@texazzpete

You most be an olodo. Nigerian engineers are not competent, and what about that?? How many aircrafts have u designed and built in Nigeria? How many bridges and building have u designed and built without inviting foreigners or sending nigerians to go for training abroad?? Why can't we be independent??

Please stop parading yourself as an engineer because  Technicians in Europe, Japan, Korea and America are far better than you in engineering.

You are a glorified mechanic thats all.

bawomol:


i'm sorry, autoCAD is just one of the few 3d design softwares available, there's ProE, autodesk and a host of others. not that nigerians don't use it, but american engineers are usually more advanced due to their exposure to C++ and java programming from highschool(i barely saw computers in secondary school while in nigeria). i only learnt how to use matlab and linux in college. to get accredited as an engineer in the US, many engineerings have to take the PE and FE exams.

first of all, you don't even know that autodesk is not software, but a company that makes ahost of design applications, of which AutoCAD is the flagship product

secondly, i chose not to list all the engineering applications I'm  proficeient in( abi you think say i wan post my cv? )

you are also confuing 'programming' with computer litracy. aside from tweaking of some autocad lisp files, and a teensy weensy bit of visual basic, i'm a programming neophyte

as to your comments on resources avaialble to nigerians, you may have a point there - but thanks to warez forums and a good internet connection at work, I've surmounted that.

you also do not understand that there are several competing applications which essentially do the same thing inventor and solidworks are competing applications. there is nosense in learning both. similarly Autodesk Revit Architecure and Autodesk Architecture( formerly Architectural desktop) also do the same thing PDMS and COADE cadworx ( plant deign apps) essentially do the same thing. it is a waste of resources trying to learn ALL the software in the world. just learn what you need at the moment.

first of all, you don't even know that autodesk is not software, but a company that makes ahost of design applications, of which AutoCAD is the flagship product

first of all, i know autodesk is a company. AutoCAD isn't the flagship product anymore due to it's limited use for 3d design. autoCAD is more prevalent as an undergraduate tutoring class.

secondly, i chose not to list all the engineering applications I'm proficeient in( abi you think say i wan post my cv? Grin)

we are talking about the average nigerian engineer not an excellent one like u.


you are also confuing 'programming' with computer litracy. aside from tweaking of some autocad lisp files, and a teensy weensy bit of visual basic, i'm a programming neophyte

this is the thing i'm talking about, computer programming is becoming integrated into engineering. it's hard to perform numerical or stress analysis without minimal knowledge in MATLAB, MAPLE or whatever. engineers have to be technologically savvy with the new age of mechatronics and micro machining.

it is a waste of resources trying to learn ALL the software in the world. just learn what you need at the moment.

actually it's better if u have a BASIC knowledge of them and how they work. u never know what u need some day. again we are slamming u guys. but the educational system in nigeria has to catch up. not everyone has warez or torrents u know

You are a glorified mechanic thats all.

damn that's harsh.

ishmael:

@texazzpete

You most be an olodo. Nigerian engineers are not competent, and what about that?? How many aircrafts have u designed and built in Nigeria? How many bridges and building have u designed and built without inviting foreigners or sending nigerians to go for training abroad?? Why can't we be independent??

Please stop parading yourself as an engineer because  Technicians in Europe, Japan, Korea and America are far better than you in engineering.

You are a glorified mechanic thats all.

it would seem that you are in europe, which is why you know about this. i hope for your sake that you won't be one of those fools who will call baba mukaila to design your house.

is there an aircraft industry in nigeria?

go around VI and abuja, you will see the signboards detailing the local engineering firms supervising projects. obviously, you live in a village, which is why you are not aware of construction project going on everyday.

as to training abroad, what you obviously fail to understand is that engineering is a dynamic field. todays knowledge is obsolete tomorrow. as such, all comoanies that want to stay ahead send their engineers for training within or without the country. do you actually think that engineers in toyota america don't go to japan for training? or that nokia engineers in the us don't go to the netherlands? please stop making it clears that you know nothing about engineering and engineers beyond conversations in the beer parlour and from talking to 'brother sunday' roadside expert in 'drawing of cable '

bawomol:

i would also like to see the post where i said EVERY nigerian engineer is incompetent. people are getting to defensive here. we may be criticizing the work Nigerian engineers but we are not slamming them or calling them irrelevant.

If you do not see the generalization when you made this statement

if Nigerian engineers are that competent, why are they been sent to Denmark for technical training. are american engineers sent to Singapore for technical training.

Then i cannot help you.

bawomol:


first of all, you don't even know that autodesk is not software, but a company that makes ahost of design applications, of which AutoCAD is the flagship product

first of all, i know autodesk is a company. AutoCAD isn't the flagship product anymore due to it's limited use for 3d design. autoCAD is more prevalent as an undergraduate tutoring class.

secondly, i chose not to list all the engineering applications I'm proficeient in( abi you think say i wan post my cv? Grin)

we are talking about the average nigerian engineer not an excellent one like u.


you are also confuing 'programming' with computer litracy. aside from tweaking of some autocad lisp files, and a teensy weensy bit of visual basic, i'm a programming neophyte

this is the thing i'm talking about, computer programming is becoming integrated into engineering. it's hard to perform numerical or stress analysis without minimal knowledge in MATLAB, MAPLE or whatever. engineers have to be technologically savvy with the new age of mechatronics and micro machining.

it is a waste of resources trying to learn ALL the software in the world. just learn what you need at the moment.

actually it's better if u have a BASIC knowledge of them and how they work. u never know what u need some day. again we are slamming u guys. but the educational system in nigeria has to catch up. not everyone has warez or torrents u know

again, you are displaying your ignorance. from autocad 2007 up, AutoCAD is fully 3D integrated. they had to do it, google sketchup was becoming way too popular. as it is, i do any of my 3D in sketchup. i'm using autocad 2008, but i haven't really had time to go 3D with it.

as to warez/torrents - seek and you shall find. Like everyone else, i started from pc village. then i moved on to downloading apps, and hitting crack websites. now i'm onto warez forums.

as to your comments on the average nigerian engineer - how many engineers do you know personally? or are you, like ishmael speaking from a third person perspective?

BTW, i have never gone for any out of country training. everything i know, i learnt here.

well sorry if my post was not clear enough. i should have added the "some" prefix. i never meant ALL of them. now can we avoid the insults and get back to the topic.

I couldn't help contributing to this never-ending story since the same has been posted many decades ago ,though not in this forum.

Are Nigerian engineers incompetent ?
Yes. Given the demands that many of our modern projects place on good engineers these days, most Nigeria-based (please compare to "Nigerian" do not have the EXPERIENCE and SKILLS necessary to cope. For this reason alone they may be regarded as INCOMPETENT and may need to proceed to where they may learn the necessary skills (ABROAD)

Speaking as an engineer, when I got to the UK some years back I felt so INCOMPETENT because things were done differently everywhere, even though I was considered quite brilliant back home. However I invested time in developing new skills ,and by the time I left the UK most of my foreign peers at work looked absolutely incompetent compared to myself.

This problem has nothing to do with engineers. It has lot more to do with our educational system and government policy on continuing education for engineers and technologists and the quality of our society in general. I visited the University of Lagos bookshop quite recently and could not find a single useable book in engineering and computer sciences. They seemed to still stock the same books that they did a couple of decades ago while I was still a student there. I am still to find any useable technical bookshop in Lagos till today.

Yes most Nigerian engineers lack any competence that is more than they learnt in the out-of-date educational system. It is not their fault though. Blame the government, blame the lazy lecturers, blame the unprogressive bureaucracies (NSE, COREN , Computer Association of Nigeria, ITAN, etc, ). If I was president of Nigeria for a single day I know what I will dismantle.

You people are facing the engineers, what about doctors,lawyers etc, the problem is all over third world nations,even in G8 nations they still have those that perform below average.exposure in the field matters.

ishmael:

@texazzpete

You most be an olodo. Nigerian engineers are not competent, and what about that?? How many aircrafts have u designed and built in Nigeria? How many bridges and building have u designed and built without inviting foreigners or sending nigerians to go for training abroad?? Why can't we be independent??

Please stop parading yourself as an engineer because  Technicians in Europe, Japan, Korea and America are far better than you in engineering.

You are a glorified mechanic thats all.

You pathetic troll. I'm a Reservoir Engineer. That means i'm a Petroleum Engineer. I do my job and i do it well. As a petroleum Engineer neither myself or my counterparts around the world will ever be called to build aircraft or bridges.
I sincerely doubt that all technicians in Korea are better than myself in Reservoir Engineering  .

You, however, strike me as an embittered technician. YOU will NEVER be an engineer, hence your campaign to run all of us down. I have called you out on your stupid generalization, and you have failed to provide any meaningful answer.

Enough. I have wasted enough time on you.

You, sir, are an idiot.

and that's not an insult. It's a fact.

again, you are displaying your ignorance. from autocad 2007 up, AutoCAD is fully 3D integrated. they had to do it, google sketchup was becoming way too popular. as it is, i do any of my 3D in sketchup. i'm using autocad 2008, but i haven't really had time to go 3D with it.

i would say Pro-E is a better 3d sofware than AutoCAD which i find primitive. but let's agree to disagree. one question though, do u think most nigerian engineers have access to such softwares. Yes or no.


as to warez/torrents - seek and you shall find. Like everyone else, i started from pc village. then i moved on to downloading apps, and hitting crack websites. now i'm onto warez forums.

warez and torrents are illegal and punishable by law by the way(i do use them though). why do u think it's hard for nigerian engineers or universities to get proper licenses to use these softwares


as to your comments on the average nigerian engineer - how many engineers do you know personally? or are you, like ishmael speaking from a third person perspective?

i know a few but not enough to say they are all incompetent. ishmael and I have different arguments lol.


BTW, i have never gone for any out of country training. everything i know, i learnt here.

great for u, but why do u think foreign expatriates are given more leverage than Nigerian trained engineers.

Technicians fix and repair. The problem we have in Nigeria you and other Engineers have not designed anything for Nigeria. Most of you do fixing and repairs which is the duty of Technicians.

this is where i disagree a bit with ishmael. i doubt it's technicians that perform the repair of space shutters. it's engineers that usually perform the inspection and supervision of those.

you are supposed to be comparing Pro E with inventor , not with autocad

as to why expatriates are favored over nigerians - who runs the companies? westerners are just as guilty of nepotism , tribalism and all those other isms as nigerians.

thats why, in a company run by foreigners, you have foreigners being given preferential treatment ( shebi my former employer worked with MTN on facilities? their M & E guys - the ones we , and by extension their subordinates(engineers) anwered to - were technicians. we often found ourselves showing them the ropes.

dont be

i did my NYSC in tower aluminum ota. 90% of the indian ogas were from technical school. the general manager made a big boo boo just before i left- he supervised the procurment of gas generators for the site, but he didn't calculate the site's load - so the generator couldn't carry the factory. . .


as to warez, i will say it like it is. . .until clients are ready to pay nigerian firms what they pay abroad( as in billable hours, etc) warez are the way to go. a single user license of autocad costs $5000 in the us. in nigeria, it will cost much more, if i had my own company, and i chose to  pay for all these legally, with the money clients ( all clients including chevron, ntn, adenuga, etal )pay over here - i'd o bankrupt in less than a year

as to access, like i said, seek and you shall find. the problem may simply be that for too many nigerians, the internet is about entertainement -  i usually see the internet as a resouce

by the way , thanks for the compliment ( excellent engineer  )

The topic shuld read Nigeria trained engineers are not competent?
Our incompetence should be an embarassment to the Nation and anyone who blames the Nigerian engineer for his imcompetence might as well be a fool. Take a look at the hell we pass through called universities, the best of them have funding that is nothing compared to foreign universities but the Nigerian engineer is trying to make do with what he has that does not stop them being incompetent.
On the issue of software, even the white man uses warez and cracks and I think many of these softwares have open source alternative although not as good as the commercial ones.

Nigerian Engineers, are competent, It is just bad govt. Pick up any university program in the USA or Canada and you would discovery that what they have in their master program in Engineering have already been covered in the first degree in Nigeria. Engineering in the USA or Canada is just 4 years, some even 3 years. in nigeria it is 5 or 6 years now.

So master degree in the USA or Canada is the equivalent of a first degree in Nigeria. But we have a govt who does not believe in themself , how can they believe in their engineers. Even in the niger delta, you don't find white working there  in engineering, it is nigerian that do the engineering work.  they just manage the business for oil firm.

Go to any USA or Canada universities website and look at the program they offer and compare the course what time it was done in Nigeria. Check the master program and check first degree program in Nigeria. You would see what i mean.
Another thing is most people just do it not because the want too.  The problem is that the govt of Nigeria lack confident in Nigeria Engineers., NIGERIA GOVT BELIEVE ANYTHING WHITE IS BETTER.

How can they be competent with all the outdated things they teach them in Nigeria universities?? they are Trying sha, but we cannot say they are competent except those that studied abroad or those who have worked abroad before.

Engineering in the USA or Canada is just 4 years, some even 3 years. in nigeria it is 5 or 6 years now.

yeah right, where did u get ur engineering degree from in 3years, devry university??


So master degree in the USA or Canada is the equivalent of a first degree in Nigeria

what, read what u just typed again.

bawomol,
You are such a nice guy. Please I dig you.

We have a problem in Nigeria.

We do not lack the brain, but we lack the adequate environment.

Please oil Engineers, make una no vex. He is stating the fact here.
We produce some of the best brains who if they are exposed to the same environment as it is abroad, walahi. . . .
But our elders are greedy

bawomol (m), name one USA or Canadian university engineering program with a 5 years program,  Just name the university. I know University of michigan , university of toronto , even harvard are just 4 years program.
What is outdated with laplace transformation or circuit thoery,  or DSP . it is the same all over the world. either in Russia, China or anywhere. Look the educational system in the USA and canada is below international standard , that why chinese student do well in USA or Canada school, simple because they are retaken this courses all over again. So they come out looking smart.  

They have taken this courses in a low grade,  not that chinese are smart?? NO, they just redo the courses because they have a better educational system.

THIS IS A VERY DIFFRENT TOPIC.
GTBANKS INDUSTRIAL TRAINEES IN ONITSHA 2
CAN U BELIEVE, AN IT ONYINYEs PHONE WAS SEIZED FOR 3days BY 4 EYED MONSTER [/color][font=Lucida Sans Unicode][/font]ADEYEMI ADEYEMO,[color=Black]THE CIS OFFICER.[/color] AS I WRITE NPW THE POOR GIRL IS SICK IN THE HOSPITAL WITHOUT AN INCH TO CONTACT HER PEOPLE AND THE MONSTER[color=#990000] ADEYESOMETHING IN A BAR DOWNING GULDER WITH THE POOR GIRLS PHONE IN HER BAG.[color=#770077] TAYO MUST HEAR THIS.

am just coming accross this post and meeeeeen, am almost dead with laughter!!!
ishmael and all the others who believe that nigerian engineers are not competent might have a basis for their opinion but that doesnt mean they are correct. Do you know that no engineer can never, ever design a bridge or any other specialised structure ouside his area without the input of local engineers? yeah, simply because local requirements for behaviour of materials under different conditions vary, that is why we have the nigerian code of practice, british code of practice, american code of practice canadian codes etc, fine, nigerian engineers might be disadvatanged due to the paucity of cutting edge technology in this country but i stand to challenge anybody here to name an engineering software or engineering principle that is not being utilised in nigeria!!!
Maybe you have not heard of people like Engr. E.I.I. Etteh who wrote the current bridge code being used all over the world, his office is in Ibadan! or Engr Shola Sanni who led the Engineering team for the steel design of the Olympic stadium in china and the Redeemed Christian Church Auditorium, his office is in lagos!!!
I have practiced engineering in Lagos and the US and i know that while nigerian engineers are disadvantaged they are by no means incompetent. i believe the basic question then is "why are expatriates being used in the engineering industry" well my answer is:- CORRUPTION!!! how many engineering consulting firms, (not construction companies o!) i mean consulting firms where engineering is really being practiced have expatriates as their top engineers, name two and i will forever keep my mouth shut!!! the construction companies that employ technicians and call them engineers do that so they can 1. repatriate their profit abroad and 2. they can claim tax excepmtions. You would ask, why are foreign construction firms there in the first place, well be informed that the kind of capital needed to set up a first rate engineering construction (not consulting mind you) company in nigeria is simply too much and no nigerian bank can finance such, that is why the foreigners with the money to acquire the equipment are moving in, but then anybody can own/work in a construction company, all you need is a good foreman but you need to be an engineer before you can work in a consulting firm and that is why i say that the level of competency of nigerian engineers can only be judged by the output of the engineering consulting firms in nigeria and not by the preformance of the construction companies.
Somebody asked if american or british engineers go to other countries for training, well the answer is yes!!! they do, the strand 7 training module in south africa in november was well attended by engineers globally, also the update course on EII Bridge code in makurdi had over180 engineers from over 50 countries in attendance!!!

are you minding them?

beer parlour experts on the state of engineering in nigeria;
the sort of nigerians who will venerate technicians who learn everything by rote and call them 'engineer'

penfold  you spoke well. Only white people can give bribe in dollar that why we use them in Nigeria. Nigeria engineering firm can only given bribe in Naira.

If you have listen to george bush, then you know what confident is. He tell you everytime you listen to him that american are better than anyone in the world. And this is where God is. That should tell you GEORGE Bush  have confident in American. Do nigeria leaders have confident in Nigerian. I do not think so. that why we have problem in NIGERIA.

When I just came here, one of my school mate worked for the Russia space agency. He had a red star. what every that means  from UNIVERSITY OF LENINGRAD. .
This man was smart. they gave him problem too. he went back to russia. HE was involve in the design of one russia space system. he use to show me picture,

When nigeria becomes good all sectors will benefit from it.No need to argue on this thread

@texazzpete

How many of those oil reserviors did you design?? You did no engineering job there but fixing and probably repairs and maintenance. the design and develoment was done by the whites.

You are a glorified mechanic doing fixing and repairs.

I can't believe this!!!!!
I am surprised that even people who call themselves engineers can not define engineer. So many people in this posts, by their statements, are not even qualified to be called graduates.
The problem with Nigerians is that we only see only the text book(Theoretical) definition of things and completely forget the practical (concrete) definition.
Before I go into who is an engineer and whether our engineers are competent, I have to clarify issues.
There are two types of education:
1. Formal(Going to school)
2. Informal education. (Education gotten by experience)
Both of them are valid forms of education and in civilized countries like America, both are equally important. In Nigeria, unfortunately we disregard and discredit Informal education as useless.
One who went to university (formal education) and acquired a degree in an engineering course is only a formal engineer, a chartered engineer, or an incorporated engineer.
One who builds, repairers and invents or works on an engine is also an engineer, even if he/she did not have formal education.
Each side is as important as the other. In America nothing replaces "hands on" experience. Thats why people work and go to school at the same time in-order to acquire both formal and informal education.
I live in America and I go to a very respected engineering school. I'm also working in a company.

The American Engineer's Council for Professional Development defines an Engineering as:
"The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property."[3][4][5] One who practices engineering is called an engineer, and those licensed to do so have formal designations such as Professional Engineer, Chartered Engineer or Incorporated Engineer.
(Wekipedia)


The webstar English dictionary defines an Engineer as:
1. a person trained and skilled in the design, construction, and use of engines or machines, or in any of various branches of engineering: a mechanical engineer; a civil engineer.
2. a person who operates or is in charge of an engine.
3. Also called locomotive engineer. Railroads. a person who operates or is in charge of a locomotive.
4. a member of an army, navy, or air force specially trained in engineering work.
5. a skillful manager: a political engineer.
–verb (used with object)
6. to plan, construct, or manage as an engineer: He's engineered several big industrial projects.
7. to design or create using the techniques or methods of engineering: The motor has been engineered to run noiselessly.
8. to arrange, manage, or carry through by skillful or artful contrivance: He certainly engineered the election campaign beautifully.

Coming to who is a technician.
A technician is anybody trained(either formally or informally) in the application of any subject,  and applies the techniques of his skill in his job.
Therefore enengineers are also technicians. Technicians are not lilimited to construction and manufacturing, an artist can be a technician too. For example a person with a degree in banking and finance and works in this field could be called a finance technician|_
The webstar didictionaryefines a technician as:
1. a person who is trained or skilled in the technicalities of a subject.
2. a person who is skilled in the technique of an art, as music or painting.


About wheather Nigerian engineers are competent. Please seek the definition of competence. I wont wast time here all I can say is that ishmael is making a lot of sense. I agree with Ishmeal.

So what are you saying, that nigeria engineers do not know how to design. That is nosense. They never even get a chance to do that most of the time because our govt officer are busy collecting bribe in dollar from this oversea company. Even Rat construction company abroad are big company in NIGERIA.
I had classmate in NIGERIA then who design some thing i can remember. any fool can design my friend. what makes any engineer is that certificate. B ENG or B SC in engineering. You may decided to put the certificate under your bed or throw it into sea. Your B Eng is what qualifies you.

So if nurse can give you a medication note to buy. She is now a doctor>> No way. It is certificate,  that make you a doctor. You may be a good doctor or a bad one,  so is engineering. You may say Nigeria engineers are business men  and they do not have time for engineering. i agree.

nigeria1:

So what are you saying, that nigeria engineers do not know how to design. That is nosense. They never even get a chance to do that most of the time because our govt officer are busy collecting bribe in dollar from this oversea company. Even Rat construction company abroad are big company in NIGERIA.
I had classmate in NIGERIA then who design some thing i can remember. any fool can design my friend. what makes any engineer is that certificate. B ENG or B SC in engineering. You may decided to put the certificate under your bed or throw it into sea. Your B Eng is what qualifies you.

So if nurse can give you a medication note to buy. She is now a doctor>> No way. It is certificate, that make you a doctor. You may be a good doctor or a bad one, so is engineering. You may say Nigeria engineers are business men and they do not have time for engineering. i agree.

Ha ha ha. So funny. I dont need to reply to this. You did not understand my post.

Actually I wont say that all Nigerian Engineers are incompetent. Our informal engineers (the so called mechanics) are not just good but some of them are geniuses. Some of our local mechanics are excellent engineers.
You may not agree with me that they are engineers but in Nigeria I have seen people who have degree's in electrical engineering paying local electricians to wire their houses. Now tell me, in who is an electrical engineer? The one with a degree but can't wire his house or the one that actually does it albeit without a degree.

This is the reason why Nigeria does not grow technologically; even if you are a genius with all the experiences in the world and even if you invent a marvelous thing, nobody will respect you or consider your project for financing if you don't have a degree.

If you read about the history of scientific discoveries you will see that some of the greatest inventors in science and engineering do not have formal education.

Wow, what an interesting thread. i'd lend most of my support to the fact that we have very competent nigerian engineers, right here, bearing in mind all they've had to go through to develop themselves. people like ishmael have their points, however, they tend to have a myopic outlook to issues like this.

Before declaring nigerian engineers incompetent vis-a-vis their foreign counterparts, you'd have to look at hte varying condition under which both are produced.

Before you even draw a conclusion, ask yourself if someone else would turn out the way you want them too if subjected to the varying conditions; economic, educational (strikes, alutas, corruption, etc).

My own little advice would be for us to look for a way forward, a series of solutions to the engineeering dilemma as it were, because whether we like it or not, ishmael had raised some very salient issue(even if his presentation was wrong)

I know that if nigerian engineers are given the same opportunities as their couterparts abroad, we'd surpass them 10 out of 10. so please just try and make as little a contribution that you can, the established engineers should also help, support the undergrad engineers, encourage us, it really is not easy, with the ever increasing benchmarks that we have to subject ourselves to.

A lot of work needs to be done, so instead of trading unecessary banters, lets brainstorm on how to make the future brighter. if we all contribute, we'll get to eldorado soon

check stats when nigerian engineers go abroad they always trounce their counterparts from elsewhere.

@kayzed
Liar, you are a very big liar, What stats are you talking about

@nigeria1
Are you incredibly crazy or is there something wrong with you? You obviously have not come to college here in the US which makes you very extremely ignorant so just shut up.

To all of you who say that Nigerian engineers are competent, ARE YOU FREAKING HIGH       or are you just plain stupid. Here in yanki universities, i see a few nigerians who transfer or come to study here and they say that all they've learned in naija is absolutely rubbish and useless. All you ignorant Nigerians who say that university in yanki is easier than naija universities are obviously very very ignorant, you guys don't have the slightest clue what you are talking about. When you come here you will find out that everything you learnt in naija is void and irrelevant. Nigerian universities are incredibly INCREDIBLY incompetent, and so are the teachers, the engineers or whatever majors you study in naija. I learnt so much in one semester here in yanki than i ever did throughout my stay in naija and you wonder why our people know absolutely nothing.

Solution
As an optimist, i don't like to sound all negative but its not too late to cure our ills.
Firstly, We should merge all ministries into 9 instead of having almost 19 different ministries. So as to conserve money to spend on education. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Ministries_of_Nigeria Can someone please explain to me what we need the ministry of women affairs and the ministry of youth affairs for? They just want to use it to embezzle money like miriam babangida did with Better life for women but that's another story for another time.

Most importantly, Nigeria should convert to a parliamentary system of govt rather than an American style of democracy where you have 36 states. All 36 states should be dissolved into just 5 regions (e.g Western, South etc) so as to save enough money to spend on the educational infrastructure. We should dissolve the 36 states and merge them into just 5 regions so that there would be enough money to spend on education especially our universities. Nigeria is spending 40% of its GNP paying the Federal govts including the President and his cabinet, the branches of govt: the senate, the house of representative, the judiciary, the federal ministries, their state subsidiaries and the thousands and thousands of civil servants that work for them. Then you have the state governors, the deputies, their cabinets, the state senate and house of reps, the local govt chairmen and women, the perm. sec. and so on and so forth, and this guys are paid very well.  This is billions and billions of dollars that could be poured into our universities or be used to sponsor our students to the MIT's, Stanford's, Caltech's, Oxford's, Berkeley's, heck even IIT (Indian institute of technology).