₦airaland Forum

debosky: stop talking in ignorance Almond, it doesn't suit you

MOST lecturers in Nigerian Universities (Federal ones at least) have PhD's and you cannot simply 'check out' with a PhD, you need to publish papers and achieve a lot, as well as teaching experiences . N/A departments are full to the brim with aspiring PhD's so they have more than adequate supplies. If you learned all you have in the 'ditch of an environment' then I'm sure it wont rob you of anything, rather you use what you've learned to make a difference.

Most PhD's in Nigeria remain in Nigeria madam Almond, they are committed enough to the system that they remain in it due to their passion and drive. Some leave, but that will always happen. If the non-PhD's are converted, then even if some leave, we will still be left with a pool of PhD professors, even if few.

This is education darling, quality is much preferred over quantity.

If it is one university of quality we have, let us know now and stop fooling around with Bsc holders masquerading as lecturers.

The drive for improvement at all levels must begin now, we must simply ensure we hold the government to a higher funding status for the institutions in consonance with these drives,NOT as a prerequisite.

Debosky, please tell us you were joking when you made that statement in bold type. Have you taken a tour of all the universities in Nigeria (both North & South) recently? Have you gone to the federal & state-owned universities & polytechnics to see the numbers of candidates that are currently enrolled on Ph.d programmes? My brother, they are few. Scratch that. They are miniscule.

If na MBA programme you dey talk. . . . . ehen, plenty people boku for there. But Ph.d?? Kai! Some departments will tell you that they have not even graduated a single Ph.d candidate from their place, in the last three years!!

So which departments are full to the brim with aspiring PhD's so they have more than adequate supplies, like you said?? Kindly name them. For every dept., that you can call, I can also give you the names of those that do not have a single Ph.d candidate on their books! And many of them are science-based depts.!

Right now, with the influx of new private universities, a lot of the existing Ph.d holders in some federal and state-owned universities have decided to head for the private universities to take up teaching appointments.

Who are those going to replace these Ph.d holders that have left the federal and state-owned universities?

Yet, our government is still licensing more private universities without compelling existing universities to place more focus on training Ph.d candidates that would teach in such new universities. They are licensing universties without giving much thought to those who would occupy faculty positions in such universities. Go to several state-owned polytechnics in our country. Many departments offering 7 or 8 courses, have just one or two Ph.d holders in the entire dept., ably supported by other less qualified teaching staff.

What is needed to produce more Ph.d holders are incentives, lower academic fees, more grants, research facilities, accomodation and supervisory support, to ensure that qualified candidates are attracted to undertake and graduate from Ph.d programmes, in larger numbers.

grafikdon:
You can earn your PHD in two years in Nigeria? Has anyone ever accomplished that, with all the instability, frustration and strike? Could this be an extension of our favourite game of Chasing Shadows?

Don't mind them. Someone plucked the deadline of two years out of thin air, without bothering to consider the fact, that in many universities in Nigeria, a Ph.d programme actually takes 3-5 years, depending on the course and the university. Before enrolling for the Ph.d programme, you would have spent another 2 years getting an MPhil. degree in addition to your Masters' degree, before being allowed to enrol for a Ph.d., like I said earlier. Exemptions are only granted for those with a 1st class Bachelor's degree.

Those who are currently engaged in a Ph.d programme, are unlikely to be able to complete it in 2 years, if the body of research they have done, hasn't gotten up to the level that is required for the university to award them a Ph.d.

Secondly, in many universities in Nigeria there has been a dearth of Professors due to a variety of reasons. Many Professors have retired, joined the brain-drain bandwagon to relocate outside Nigeria, and new replacements to take up their positions, have not been nurtured by the universities themselves. So how many post-doctoral fellows are available to supervise the Ph.d candidates adequately?

Even the cost of pursuing a Ph.d programme is on the high side. How many grants exist nationwide for those who wish to embark on Ph.d programmes? 10? 20? 50? What is the proportion of Ph.d candidates who are currently within the universities, that can get access to these grants or benefit from them?

Why can't they implement the deadline in phases? For example, those currently on the programme, who have done 80% of their research work needed for a Ph.d, should be given grants by the universities to complete their work, or offered assistance in some way to round-up their programme in the next 2-3 years?

With a lot of bad-belle Professors in the Nigerian university system, many Ph.d candidates, have tales of woe to tell, about what it took them to get through their programme. The average Ph.d candidate has 3 supervisors he must report to, who would take turns to assess his work at every stage. One of my lecturers told me how it took him 14 years (gulp!) to get his Ph.d from the University of Lagos. It took another one about 10 years to complete his studies, simply because two of his lecturers were at loggerheads for more than 6 years!

And with the school calendar which is often disrupted by strikes and all, only God knows when the current set of doctoral candidates would graduate!

Unstable school policies also contribute to the dearth of Ph.d holders. There was a time, when a southern university admitted students with a Masters' degree in International Law and Diplomacy, (MILD) for a Ph.d programme in the same course. They were told that they didn't need to have a first degree in Law, to enrol for the course. So several folks started the programme. In their third year on the Ph.d course, the school authorities woke up from their slumber and decided to make it compulsory for doctoral candidates on this programme, to have a first degree in Law. Needless to say, a lot of the students without an LLB, dropped out of the course, after spending over three years on the Ph.d programme.

Tell me, from where would they start all over again?? 

The person who chose 2009 as a deadline for getting a Ph.d is so out of tune with what is going on in Nigerian universities. After a Masters' degree, a candidate would have to spend an additional two years studying for an MPhil. qualification, that would qualify him or her to go in for a Ph.d. Except you had a First Class bachelor's degree, you are unlikely to be able to skip this route.

If you pass the MPhil. after the two year programme, then you become eligible to go into the Ph.d programme, which could last from 3 to 5 years depending on the course of study and the university. So it could take from 5 to 7 years to get a Ph.d in a Nigerian university, if there are no interruptions in the school calendar. So why was 2009, chosen as a deadline? It doesn't make sense!

idupaul:
we hear, its true owu peeps can't steal,then somebody's paternity is in question once again,, then where is OBJ from ,somebody please help me with answers.

What are you trying to say? Are you suggesting that OBJ is not an Owu man?

Hmmn. . . . . .I once heard a rumour that he was actually from another part of Nigeria.

nossycheek:
In Igbo culture, a child born out of wedlock belongs to the girl's family and whoever marries her later, may have the child if he desires, otherwise, he/she remains with his/her mother's family.

But in Urhobo and Yoruba, the child belongs to the man whether married or not.

I hope I am correct

Hmmn. . . . .in Edo, and Yoruba, the child belongs to the man, only if he accepts paternity of the child.

In parts of the Niger-Delta e.g. among the Nembe, the child belongs to the woman's family as a number of villages in that area are matrilineal.

Among some Northern tribes, the child belongs to the man's family if he declares himself to be the father.

Mamajama:
DO you not have access to internet to do your research


http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=96176


http://allafrica.com/stories/200711210354.html


OR maybe laudate paid for his treatment.

Dis Guy:
_{so where in those report did it say the govt paid for his trip and treatment? abi when did chairman of a forum become minister of transport}

R.I.P

Abeg, help me ask Mamajama who posted the first remark about how govt. wasted money sponsoring the man's medical treatment abroad. Both stories say the man was flown abroad for treatment. It never said the man's trip was sponsored by govt. Abi, na only me dey see am?

Mamajama:
Amazing, he was sick, flown abroad for treatment and he died overseas.

Should that be a learning experience for our leaders that when your time is up no medical practitioner or doctor can save your life.

Another money wasted. The amount the Federal government spent on this trip could be put to use.

MR YAR ADUA I am calling you to please start taking action, stop all overseas medical treatment for government officials.
lets start investing in our hospital. KAI i tire for this nation

This is getting more and more confusing. Who said he was a government official? And where was it stated that the federal government paid for his trip abroad? Can you cite the source of your story?

davidylan:
If only chief had been serious about repairing our roads.

Ehn? Was he the Minister of Works or was he ever given any contract to repair our roads?

Uche2nna:
Now this one got me cracking.

Seriously, how can u genuinely think You will beat the hell out of a person You haven't met

Hehehe. . . . .I think it is called cyber-fight or shadow boxing. Some people and their funny threats!

Uche2nna:
Anyway, like I always say "Insults will not get us anywhere". We just have to find ways to deal with our differences. If You ask me to make one wish for Nigeria, I would just wish for the nation to be carved up. The amalgamation of 1914 is definitely not working. But that is a wish and You know that if wishes were horses------------- But hey, will this even solve the problem. Hell No!!!! No matter waht happens to Nigeria as a nation 2morrow, Ibos will still be living in the north and pari passu for the Hausas or Yorubas.

Even if the nation were carved up today, I still do not see the problem going away. What you would have, would be intra-ethnic conflict on a wider scale. Then you would see the Umuleri man telling the Aguleri man that he should get out of his area. You will probably hear the Ijebu man telling the Ibadan man, that he knows next to nothing about what is going on. And of course, the Jukun man will warn the Hausa man to zip it, because they are merely settlers, not indigenes. Very soon, every hamlet and every street will want its' own country, currency and flag.

Until Nigerians learn to respect others, irrespective of ethnic, tribal or religious affiliations. . . .this problem will not end.

Kobojunkie:
I fail to see how Blaiming Tribalism and trying to get rid of it will solve anything in Nigeria. I have great respect for the way we are all people from different tribes and I see absolutely nothing wrong with tribalism itself. I remember I actually posted in a particular thread on this issue a while back and since then have noticed that the very people who stoned me and accused me of being a tribalist and hence a racist and ethnocentrist have gone ahead to insult others for their tribal affiliation in other threads. I believe we need to get off our high horses in these issues and focus more on accepting what is and turning it for our good instead. Encouraging people to sign up for inter tribal marriages is not going to solve issues. I believe we as nigerians should look more to self when we want to solve problems and not continually try to change the view of those who do not see things as we do and mark them as the problem in our own way all the time.

As long as we are humans, tribalism will always exist. If it is not tribalism, it is something else.

RichyBlacK:
Please keep your myopic views to yourself. Ethnic bigot!

Yes, I slammed you first because you deserve it for insulting all the Nigerians that have given the ultimate sacrifice to preserve Nigeria's unity. Idiot!!!

Abeg, make una no stop me. . . .I wan laugh well, well!! Nothing wey person eye no go see for Nairaland. I thought the difference between Nationalism and tribalism had been clearly spelt out in another thread. Yet, someone is still here moaning about seeing "absolutely nothing wrong with tribalism itself." Chukwu biko!!

Hehehe. . . . . .may God deliver us!

Big B1:
I believe because Ibadan happens to be the center of Yoruba land. As a politician, if you're able to concur Ibadan, it means you've concurred the entire Yoruba land.

This statement is not confirmed, it's just the way I see it.

What do you mean by 'concurring' Ibadan? I just feel that the Ibadan people are too laid back, for their own good. They can tolerate anything.

Honestly, anytime I look at the South-west, am shocked that one man called Adedibu was able to hold Oyo State to ransom for so long. He lasted that long because the Ibadan people let him be!

If Adedibu was in somewhere like Ekiti, do you think they wouldn't probably have gotten rid of him a long time ago?!! Look at how they ran Fayose out of the place.