₦airaland Forum

NDIGBO
On the other hand, Ndigbo have been the most marginalized and persecuted race in Nigeria, if not, in West Africa. They have been exposed to periodic killings and destruction of their businesses and properties. Recall, that a group of young military officers cutting across all tribes in Nigeria, organized a military coup on January 15, 1966. This was erroneously termed an “Igbo Coup.” It led to the counter coup of July 1966, specifically targeted at Igbo officers in the armed forces. Abou 600 officers were killed as a result. This was immediately followed by the pogrom, particularly in Northern Nigeria, where hundreds of thousands of Igbos were killed and properties destroyed. This was immediately followed by the Civil War (1967 – 1970) – the aftermath, and estimated 3.5 million people were killed. Since the South-East was the epicenter of the war, virtually all the basic amenities were destroyed. In this war, all manner of unorthodox methods of killing including mass starvation, poverty and blockade, were deployed. After the war, there have been countless anti-Igbo policies and programmes. They include: numerous targeted riots against the Igbos in Kano, Kafanchan, Jos, Bauchi, Sokoto; the abandoned property policy; the £20 policy; the indigenization programmes; limited federal government presence in the South-East; the geo-political zone having the least number of states and local government areas in the country; assignment of outrageously high cut-off points for admission and employment; campaigns of calumny against the people; deliberate choice and use of lackeys of their oppressors as their leaders of all hue; refusal to develop any functional seaport; and more recently, suppression of Igbo voters in the 2023 elections, and destruction of markets and other choice assets belonging to Igbos, particularly in Lagos State. The list is endless. Let me quickly add, there is no tribe in Nigeria that will undergo all the tribulations like Ndigbo and still be striving. That is the Igbo spirit (resilience, hard work, entrepreneurship, love for education, industriousness, innovativeness, public spiritedness, and hope), which elicit envy and hatred.

If the Jews with only 16.5million, have achieved so much in education, and many other fields of human endeavours, the Igbos, with between 36 – 40 million people and with similar traits and persecution records/history, can do same with the right mindset, perspective and practices. Let me now move to what Ndigbo can learn from the Jews. I hereby suggest that Ndigbo must strive to emulate and internalized the following timeless Jewish traits and practices. Doing so will help Igbo people to sustain their competitive spirit and advantage, enhance/enlarge their investment horizon, make them highly disciplined, hardworking and organized, reinforce their strengths to withstand vicissitudes of life and persecutions and quicken the process of being global players in all spheres of human endeavor. Let’s start in earnest.

1. Ndigbo love education for their children. They are ready to make needed sacrifices to achieve this. However, they must go deeper like the Jews. They can do this by emulating the Jews thus:
a. Build your child's self-esteem.

b. Build the ability to defer gratification.

c. Choose the best education possible.

d. Develop and demonstrate informed and literate habits.

e. Create the education expectation.

f. Keep your skills up to date. (Steven Silbiger, 2009)

2. I want to earnestly suggest what I call _“Back to Books Initiative.”_ Majority of the Jews (youths and adults) are studious, unlike most youths in Nigeria, who are social media freaks. One can see Igbo youths like other Nigerian youths, preoccupied with television and phones for several hours daily, hence, abandoning their books. They know almost all the lyrics of most reigning Afrobeat and foreign songs, but are not able to channel such zeal and skill to their studies. This is worrisome! Igbo youths must emulate their Jewish counterparts. This attitude will surely pay off in their performance in higher institutions and major national and international examinations/competitions.

3. The Igbo and Yoruba tribes are the most educated in Nigeria. The Igbos are recognized for high levels of education and entrepreneurship. Imo State is consistently ranked as the most educated state in Nigeria, with the highest literacy rate, as approximately 96.43%. By 2025/2026, there are at least 59 private universities in South-West, while in South-East, we have 18, with two new licenses making it a total of 20. Ogun State alone has 17 private universities. This calls to question the investment priorities of wealthy Igbo business men. It is against this backdrop that I suggest that wealthy or Billionnaire Igbo business men, should pool resources, either individually or collectively, in investing in higher education, particularly universities. This also underscores what I have been preaching and writing for many years now about *_Aku-Ruo-Ulo_* business philosophy, which I have been preaching and writing about for decades now. Rich Igbo business people should see it as a patriotic obligation to bring a reasonable portion of their investments back to South-East. See my articles, _“Intensifying the Aku-Ruo-Ulo Business Philosophy by Igbos”_ August 15, 2023; and _“Embracing the Aku-Ruo-Ulo Investment Philosophy by Aguneze People,”_ December 26, 2023.

4. The South-East governors and politicians should emulate the development blueprint of the former Eastern Region. The development priorities of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Dr. Michael Okpara were education, agriculture and industrialization. It was reported that the Eastern Region was budgeting at least 40% of its annual budget on education. The outcomes within few decades were amazing, and to the envy of other tribes. In addition to the record of Ndigbo occupying about 60% of the entire workforce of the nation’s public sector, the Eastern Region was reputed to be the fasted growing and industrializing economy in the world in the late 1950s and 1960s, ahead of the Asian Tigers – Hong Kong, Singapore, South-Korea and Taiwan. Dr. Okpara’s goal was that “Port Harcourt, through Aba and Umuahia, going on to Enugu, would have developed into a globally significantly industrial and ‘trade’ megapolis and conurbation.” The civil war truncated this enviable mile stone.

5. The Jews do not joke with mentorship. As such, great Igbo professionals – scientists, doctors, engineers, ICT experts, etc. home and in diaspora, should see it as community service, or social responsibility to young and willing Igbo chaps in higher institutions by transferring their skills to them. There are a good number of such Igbo professionals in the Ivy League, Ivy League Plus, Coimbra and Russell institutions and notable research laboratories and multinational corporations abroad. They should expose Igbo youths globally.

CONCRETE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE JEWS
For generations, remarkable Jewish leaders have propelled humankind forward by discovering cures for diseases, developing new technologies, composing musical masterpieces, advancing causes of freedom and human rights, and serving as trailblazers in countless other fields. Refer to my postscript 2 – _The Jews and Ndigbo,_ in the book, _“Okrika Nweke Our Beloved Community: A Narrative of Ezeship Tussle in Igboland._ Refer also to my article, _“A Call for a Holistic Emulation of the Jewish Phenomenon by Ndigbo,”_ September 9, 2025. Let us also refer to a breathtaking speech by Israel’s representative, Miriam Novak at the UN General Assembly (August 11, 2025). According to her:

_“For two thousand years, we have lived among you, offering you our knowledge, discoveries and inventions._

_We have given you the alphabet, the Bible, the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ, the twelve apostles, Spinoza, Disraeli, Columbus, Newton, Nostradamus, Heine, Mendelssohn, Einstein, Singer, Eisenstein, Freud, Landau, Gershwin, Offenbach, Rubinstein, Saint-Saëns, Kafka, Lombroso, Montaigne, Mahler, Marcel Marceau, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Yehudi Menuhin, Stefan Zweig, Arthur Miller, Maya Plisetskaya, Stanley Kubrick, Irving Berlin, Edward Teller, Lion Feuchtwanger, Paul Newman, Robert Oppenheimer, Benny Goodman, Eugène Ionesco, Imre Kálmán, Marcel Proust, Marc Chagall, Barbra Streisand, Claude Lelouch, Steven Spielberg, Anouk Aimée, Leonard Bernstein, Norbert Wiener, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Andrew Lloyd Webber and thousands of other scientists and educators._

_Imagine how many such geniuses could have been born from the millions of Jews killed by you, and then from their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren!_

_But these unborn geniuses disappeared forever in crematoriums, burned synagogues, and mass graves.”_

She became a little condescending to other nations (though the bitter truth). She called it her personal opinion. According to her, every nation brings to mankind what it does best:

- The French – cooks and perfumers.

- The English and the Russians – writers and poets.

- Italians – artists and musicians.

- The Germans – soldiers and philosophers.

- And we Jews – geniuses.

Let’s get started…

1. With only 0.2% of the world’s population, out of the 990 Nobel prices between 1901 and 2025, the Jews have won 221 or 22%. Prices are awarded in six categories – Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace and Economy. The question is why many Jewish Nobel Laureates? There are two principal reasons:

a. Jews have high intelligence (high intelligence quotient)

b. They have cultural values that promote success. However, high intelligence is more relevant of these two factors. For example, an average Jew has the mindset that he or she has to simply be the best in whatever he or she is doing. It is therefore not surprising that the Jews are visible and prominent in all fields of human endeavor. A Jewish child has a mindset of scoring 100% in every examination. This explains why the Jews have done exceptionally well in many fields of human endeavour.

A further breakdown of the Nobel accomplishments include:

i. Out of the 25 most influential physicists, 15 (60%) were/are of Jewish descent.

ii. Approximately 40% of Nobel Laureates in Economics are Jews.

iii. Over 26% Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine are Jews.

iv. In literature it is 14%, and

v. Peace – 9%.

2. The Jews are major players in the Silicon Valley (California, USA). Silicon Valley is home to many of the World's largest and richest high-tech corporations, and thousands of start-up companies. Some of them are Fortune 1000 companies.

3. Jews are keen and generally attend more prestigious institutions and choose positions in professional institutions or colleges. For this, Jews make up over 30 percent of Professors in elite schools – Ivy League and Ivy League plus.

4. They are among the big leagues (movers and shakers) of the Wall Street, the financial hub of USA, if not the whole world.

5. Israel as a whole has strong innovations in cyber security, agri-tech, military hardware, and more. Among the world’s top tech capitals are Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

6. Silbiger (2009) and other sources have highlighted some of the other feats of the Jews to include:

a. They pursue professional careers but are always ready to turn into entrepreneurs.

b. Within their careers, they create time for entrepreneurial pursuits.

c. They seek new opportunities or areas that are outside the mainstream.

d. The Jews make up only 2% of the total U.S. population, yet estimates from several sources reveal that over 30% of American billionaires (Forbes 400 richest Americans) are Jewish.

e. 25 – 30% of American multimillionaires are Jewish.

f. 40% of partners in the leading New York and Washington, D.C. law firms are Jewish.

g. A Pew Research Center study revealed that Jewish Americans ranked as the most financially successful religious group in the United States, with 44% of Jews living in households with incomes of at least $100,000, compared to much lower rates for most other groups.

7. The Jews believe in “imparting before departing.” Perry Stone (2009:227) has highlighted three important ways one can impart his descendants before departing this world.

a. _A heritage_ - something that's not material, such as traditions, handed down from one generation to the next.

b. _A legacy_ - passing on a good name, including corporations, farms, and goods continually used or a group

c. _A dynasty_ – a succession of rulers, or a group maintaining power from the same family line.

8. Jews made up 12 of the 25 most generous American philanthropists in 2022 - nearly half, in a community that makes up just about 2% of the U.S. population (Elia-Shalev, 2023). An average Jew gives 4% of his disposable income to charity, compared to the American average of 2%. What makes Jewish philanthropy stand out is not just the scale but the breadth - the majority of giving flows to secular, universal causes (education, healthcare, poverty, and civil rights) rather than exclusively Jewish ones. Researchers attribute this pattern to a combination of deep cultural tradition (_tzedakah_ - the religious obligation to give), high educational attainment, wealth, and a historical identity rooted in the experiences of persecutions, pogroms and great challenges, which generate empathy for other marginalized groups.

9. Israel is very powerful in the world. She derives its power from a technologically advanced military (Israeli Defense Forces), a robust domestic defense industry, and strong strategic alliance, primarily with the United States (for obvious reasons).

It maintains regional superiority through superior intelligence, air power and battle-hardened troops, backed by a high-tech economy that drives innovation in cyber, defense and aerospace sectors.

10. Institutional memory of persecution, patriotism, not forgiving their enemies, high intelligence, solid schooling, etc., are responsible for Israel to have one of the most effective and powerful secret services in the world – MOSSAD, renown for covert capabilities and operations, and counter terrorism.

THE NEXUS BETWEEN JEWISH RELIGION/CULTURE AND EDUCATION
Judaism is the religion of the Jewish and also the world’s oldest (Abrahamic monotheistic religion) dating back over 3,500 years. Core beliefs:

1. One God - belief in a single, indivisible God who made a covenant with the Jewish people.

2. Torah - The Torah is the most important (central) book of Judaism made up of the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible, and contains 613 commandments called mitzvot.

3. Covenant - Jews are bound to God through commandments and ethical living.

Judaism is both a religion and a cultural identity. About 15 million Jews worldwide, with largest populations in Israel and the U.S.

THIRTEEN PRINCIPLES OF FAITH
Maimonides was a famous Jewish teacher of the 12th century. He listed thirteen of the main beliefs in Judaism. These were called the Principles of Faith.

1. God is the Maker and the King of the world.

2. There is only one God, and God is the only one who is and will ever be God.

3. God has no body or physical form and nothing else is like God.

4. God is eternal - God has always existed and will live forever.

5. Only God can answer people’s prayers and people must only pray to God.

6. The words of the Prophets are true.

7. Moses was the greatest of the Prophets.

8. God gave the whole Torah to Moses.

9. God will not change the Torah and will not give another Torah.

10. God knows the actions and thoughts of people.

11. God rewards and punishes people for the things they do.

12. The Messiah will come.

13. God will make dead people live again when God chooses to.

There is a culture or practice the Jews do not take for granted. It is called _chutzpah_ - the art of "verbal self-confidence". Alan Dershowitz, in his book by the same name defined _chutzpah_ as "boldness, assertiveness, a willingness to demand what is due, to defy tradition, to challenge authority, to raise eyebrow". It is noteworthy that the Jews have employed this concept in all spheres of human endeavours, hence their high success rate.

JEWISH EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
The Jewish educational system focuses on transmitting literacy, religious tradition and cultural values, traditionally emphasizing the study of Torah and Talmud.

Torah is a Hebrew word meaning “teaching,” “instruction,” or “guidance.”

The Talmud is a Hebrew word for “study” or “learning” and is central, authoritative compilation of ancient Jewish traditions and rabbinic discussions.

In other words, the Jewish system is built around the idea that education is not just a school, it is a lifelong commandment to transmit Torah, values, and culture to the next generation. Education does not stop at a certain age. The Talmudic ideal is “Torah for its own sake” and study continues throughout life with a teacher.

A study by Pew Research Centre (2024) shows that 65% of Jews have a bachelor’s degree or more education. That compares with 35% of US adults overall. This makes the Jews the most highly educated religious group on earth. In other words, the Jewish intellectual tradition arises from the Torah and Talmudic tradition, which requires and venerates continuous education, mentorship, learning, achievement and living a life with a higher purpose.

EMULATING THE JEWISH PHENOMENON BY NDIGBO: KEY TO HIGHER EDUCATIONAL VISIBILITY AND GLOBAL RELEVANCE

Written by PROF B. C. ONUOHA

INTRODUCTION
Due to their achievements in all fields of human endeavours, these two ethnic nationalities – the Jews and Ndigbo, are envied and despised. They had encountered systematic persecutions, the Jews all over the world and Ndigbo in Nigeria. While the Jews have overcome their tribulations, their enemies, and became world power, Ndigbo are still struggling in the contraption called Nigeria. This lecture is all about how Ndigbo can learn from the Jews and become relevant and respected in Nigeria and globally.

THE JEWS
The world’s core Jewish population as at 2026 is estimated at 16.5 million, which is just 0.2% of the 8.28 billion worldwide population. Israel and USA hold more than 85% of Jewish population of 7.76m and 6.30m, respectively. Other nations with reasonable Jewish population include: France (438,500); Canada (398,000); United Kingdom (312,000); Argentina (171,000); Russia (132,000); Germany (125,000); and Australia (117,200) (Wikipedia).

New York City is home to the largest Jewish community in any city in the world with 1 million Jewish people or 12% of the city’s residents.

THE JEWS AND PERSECUTIONS
Throughout history, many rulers/kings, empires after empires and nations have oppressed their Jewish population or tried to eliminate them completely. In other words, the Jews and Judaism have experienced extreme forms of persecutions. This reached the peak in Nazi Germany's final solution, which led to the Holocaust and the killing of about six million Jews. If these were not bad enough, Israel has been under siege since its creation thus: at its birth in 1948; the 1956 war with Egypt; the 1967 six-Day war; and the 1973 Yom Kippur war. Read Okechukwu Okeke's book – _The Middle East Since 1917_ (chapter 7) on Arab – Israeli Conflicts since 1948, for more. The good news is that the Jewish state came out victorious in the various terrible situations she found herself. Up till now, some of her Arab neighbours have never hidden their disdain for her and also harbouring the desire to destroy the whole nation.

For the past few years now, including very recently, Israel has been involved in seven battle fronts, thus: Gaza (against Hamas); Lebanon (against Hezbollah); Iraq (against Shiite Militia); Syria (against Shiite Militia); Yemen (against Houthis); Judea and Samaria (against terrorists); and Iran (against Iran’s nuclear weapon advancements and plans to annihilate Israel).

THE JEWISH SUCCESS PRINCIPLES AND STORIES
The opinion worldwide is that the Jews are successful and wealthy because of the Covenant between God and Abraham, the father of the Israelites as recorded in the Holy Bible. In addition to that, the Jews have certain traits, culture and practices that guarantee generational success and wealth to the envy of other ethnic groups in the world.

Apart from the covenant, earlier mentioned, a combination of factors is responsible for the Jewish phenomenon. They are the Jewish religion, culture and historical experiences. These, they pass down from generation to generation. They have institutionalized memory and strategic solidarity. Other contributory success factors are solid educational foundations, hard work, resilience, the spirit of delayed gratification, leveraging on the time-tested experiences of persecutions and pogroms and the mindset of not forgiving their enemies. Romancing, hobnobbing and forgiving their enemies is a major albatross of Ndigbo. For Ndigbo, vengeance is God’s, meanwhile, Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary, Joseph her spouse, the 12 Apostles and many other great prophets are Jews.

Specifically, the Jewish success principles include:

1. Integrated ethical, intellectual and practical habits aimed at creating sustainable wealth and purposeful life,

2. Unwavering business ethics,

3. Life-long education, a deep respect for education and scholarship, which is believed to empower better decision-making,

4. High stakes philanthropy,

5. Resilience, and

6. Diversifying income streams.

Written by PROF. B. C. ONUOHA

There are two common terms of administrative nuances or governance in most third world nations, including Nigeria. They are hyping and sloganeering, of anything – concept programme or project the initiating administration or leadership introduced. There are many examples of such in Nigeria cutting across many segments of the public sector including the university system.

In the public sector of Nigeria, most programmes and projects are started without thorough analysis of the various stages including effective implementation to fruition. A very serious concept or perspective in the public university system is an entrepreneurial university, which has not been actualised in concrete terms.

What then is an entrepreneurial university? There are many ways of describing an entrepreneurial university. I will attempt some:

1. Is an institution that emphasises innovation, business creation and practical skills through partnership with industry, government and society.

2. Its main focus is wealth creation by exploiting opportunities and pursuing innovations in practice and in the process improving economic performance of states, regions and the nation.

3. Ensuring that its students or graduates are wealth creators and employers of labour, not just job seekers.

4. Should have the sole aim of transforming higher educational institutions into active engines of economic development, balancing teaching and research with addressing societal challenges and problems.

5. Is an institution which puts innovation, start-ups and industry collaborations at the core of the ways it operates, teaches, researches and creates wealth for itself and the economy. In other words, the institution goes beyond teaching and research to the market place.

An ideal entrepreneurial university has some major perspectives – in its curriculum, the orientation and enterprising behaviours of students, graduates, lecturers, researchers and administrators, and the enabling environment. The starting point is offering undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Entrepreneurship and Innovation and getting the students of other programmes to imbibe the entrepreneurship mindset. Another important perspective is integrating entrepreneurship into all programmes and degrees and in the process unlocking young talents. Students and graduates leave the institutions with entrepreneurship and wealth creating mindsets, not just certificates or degrees.

Let me start with the mounting of relevant courses and creating the environments in aid of entrepreneurship. The following courses are essential – venture creation, innovation management, case studies and analysis, strategic management, risk-taking and problem-solving skills, business and economic analysis, information technology, etc.

It is important that I mention that in other climes – advanced and newly industrialised nations, universities specialise and are reputed for certain disciplines, say medicine, engineering, business, politics, economics, ICT, etc. This is not clearly so in Nigeria. This is because the National Universities Commission (NUC) is more or less imposing the same standards or requirements on all universities, via its programme accreditation exercises. There is no room for the various natural, intellectual and professional capabilities of the different geo-political zones and tribes of the nation to be exhibited or deepened. And in the process, there are no serious academic and professional specialisation or competitions among the nation’s universities.

The enabling environments include: start-up labs, on-campus incubators, mentorship networks, internships, rewards for adventure and risk taking, etc.

The next stage is having a university governance system that have entrepreneurship disposition both in theory and practice. The various ways of achieving this include:

1. Appointing members of the governing council that have extensive networks and networth – who are in the position to attract enduring projects and favours to the system. Currently, the governing councils of virtually all public universities in Nigeria are dumping grounds for political patronage. Many are there to milk the already and grossly underfunded system, not really adding value.

2. Appointing Vice Chancellors with entrepreneurial minds, that also have extensive industry contacts and societal networks – who are in good position to enter into mutually beneficial partnerships with businesses for funding and other economic projects.

3. Most universities have viable revenue generating units, centres and institutes. Like the larger political environment, presently, appointments into these units are for favours or nepotism. University administrators should appoint those that can further grow these units to generate funds for the university.

4. Scholars with solid outside contacts or networks should be appointed or elected as HODs, Directors and Deans. That is, those who can attract professorial endowments, grants, business executives, quality post graduate students (like technocrats, diplomats, and foreign students) and other assets. It is shameful that virtually all the departments in most federal universities have no official cars or buses. Will achieving this common operational necessity amount to rocket sciences?

5. The university should have a deliberate push for commercialising research outputs – patents, spin-offs, big licensing deals with industry, franchise, etc.

6. An entrepreneurial university should pioneer major industrial and economic hubs or technology centres in the areas or states of operation. For example, the history of Silicon Valley (in California, USA) will be incomplete without the notable role of Stanford University, its industrial park (now Stanford Research Park), its affiliates and graduates. Silicon Valley is home to many of the world’s largest and richest high-tech corporations and thousands of start-up companies. Some of them are Fortune 1000 companies. Globally, universities have critical roles to play in the establishment of technology centres. There is no hi-tech city, mechanised agriculture, industrial cluster, machine fabrication, or major development in any country without the direct or indirect inputs of universities in those areas or region. I can’t see any Nigerian university that is linked to any industrial or technology centre. The gown must go to town.

7. Universities should endeavour to have strong alumni relations and linkage units to harvest the goodwill of and donations from their alumni, both in Nigeria and in diaspora. Alumni associations and their members are the major sources of endowment in most foreign universities. This was my main mandate as the Director of Consultancy, Linkages and Revenue Mobilisation Unit (COLIREMU), at Abia State University, Uturu for three and a half years.

Check out the 15 biggest universities in USA in terms of endowment at fiscal year-end (2025), released in early 2026:

i. Harvard University - $55.67 billion

ii. Yale University - $44.15 billion

iii. Stanford University - $40.79 billion

iv. Princeton University - $36.42 billion

v. MIT - $27.37 billion

vi. University of Texas System – $27.17 billion

vii. University of Pennsylvania - $24.81 billion

viii. Texas A&M System – $22.23 billion

ix. University of Michigan - $21.20 billion

x. University of California - $20.15 billion

xi. University of Notre Dame - $20.09 billion

xii. Columbia University - $15.92 billion

xiii. Emory University - $12 billion

xiv. Cornell University - $11.75 billion

xv. Vanderbilt University - $10.86 billion

*Source:* National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) annual studies.

Can you imagine that Harvard’s endowment of $55.67 billion is bigger than Nigeria’s foreign reserve that stood at $48.6 billion as at April 16, 2026? Again, do we any Nigerian university with an endowment of just $20m?

The purpose of most endowment funds in higher education includes:

i. Initiating and developing stronger teaching skills/trainings.

ii. Hiring and maintaining outstanding professors and researchers.

iii. Investing in new skills or technologies.

iv. Helping to improve the visibility, reputation, respect and relevance of universities in the society.

For details on endowments, see my article: “Nigerian University System and Endowment”.

8. An entrepreneurial university should have a very strong consulting outfit manned by relevant and seasoned professionals. This outfit or company should be in a position to handle many of the university’s jobs (workshops, seminars, retreats for staff, strategic plans, feasibility studies, designing industrial hub or city, etc) which are routinely given to outside firms. This outfit should be able to solve the numerous corporate challenges in the corporate world and the economy at market or slightly lower than market rates, but earning good money for the university.

9. Many Nigerian universities have relevant courses or disciplines that can readily be used to address internal needs. For example, they have departments of architecture, civil, mechanical and electrical engineering. Yet these departments, their students and lecturers don’t get involved in most construction jobs going on in our campuses. In addition to using these construction sites as training grounds (hands-on by students), they can earn reasonable incomes for themselves, the departments and university. Unfortunately, virtually all these construction jobs are awarded to outsiders – politicians and firms less qualified than the students, lecturers and departments. All TETFUND projects are awarded from Abuja, yet many do not meet the project specifications. The tragedy of it all is that the benefitting universities, via their departments of works or physical planning approve these sub-standard projects, for obvious reasons or considerations.

10. Entrepreneurial universities, via their relevant units, centres, departments/faculties and business outfits, etc., should be able to produce and market most of the things they consume on their campuses. Examples include water, meat, fruits, food, other farm produce, etc.

11. An entrepreneurial university should not be too politically exposed. Refer to my article “Nigerian University System and Political Exposure” June 30, 2022. Infact, it should be politically neutral. In better climes, public lectures including convocation lectures are restricted to global leaders, notable wealth creators, activists, celebrities, Nobel laureates, luminaries selected for their inspirational impact. Do we have that in Nigeria? In this country, everything is politicised to the detriment of the system and the overall development of the country. Let me use Harvard University as an example. Convocation ceremony is called Commencement Ceremony in Harvard – a ceremony in late May, where degrees are formally conferred – a tradition which dates to 1642 – over 380 years. Check out the notable recent speakers.

A. 2025: Abraham Verghese – Physician-author, Stanford professor, known for “The Convenant of Water”.

B. 2024: Maria Ressa – Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rappler CEO, journalist fighting disinformation.

C. 2023: Tom Hanks – Oscar-winning actor, philantropists, and cultural icon.

D. 2022: Barack Obama – Former U.S. President, Nobel laureate, community organizer.

E. 2019: Angela Merkel – Former German Chancellor, scientist-turned-stateswoman.
Past icons include J.K. Rowling (2008, on failure and imagination), Oprah Winfrey (2013, on resilience), and Steven Spielberg (2016, on empathy).

The most entrepreneurial universities in USA are: Stanford university, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, Babson College, University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, University of Houston, Brigham Young University, Northeastern University, Boston University, Texas Tech University, Penn State University, etc. Further records show the following positive achievements of some of these universities.

a. University of California Berkeley has the most undergraduate alumni that have gone on to become successful entrepreneurs.

b. Harvard university comes first in terms of the total number of billionaire alumni.

c. Many of the graduates or alumni of Stanford university are players in Silicon Valley and other cities in USA.

Notable entrepreneurial universities in the United Kingdom include: Imperial College London, Newcastle University, Lancaster University, University of Leeds, University of Nottingham, and University of Warwick. Reputable universities in Canada, also known for producing founders of enterprises and venture capitalists are: University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, McGill University, University of Alberta, Queens University and University of British Columbia.

It is also important to note that most renowned entrepreneurial universities are also known as global institutions. They have high academic standards, international reputation, visibility and employability. They are also wealth creators and agents of economic cum technological emancipation.

The few entrepreneurial universities in Africa include Makerere University Uganda; University of Pretoria South Africa; University of Nairobi; Mount Kenya University, Kenya; and Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

For me, there are only 5 institutions in Nigeria that can be said to be working very hard to be entrepreneurial universities. They are: Convenant University Ota, Pan-Atlantic University Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, University of Lagos and University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). The implication is that others have to work extremely hard, to increase their current efforts.

In conclusion, Nigerian universities should intensify efforts in producing: job creators, not job seekers; founders of companies and venture capitalists/business angels; to actively be involved in developing industrial hubs/technology centres; play critical roles in the technological and economic emancipation of Nigeria; and finally endeavour to be intellectually visible and respected continentally and globally.

Onuoha, Professor of Management and development activist, wrote from University of Port Harcourt, Sunday, April 26, 2026.

Written by PROF B. CHIMA ONUOHA

Freedom of religion is both a fundamental and constitutional right of people, including students. It is important to state clearly that _rights_ should not be abused or used to inconvenient other persons. It is also necessary to indicate that university campuses are not seminaries or theological schools. Even such religious institutions are governed by rules and regulations. They emphasise hard-work, focus and discipline. There is no place for lawlessness or self-aggrandisement.

The Nigerian larger society is afflicted with “over-religiousity”. Churches are everywhere and springing up every day. People are highly religious without being Christ-like. Miracle seeking has become the order of the day, instead of hard-work, sincerity and dedication. The Almighty God and the angels in heaven are earnestly expected to solve all our problems including those that we have the physical and mental capacity including resources to solve by ourselves. Every failure, misfortune or sickness is an “attack” from someone or somewhere. People are simply not ready to bear the consequences of their actions or inactions.

Instead of the government and political leaders confronting unemployment, insecurity, economic hardships, and underdevelopment head-long, they get church owners or the big religious entrepreneurs to tell Nigerians to pray for solutions to descend from heaven. And Nigerians, suffering from what I call “religious mumuism” will key in.

Religious leaders, particularly General Overseers (GOs) and pastors are instilling fears in people, making them to be excessively prayerful and being lazy in the process.
Over religiousity has long creeped into the university campuses, from Monday to Sunday. I have observed that during school hours when some students have free hours in between lectures, instead of revising treated topics or those to be taught, or go to the departmental, faculty or main libraries to study, they form prayer groups, singing and dancing thereby disturbing on-going lectures around. In a particular federal university, prayer groups of its Faculty of Management Sciences, stage their religious disturbances behind the Senate building of that particular university, very close to the faculty, serving as distraction/disturbance to on-going lectures.

In another federal university, a faculty that has Eleven (11) BSc programmes in five departments not mentioning part time and post graduate programmes, with acute shortage of lecture halls had a myopic disposition of leasing out a very important lecture hall for three days (Wednesday-Friday) for religious Event. This is repeated at intervals. What a priority! The implications were/are very obvious – many lectures will continue to be cancelled, disturbances and distractions of on-going lectures in the vicinity and far reaching academic consequences.

In a particular state university where serious academic competition was the order of the day, students – those in the hostels and around the campus had the constant habit and practice of returning to classrooms and lecture halls to read between 7:30 pm and 12 midnight every day. Along the line, there were many prayer groups that were also competing with students for the same venues, with their noisy activities. It took almost a riot from the larger student body for the university authorities to ban all religious activities on campus during school periods/days.

Pentecostal churches are finding university campuses fertile grounds for crusades with the usual road shows/funfair around and inside the campuses. These crusades can last three or more days. During these periods, many students abandon their lectures and studies. It does not matter if the semester examinations are starting in the next two days. Instead of studying hard, students are keying into miracle and prosperity preaching. The wealth without work mindset or perspective. We have heard of students going to “men of God” to bless their biros, rulers and pencils before the exams. Some go to tap “anointing” before examinations. In a particular faculty, two lecturers are fond of spending the first ten to fifteen minutes in praise and worship before commencing lectures. These actions often disrupt teaching functions in close-by lecture halls. In fact, campus religious activities are becoming fads in the Nigerian tertiary institutions.

The youths are the most endangered group today in the country from three sources:
1. No tangible programmes for them from the government – devaluation of education via underfunding; poorly paid and unmotivated teachers; inadequate youth empowerment schemes; high unemployment rate; they are used for thuggery and election rigging, etc.

2. Religious and spiritual enslavement from Pentecostal churches, with all sorts of deceits and manipulations. Some students are hoodwinked to use their school fees, feeding and book money to pay tithe, sow spiritual seeds, bless “men of God”, etc, and expect miracles thereafter. Most times, the miracles don’t happen, yet they keep hoping endlessly.

3. Social media negative influences – “education is scam”; pinging for hours instead of reading; watching films/videos endlessly; penchant for hook-up; quick money and yahoo syndrome; pathological lying; proclivity to partying; drug abuse; imbibing wild values, etc.

At this point, let me ask few innocuous questions
• Are universities meant for incessant religious crusades, apart from the usual weekend (more specifically – Sunday) church programmes?

• Are universities not meant for studies; providing solutions to societal and the nation’s developmental challenges, the so called “the gown going to town”? These are the main purpose of establishing universities, nationally and globally.

• Which university in Nigeria has reasonable endowment funds from research, innovations and commercialisation of research outputs? See my article – “Nigerian University System and Endowments”.

• What research efforts, technological or industrial hub will crusades bring to the campuses or society?

Instead of joining leading global universities to be agents of economic and technological advancement, the nation’s university system is seeking the easy-way out like government and political leaders – miracles, relevance and success without hard-work and strategic plans. There is no single technology centre in Nigeria. Universities have critical roles to play in the establishment of technology centres. Most global dominant clusters have their origin from nearby universities. For example, the history of Silicon Valley (in California, USA) will be incomplete without the notable roles of Stanford university, its industrial park, affiliates and graduates. Silicon Valley is home to many of the world’s largest and richest high-tech corporations and thousands of start-up companies. Some of them are Fortune 1000 companies.

For me, any person is free to disagree… excessive religious activities on campuses are affecting studies, hard-work, creativity, productivity and research efforts, adversely.

When we were in the university, undergraduate programme, intellectual competition was rigorously encouraged by the system, lecturers and students themselves. As students, we challenged ourselves to mention how many As and Bs each of us aimed at scoring. The courses should also be mentioned in advance. In that era, more than 90 percent of courses/exams were “attempt all questions”. Four or five questions to answer all. Again, we challenged ourselves to answer the questions the way they appeared – no jumping questions. For example, if a course has four questions, to answer all. We said that if you are intelligent or hardworking, your answers should be 1, 2, 3 and 4 questions; not 2, 4, 1 and 3 on your exam booklet. The same was applicable if the course has options. For example, a lecturer may set 6 questions and asked the students to attempt 4 out of the 6. The challenge to ourselves remained – answer the questions the way they appeared. If you are intelligent or hardworking, your answers would appear (in the case of 6 questions) 1, 2, 3, 4, leaving out 5 and 6. In other words, it didn’t matter if questions 5 and 6 were easier. What am I saying? In addition to the enslavement from indiscriminate and unwholesome religious activities, majority of our current students are not interested or involved in academic competition. It is common to see in a typical exam booklet, students attempting questions like this; 1a, 4c, 3b, 6c, 1c, 4b, 3a. Along the line you see an appeal note for leniency or prayer for you and family, how God will bless you and your family if you pass the student. Cheap emotional blackmail everywhere.

Why are many students not ready to study hard or take their lectures seriously? Apart from their uninterested or lazy disposition, the system is also encouraging them openly. Lecturers are told or warned that failure rate should not be more than 30 percent. So, what a student needs to score in a course is 20 percent in exam and 10 percent in continuous assessment. The system will take care of the rest, to enable the candidate get 40 or 45 percent. Lowering of academic standards have gotten to the post graduate levels. These students will eventually be future lecturers, administrators and political leaders. This country has a long way to go, in terms of development.

In conclusion, university managements across the nation should restrict the indiscriminate and unwholesome religious activities on their campuses. Before religious fanatics start attacking me, I need to state that I am also a Christian – a Catholic.

Finally, universities are not religious institutions; Simplicita!


B. C. Onuoha, Professor of Management and development activist, wrote from University of Port Harcourt, Sunday, April 5, 2026.

May I have a private chat with you?

orikoku:
Guy go and buy break oil, use it morning and night. You will thank me later

Pls follow this guy's advice and they will all clear off. I also suffer the same thing, but whenever I use break oil as he advised, the skin infections always clear off.

Cool!

I am grateful to God for his loving kindness, his mercies upon me, his limitless grace and favour. Thanking him for divine provision and all round security.

I am grateful to you Lord.

From a learner. Will this code run?

Data subscription

Nice one. I wish more of this come up.

They are not serious. Nigeria and everything about it is completely confused.

It is becoming easier to go to heaven than to remain married to a Nigerian celebrity.

kamez:
Total balance in my 3 accounts should be just over 61 million naira...

Nairalanders abeg make una join hand pray for me ooooo...my only new year resolution for the past 4yrs is to find a wife and get married..every single year i end up failing to fulfil it...

This year is even worse because im ending the year without a girlfriend not to talk of wife...

One minute I'm all interested in a woman, and I start up a relationship, and the next minute, I loose interest and walk away

I tap into your grace

If Nigerians decide to allow a renown Pastor and a renown Imam to rule the country for 2 years each, what do you think will be their performance? What will be their individual priorities?

Sometimes, it is due to territorial ideology and economic determinism

I will change my name to Timothy so that I can take a little for the ailment sake.

Who knows if president Buhari is not even aware that coronavirus is existing.

["I am sure it is better for me stop talking about hate speech so that I don’t also engage in hate speech.”]
very ridiculous

Good afternoon fellow Nlanders. In the course of our daily studies and research, by one means or the other we have being seeing the phrases "success is a product of Hard work" and "success is a product of imagination". This is mostly seen when we read motivational books or listen to motivational speakers.
One will therefore believe that if success is a product of Hard work as one school of thought suggest, why not everyone who is aspiring to make it in life put more strength to the wheel instead of struggling to think of what will make life better. Or one may be tempted to ask, what would have happened if the great scientists and inventors of ages put aside their imaginative power and decided rather to work like every other person?
Coming to the other side of the coin, Albert Einstein says "success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration". This could demonstrate how most rich people we know work tirelessly to remain at the top.

My question now is, Is Success a product of Hard work or Imagination? Whichever side you support, please give us reason for it.

Why not we collect phone numbers and create a WhatsApp group about this.

Good evening fellow Nlanders. In the course of our daily studies and research, by one means or the other we have being seeing the phrases "success is a product of Hard work" and "success is a product of imagination". This is mostly seen when we read motivational books or listen to motivational speakers.
One will therefore believe that if success is a product of Hard work as one school of thought suggest, why not everyone who is aspiring to make it in life put more strength to the wheel instead of struggling to think of what will make life better. Or one may be tempted to ask, what would have happened if the great scientists and inventors of ages put aside their imaginative power and decided rather to work like every other person?
Coming to the other side of the coin, Albert Einstein says "success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration". This could demonstrate how most rich people we know work tirelessly to remain at the top.

My question now is, Is Success a product of Hard work or Imagination? Whichever side you support, please give us reason for it.

Minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has spoken on the recent attack on Senator Ike Ekweremadu in Germany, stating that he (Amaechi) is not afraid of traveling abroad.

The minister denounced the attack on Ekweremadu, stating that it was completely wrong

-Amaechi insisted that he’s not afraid of IPOB, adding that he’s going to Geneva and will be at any other function he’s scheduled to attend

The minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has spoken on the recent attack on Senator Ike Ekweremadu in Germany, stating that he (Amaechi) is not afraid of traveling abroad.

In a chat with Legit.ng street reporter, Damilare Okunola, the minister described the attack on the lawmaker as “completely wrong”.

He said: “It’s wrong for anyone to attack a federal or even state government official, it’s completely wrong. What crime did he (Ekweremadu) commit? Did he cause the economy to go bad?

“It’s a total disrespect. Some of this amounts to envy.”

In response to a question of if politicians are now scared of traveling abroad, Amaechi insisted that that was not the case.

He said: “What do you mean by that? Scared of who? I’m going to Geneva, let them come. You know there’s what they call self defense.”

The minister added: “Any place I have function to attend, I will.”


https://www.legit.ng/amp/1256384-ekweremadu-assault-im-scared-ipob-im-geneva---amaechi.html

Greetings to you all. I have tried to make some research on the pension structure of retired civil servants in Nigeria but could not achieve much result. I therefore resort to this platform hoping to get the right answers from the right people here. I wish to know how much do retiree earn per month as pension base on the grade they retired with. So, if you don't mind pls tell me/us the little you know about the pay of pensioners in Nigeria. Thank you.

The leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has ordered his members to attack President Muhammadu Buhari in Japan.

It was earlier reported that President Muhammadu Buhari will on Sunday depart Nigeria for Japan to participate in the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development.

In a statement made available on Friday, Kanu described Buhari as”an impostor, Jubril Al-Sudani,” who is masquerading as the late dictator Mubammadu Buhari.


http://dammylink.com/just-in-nnamdi-kanu-orders-attack-on-buhari-in-japan/?fbclid=IwAR1PDYkJWC1LJF8Nj1y0l9zDfH14gjYCoyMf_G_7rGG0NuFJ77ZNj2IxlyM