The following article is a must read for every literate Nigerian and others who are interested in the development and advancement of Nigeria. I have only posted the concluding part of the lecture, because of the depth of the issues addressed by the Hon. Justice Kayode Eso M.A., LLD., Lit.D.


To be thus is nothing, but to be truly thus (3)

Being Second Redeemer's University Distinguished Lecture, delivered by the Hon. Justice Kayode Eso M.A., LLD., Lit.D., Chancellor, Ladoke Akintola University of Science and Technology on Wednesday, October 17, 2007, at the Redemption Resort Centre, Redemption City, Km 46 Lagos/Ibadan Express, Road. The second part was published on Tuesday, October 30, 2007.

PARADISE LOST:

THE DECLINE OF THE UNIVERSITIES: THINGS STARTED 'TO FALL APART':

BUT then, along the lines, things seemed to start to fall apart. It was becoming more and more difficult for the Federal Government, which had taken over the financing of these universities to give as much funds as necessary to the universities. As soon as the Federal Government took over the State Universities and the second generation universities, those State Universities, so taken over, also became Federal Universities. The Federal Government did not, not could not, cope finance-wise. The three regional governments - East, West and North - had been devoting up to 25 per cent of their budgets to education and these included the universities of Ife, for the West, Ahmadu Bello for the North and Nsukka for the East. The Federal Government did not match this feat. Then, came the newly created states, following the multiplicity of states. And prestige state universities sprang up. The states however, could not and so, did not cope.

Rot set in. More importantly, with the introit of the men of arms, the military, into the Nigerian governance, attendant misrule and untold corruption, the universities, as would be expected, became most vocal dissent to military dictatorship. The backlash was of course crude victimisation. The military dictators, mostly because of their limited exposure to university culture, could not appreciate teacher and students' criticism of their regime and daring head-on-collision with constituted authority, especially military authority. Lack of due respect was shown to the academia. One Head of State, on the occasion of raising funds for a university, unwittingly removed the academic cap of the Vice Chancellor and used it to collect donations! Sacrilege!! Another Head of State herded the university teachers from their quarters, asking them to seek accommodation outside campus. 'Town and Gown' was unknown to him and he could never have appreciated the import of a university community, which believed in being a world of its own. Private practice was forbidden of academics who were professionals and so those of them who were engaged in such practice were treated with disrespect. The teachers themselves fell into state of anomie. Text books became virtually a thing of the past. 'Publish or perish,' the golden precept of the university system, was becoming anachronistic. Lecture Notes for sale, took the pride of place for some university teachers. Some professors stopped 'professing,' as soon as they attained the status of professor. Things had fallen apart.

There were more factors. There was visible and unrepentant neglect and under funding by the successive governments during the military rule. There was also the fact that the initial initiators of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) never thought through the scheme to anticipate the devastating effect which the policy would have on the impoverishment of the academic class in the country. The take-home pays of the academics were not adjusted in response to the huge slide in the value of the Naira. Academics were equated with civil servants. The already inadequate subvention to higher education was reduced to a fraction of its original value. And the teachers, through their various unions, started to behave like the pied Piper of Hamelin:

Those who put me into a passion will find me pipe

in another fashion

The university teachers piped in another fashion. The years, from 1992 witnessed an avalanche of strikes in the university system. The fashion of the 'piping' of the university teachers was to be the organisers, or the supporters, of these strikes. There were protests against deplorable working and indeed, shameful and sordid social/academic conditions of the students. The hostels became an eyesore. They were hardly fit for pig habitation! Some rooms filled to the brim to compete with the historical black hole of Calcutta. Cultism raged unabated in the universities. Gangs of cults from one university invaded other university campuses. Female hostels were no longer sacrosanct. Reports showed in some universities of girls raping boys! And to the shame of it all, some academics, in vying for the position of Vice Chancellors, to supplement their inadequacy, were, true or false, reportedly making use of the members of the student cults to achieve their ambitions. The heavens had fallen!

A great and undoubted scholar, Professor J. F. Ade Ajayi, after a detailed diagnosis and analysis of the ills of the Nigerian university system, surmised:

"From this diagnosis, we find that the Nigerian university system has abandoned the path of the pursuit of excellence. The universities have lost focus. They are fragmented into rival unions each trying to pursue its own individual interest at the expense of the overall interest of the university. The universities are held in low esteem and, as a result, morale is low and several members of the staff are always looking elsewhere. The universities have ceased to build up people. They do not enhance the career prospects of academic staff, and students leave the university after four years worse people than when they came in. More likely than not, they have imbibed the culture of violence as the only way to get what you want and may have fallen victim to the insidious plea that in Nigeria, you need to be part of a gang to be safe and be able to 'get along'. The universities have lost their integrity, credibility and professionalism. No wonder a World Bank funded research by NISER has reported that Nigerian graduates are below standard in acquisition of language, analytical and technical skills. In short, at the moment, the universities are a colossal waste of money since they consume so much and profit so little. Remember the old saying of Alexander Pope - 'A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep or taste not of the pier' an Spring.' A university that no longer pursues excellence has become a dangerous thing."

(Ajayi - Paths to sustainability of Higher Education in Nigeria - Proceedings of the 12th General Assembly of the SSAN July

2001 pp 7-.

Consequently, no Nigerian university featured amongst the topmost in the world or even in Africa. None of them made the first 6,198 universities in the world while 29 British universities, which were the focus when we started, featured amongst the first 200 universities. The graduates of our universities have been noted as not only as unemployed but described also as unemployable. They are usually retrained at huge costs by employers in order to remedy their deficiencies.

That is Paradise Lost! Lost before our very eyes! We watched the fall of tertiary education which we had laboured so hard to build. We watched the universities coming down like the great Bard's celebrated saying:

Down, down I come,

Glistering Phaedon

Wonton the manage of

unruly jades!

The imperial Nnamdi Azikiwe, good with words, would have described as a:

'Toboggan from Olympian heights into Stygian chasm!

Let me share with you the following Table which I have here to show the position of our universities vis-ˆ-vis the top African and World Rank Universities.


Name of University African Rank World Rank

University of Cape T 1 387

University of Ghana 42 5,739

Universite Senghor 52 6,085

Obafemi Awolowo University 33 6,199

Kwame Nkrumah Univ. of Sc & Tec. 67 6,612

University of Yaounde 68 6,794

University of Ibadan 72 6,971

University of Benin 87 7,442

Pan-African University 100 7,655

Source: World University Ranking on the Web: Top Africa

This table has not taken into consideration the reported ranking of University of Benin indicated, some time this year, as the best in Nigeria.

PARADISE REGAINED?

PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES TO THE RESCUE?

We now have a trend in the country of the emergence of privately owned universities. Having regard to the fanfare with which the public universities emerged, with the rise and the fanfare attendant upon their fall, one must be circumspect about the direction which the private universities will take. There are, at present, over 20 private universities in the country. The comical part and the melodrama of the story is that, some of these private universities are owned by those who were in power and in position to make the public universities work. And the private universities have been established during the time they held the reins of power, thus setting the private universities to be in competition with the public universities which they had obligation to protect and advance! However, some are also owned by religious organisations reminiscent of the spirit of religiously owned and directed secondary schools before the ill-fated government take-over of the secondary schools. Those secondary schools are now less than a shadow of themselves. Ironically, those in power and who executed the policy of take-over of secondary schools indicative of the fact that they themselves have come to the realisation that the end of public universities is in sight. This is tragic.

Quo vadimus Domine? All eyes are now on the privately owned universities. What is the vision and mission of these universities? What are they up to? Forefend it! O ye gods, that the proprietors of these universities would view the idea of setting them up as a business concern. If that comes to be so, it would result in the death knell of tertiary education in this country. With the public universities, it was Milton's Paradise Lost. The hope of all who believe in education being the only open sesame to the future of this country the hope must be -

PARADISE REGAINED. And so, we would devote the remaining part of this paper to focus on what ought to be the future directional principle for universities in Nigeria. It is to this end that we have the title of this paper, adapting the words of William Shakespeare, as-

To be thus is noting

But to be truly thus

In our thesis, it is our view that - just to be called universities, will be nothing, until it is truly universitas. Universitas, in the true sense of a world-recognised universitas. And so, it is in this vein, that we would hereby devote the rest of this paper to mapping out what we consider should be the future directional movement of universities in this country, be they public or private, but more especially this private university, the Redeemer's University, which has honoured us with this invitation, for its existence could only be justified as coming to the rescue of tertiary education as a way of attaining excellence and sustaining it.

CLARITY OF VISION AND MISSION AND CORE VALUES:

A clear vision statement, declared in specific terms, the principal goal and focus of the university. Its mission statement, declared how it hopes to achieve that vision. There should also be a clear formulation of core values, which must govern the behaviour of every stakeholder of the university. The vision and mission statements as well as the core values must be deliberately developed and must involve the active participation of all staff and students. Such participation in developing these ideas will ensure a 'buy in' and a feeling of ownership by members of the university community, who will be expected to implement them. The authority should not issue merely vision and mission statements and expect everyone to fall in. This is a university, where thoughts must be expected to be developed and should be allowed to be expressed freely and in the open.

SOUND LEADERSHIP:

The importance of sound leadership to the development of a sound university cannot be over emphasised. It is a basic fact that no university can ever rise beyond the level of its leaders. That is why great universities all over the world ensure that they appoint the best possible leaders to man the position of Vice Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council and members of Council, Registrar, Bursars, University Librarian, Deans and other key positions. Nigeria has actually not been wanting in this show of true university leaders. Already, in this university, I observe a core of formidable leadership that anyone in the academia should be proud of.

BUT ALL IS NOT LOST:

Even then, as regards tertiary education, all has not been lost in this country. For, we still have public universities that are doing very well, indeed extremely well, despite the formidable problems which we have outlined above. I have had cause to interact with some universities of late, and of these, I easily make bold to single out the Universities of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Lagos University, University of Benin my former University, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and last, but certainly not the least, Ladoke Akintola University of Science and Technology, my present University. The leadership in all these universities, at one time or the other is all that could be desired in a university. These Universities have continued to record great achievements despite the very hostile environments in which they have found themselves and in which they have had to operate. These universities have, at one time or the other, been blessed with strong, visionary and perceptive leadership. It is not in vain that the Lagos University, at present under the Pro-Chancellorship of Chief Afe Babalola, has been able to build an endowment of well over N5 billion, the University of Benin, at one time and the other, under the Vice Chancellorships of Professor Grace Alele-Williams (the Iron Lady of the academia) and later Professor Onokerorhaye, has, over the years of grueling grind, now lived to be rated the best University in Nigeria, while the University of Ibadan under the Vice Chancellorship of Professor Falase cleared the Aegean stable and weeded out the extreme rot that befell the university. The Pro-Chancellor of the university, Mr. Gamaliel Onosode has just obtained an endowment of N100 million for the institution, Professor Segun Oke, the first Vice Chancellor of Ladoke Akintola University of Science and Technology made the University an enviable institution. These great leaders, and certainly there are more, of these universities will go down in history, as having inculcated in the system, very high discipline and excellence.

CHARACTER AND DISCIPLINE:

One of the consequences of the wide-spread decline in the moral values of the society is the high rate of indiscipline and moral decadence in our institutions of higher learning. This unfortunate situation must be urgently addressed. The universities must prioritise the development of conduct, discipline and morality among their students.

Hear ye, the comfortable and wise words of a great educationist:

'The universities need more consciously to undertake to build people in term of character. We cannot expect a rebirth, a renaissance, of our country in the 21st century, if we do not insist on our youths, the imperatives of discipline, hard work and creativity'

(Ade Ajayi 2002).

THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:

The 21st century economy is knowledge driven. Information technology is fast becoming the innovation technology. The use of modern technology must characterise our universities. The idea of universities without computers is unthinkable. Every facet of university operations must be fully IT-based. The computer, e-mail and Internet must become regular tools for the day-to-day operations of the universities. The universities must have a well-designed, interactive and attractive website. Every lecturer, every student must be well versed in the use of the Internet for intellectual purposes. It must be easy to access the university website. The website is now the major interface between universities and the outside world. Lecture notes and academic programmes must be readily and easily accessible on the Internet. This is the only way a university can linkup effectively with the rest of the world.

SPECIALISATION:

One way by which a university can quickly attain distinction is by carving a niche for itself in an area of learning. It does not mean that the university should abandon all other fields. A university should be so strong in one or two disciplines that it will attract universal recognition in those disciplines. We have in mind, for example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) which is world-reputed for its strong expertise in the field of technology. Harvard University's reputation is unparalleled in the fields of Humanities, especially Business Studies and Law. Through its area of specialisation, a university can gain global recognition through which, its other programmes can also become known. A university which dabbles in everything, without developing known expertise, in any particular field, may find competition hard and may soon belong to the ages.

AGENTS OF DISCOVERY AND PROVIDER OF GROWTH:

The universities must not remain limited to the traditional role of teaching, research and service. They must, in addition to all that, be agents of discovery and providers of for improving technology, engines of economic growth and societal transformation. Each university should take on one or two of the problems which are plaguing the society and deploy its resources to seeking practical solutions to such problems. For instance, take the problem of solid waste management. This requires intensive research. It is quite appalling that almost half a century years after the country had attained political independence, we are yet to manage the disposal of solid wastes. An NGO under the management of Professor Kayode Oyediran is seriously taking the lead to work on this. With a university participating in the noble venture or by liaising with an already initiated programme, a lot would be achieved. For, take a look at all over the country, in our cities, towns and villages despite the cosmetic environmental sanitation, we wade in the midst of heaps of solid wastes. It is unsanitary, apart from the fact that they constitute ugly and embarrassing spectacles. Research in the universities is needed to put an end to this, while the result and the finished product could also be a source of income to the universities.

CORRUPTION, PIPELINE VANDALISM, YOUTH RESTIVENESS IN THE NIGER DELTA, CULTISM IN INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING, VIOLENCE BY ROAD TRANSPORT WORKERS AND MEASUREMENT OF PUBLIC PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC OFFICE HOLDERS:

All these call for in-depth research. The universities should also find a lasting and practical solution to the ills of corruption, the greatest bane of this age. The universities should take up the challenge. With regard to corruption, the solution for the ills should not be left severely only to the ICPC and the EFCC. That would be tragic. The universities should organise research into the problems of pipe vandalism, youth restiveness, especially in the Niger Delta area and the un-ending violence by road transport workers. They should publish the reports on all these. For, with ICPC and EFCC left alone to their fate or made appendages to the establishment, we see the country sliding back into the era of stupendous corruption, especially, now that those accused of corruption believe that they have found solace in officialdom, found salvation in spurious ex-parte injunctions, issued, mirabile dictu, by some courts to prevent arrest and investigations of their crimes, and indeed have become confident enough to warrant demanding to choose their own investigators and prosecutors, outside the two purview of the two organisations. Indeed, one could discern the smile of Omuko, as in the novel - "When Omuko smiles" in them and with mischief being perfected, it will be, almost, in the worlds of Marcus Anthonius:

Now let it work,

Mischief thou art a-foot,

Take thou what course thou

wilt.

The universities could only claim to be truly thus, truly universitas, when they have made themselves relevant to the society. The aura of town and gown should be made more pronounced. They should identify the problems and find practical solutions to them. The universities should come up with effective poverty alleviation and improved governance. In process thereof, the universities should enter into partnership with governments and industry for the purpose of helping to provide research for enhancing the performance of public institutions.

ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS:

It is very worrisome, to say the least, that many graduates of our universities are unemployable for the simple reason that they do not possess the skills required by industries and other employers of labour. Worse still, our graduates are not able to utilise the education which they have acquired to help themselves by being self-reliant. This is because the graduates often lack entrepreneurial skills and self confidence. The new universities should go a step further than the existing universities and make a difference by pursuing a different path. They should emphasise not just paper qualification but qualitative, self reliant and confident young entrepreneurs. The Montana experience may be of help.

STAFF MOTIVATION, SATISFACTION AND DEVELOPMENT:

The importance of staff motivation can never be over-emphasised. This seems to be the only way to attract the best brains and hands. Each university has responsibility to strive to provide excellent working conditions and environment for its lecturers and staff. There should be provision made for regular training locally and overseas, to ensure that members of staff are able to keep abreast of developments and innovations worldwide. Staff promotions should be based, strictly on clearly defined criteria, which must be scrupulously implemented. All these must be absolutely merit driven and also based on productivity.


A situation where highly productive members of staff earn the same salary and allowances as less productive ones could never augur well for development and excellence.

Close attention should be laid to such variables as improved career structure, coupled with adequate provision of material facilities such as science laboratory equipment, conducive classrooms, well-stocked libraries, provision of meaningful research grants, accountability in the application of such grants; support for participation in local and international conferences and seminars, exchange programmes, appropriate housing and transportation allowances, uninterrupted supply of electricity, water and communication services.

CALENDAR, CULTURE AND TRADITION:

This, we believe, we should address to this university. Right from its inception, this University should start on a steady calendar. The dates of resumption, break, vacation and convocations should be fixed almost for eternity. In that regard, this university should be predictable. And the culture of the university should be made definitive from inception. Students have no right to the degree of a university. Students in ancient universities know that to earn a degree of that university they do not only have to pass the examination but should also perform certain exercises. The exercises vary from university to university. In Trinity College Dublin, where I have come from, the exercises included character and attendance of classes for a stated percentage in the session. These were the exercises when over four decades ago the university was founded, the same, almost 60 years ago when I went there and the same today. It is like the Christian's prayer - As it was in the beginning, so it is now and so shall be expected to be forever and ever.

Indeed, all these should be seen as the minimum conditions for staff motivation and satisfaction.

CONCLUSION:

Our thoughts, at this time, wander to Lord Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome:

Lars Porsena of Clausium

By the Seven gods he swore

That the great house of Taquin

Shall suffer wrong no more

We do not need to swear by any of the Roman gods to predict that with these few suggestions and the determination of the operators of education in Nigeria, tertiary education:

Shall suffer wrong no more.

And the universities would be in position to say that they are truly universities.


Concluded
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