 2018
livingseed:
Let me share a little of my own thoughts. The answer is simply yes probably due to the fact that any goal attacked with the right actions in the right amounts with doggedness is attainable. What I mean is that regardless of a few unexpected events, the right acts done to the right degree over time will produce a prototype of Harvard anywhere.

I also can assure you that for instance, if all Harvard students moved to a Nigerian University and vice versa, those Nigerian students now studying in Harvard for some reason will definitely not be able to keep, sustain and possibly innovate the Harvard narrative while their counterparts would of course I'm sure you know what they can create. I'm not trying to be a pessimist but that should clearly tell me something likely on where I should be wrapping my head which should be my focus. A focus on a type of system that builds upon itself, that is perpetual and doesn't happen only one time in one state or in a country.

Think of it this way in business terms: You don't start a business, you ARE a business.

Understood . But oyinbo people have research that poses important challenges to what we all believe .

Should a “university” earn its reputation from

Growth - taking “dumb to above average” students and making them world-class Or

Achievement - taking in the brightest year 1 undergraduates in the world and making them the best graduates in the world.

There is more complexity I could mention but that binary question alone is a big question.

In practice, it means if you gave Nigerians the same education from the age of 2 as the person that ends up in Harvard, is Harvard responsible for the achievements of its students or is Harvard just a club for those would were already given advantages?

Another exam, if all the brightest Nigerians in every country in the world went to Uni Lag, would Uni Lag produce smarter graduates?

Getting into Harvard is Hard like Jonathan Getting re-elected. And Harvard recruits worldwide. Which smart kids from the world want to come to Nigeria? If all the smart kids in the world fought to enter Nigerian universities , is the Nigerian university responsible for them being smart?
Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by Spikesman: 8:55am On Oct 23, 2018
thinkafricanet:


Understood . But oyinbo people have research that poses important challenges to what we all believe .

Should a “university” earn its reputation from

Growth - taking “dumb to above average” students and making them world-class Or

Achievement - taking in the brightest year 1 undergraduates in the world and making them the best graduates in the world.

There is more complexity I could mention but that binary question alone is a big question.

In practice, it means if you gave Nigerians the same education from the age of 2 as the person that ends up in Harvard, is Harvard responsible for the achievements of its students or is Harvard just a club for those would were already given advantages?

Another exam, if all the brightest Nigerians in every country in the world went to Uni Lag, would Uni Lag produce smarter graduates?

Getting into Harvard is Hard like Jonathan Getting re-elected. And Harvard recruits worldwide. Which smart kids from the world want to come to Nigeria? If all the smart kids in the world fought to enter Nigerian universities , is the Nigerian university responsible for them being smart?

very reasonable....Dats very good.....
Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by lilmax(m): 9:10am On Oct 23, 2018
smh....private universities in Nigeria are going that way, but the stupidity of Nigerians are hindering it

they have good facilities, but Nigerians are saying their school fees is too high

you think quality education is free? you should be a dumbass then
Re: Will Nigeria Produce Tomorrow's Harvard? by thinkafricanet: 9:00am On Oct 24, 2018
lilmax:
smh....private universities in Nigeria are going that way, but the stupidity of Nigerians are hindering it

they have good facilities, but Nigerians are saying their school fees is too high

you think quality education is free? you should be a dumbass then
there is an important point in what you are saying actually. I think we may be on the way to excellence but it is organic and it will take time.

Yes, it is private and yes some universities will die and some will live.

Not many people will be able to visualise a 100-250 year impact of institutions created today but we are making positive moves.

Even today, only 30% of Americans and a proportion of G-20 citizens go to university. So while we are complaining about wanting to go to university but not having the best universities to go to , the majority of Oyinbo people are even university educated.

If we want to have the next Harvard we need to reimagine the purpose of higher education and churn out graduates that are OTT world-class.

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