Despite the fact that we keep launching one university after another, the quality of Lecturers and Graduates seems to be on the decrease. Where are people taught about patience, humility, kindness, good manners, diligence and other important things in life.

We make lawyers for a lawless country, Doctors on the increase with hospitals on the decrease, Engineers on the increase with Industries declining, Police staff stagnant with thieves on the increase.

Are we making the best out of these universities

There are many universities and graduates because everyone believes they have to go to school. (The quality of graduates is a whole nother issue)
We believe we have to go to school because the blue collar jobs do not have any so called prestige attached to it.

We actually need a major paradigm shift in Nigeria. From the government to the citizens and when we begin to look at artisanship with an educated eye the situation might just reverse itself.

tollu:

There are many universities and graduates because everyone believes they have to go to school. (The quality of graduates is a whole nother issue)
We believe we have to go to school because the blue collar jobs do not have any so called prestige attached to it.

We actually need a major paradigm shift in Nigeria. From the government to the citizens and when we begin to look at artisanship with an educated eye the situation might just reverse itself.

I differ on the issue. I don't think the issue is the number of graduates really, or even prestige,  but the number of jobs created by the government.
In the developed countries, governments are measured by the number of jobs they create, especially nowadays during this recession period. Whether white, blue, red, or yellow collar, how many jobs have been created in Nigeria by governments over the last 20 years? In fact, apart from the OBJ regime that created telecom jobs, nothing has basically happened. Thanks to telecom, now we have so many call center jobs that graduates are happily doing. We also have so many graduates that are employed as agents of telecom dealers, SIM registration officers, and even payphone call shop operators. How many other jobs in any other sector did government create?

As per the quality of Nigerian graduates  . . . yes, the quality is abysmally low. But this is due to the total neglect of that sector by government more than anything else. After all, the graduates aren't meant to educate themselves. You have departments in universities staffed by only graduate assistants, in some case, none at all.

I think the desire of Nigerian youths to get an education or skill is largely responsible for our literacy level of 68% (that's the rating assigned to us by UNDP and all the other agencies). India with all their so-called hi-tech is at 52%. Left to the activities of successive Nigerian governments, maybe that would have been at 20%. That many people go to school is a credit to us as a nation. Else we may have all been bandits, militants, and sea pirates like the Somalis.

I don't think there is any need for any paradigm shift. People we voted into power should just do their gaddem jobs (excuse my French, it's just my exasperation!) and stop focusing on stealing 100%. Imagine if Fashola in Lagos actually built all his toll highways, free trade zones, railways, and airports in the next 4 years. Imagine how many jobs would be created! And that's just Lagos. The government at the centre have the power to do 20 times whatever Fashola does in Lagos. If only they could just get the power sector reform on track, rather than puss.yfooting around. Or even award the so-called Lagos-Ibadan railway contract. Just imagine how many jobs they could create!

AjanleKoko:

I differ on the issue. I don't think the issue is the number of graduates really, or even prestige,  but the number of jobs created by the government.
In the developed countries, governments are measured by the number of jobs they create, especially nowadays during this recession period. Whether white, blue, red, or yellow collar, how many jobs have been created in Nigeria by governments over the last 20 years? In fact, apart from the OBJ regime that created telecom jobs, nothing has basically happened. Thanks to telecom, now we have so many call center jobs that graduates are happily doing. We also have so many graduates that are employed as agents of telecom dealers, SIM registration officers, and even payphone call shop operators. How many other jobs in any other sector did government create?

As per the quality of Nigerian graduates  . . . yes, the quality is abysmally low. But this is due to the total neglect of that sector by government more than anything else. After all, the graduates aren't meant to educate themselves. You have departments in universities staffed by only graduate assistants, in some case, none at all.

I think the desire of Nigerian youths to get an education or skill is largely responsible for our literacy level of 68% (that's the rating assigned to us by UNDP and all the other agencies). India with all their so-called hi-tech is at 52%. Left to the activities of successive Nigerian governments, maybe that would have been at 20%. That many people go to school is a credit to us as a nation. Else we may have all been bandits, militants, and sea pirates like the Somalis.

I don't think there is any need for any paradigm shift. People we voted into power should just do their gaddem jobs (excuse my French, it's just my exasperation!) and stop focusing on stealing 100%. Imagine if Fashola in Lagos actually built all his toll highways, free trade zones, railways, and airports in the next 4 years. Imagine how many jobs would be created! And that's just Lagos. The government at the centre have the power to do 20 times whatever Fashola does in Lagos. If only they could just get the power sector reform on track, rather than puss.yfooting around. Or even award the so-called Lagos-Ibadan railway contract. Just imagine how many jobs they could create!

Thank you. I agree 100%. Our graduates have done nothing wrong.

Imagine x10 of Fashola.

I don't know why we can't do simple things right.

Unfortunately though, the government of the day doesn't care.
I agree that if they did their jobs and actually created jobs, things wouldn't be this way but the Nigerian government is unresponsive to the plight of the people. Especially when we the Nigerian people see aspirants who are wrong for the job and still vote them in.
Anytime I travel by road and see all that land just between Lagos and Ibadan, i'm amazed. Just agriculture, if harnessed right, is enough to set us on the right part.

How has the 68% literacy level you mentioned improved the lot of Nigerians? I can't remember who, but someone on NL said Nigerians are followers and not innovators. I agree.
One would think all the level of education would have translated into great things.

My own sha is we see university education as compulsory because there are no other avenues to spend our time, talent and make money at the same time. Be it via 9 - 5 jobs or artisanship, those things are just not readily available.
So education is just something to occupy ourselves with while we wait for things to fall into place.

After all is said and done, we are saying the same thing Ajanlekoko.

tollu:

How has the 68% literacy level you mentioned improved the lot of Nigerians? I can't remember who, but someone on NL said Nigerians are followers and not innovators. I agree.
One would think all the level of education would have translated into great things.

My dear, we're not saying the same thing o. Thank God you went to school. What would you even be now if you stayed at home and did nothing? at least now you even have aspirations. If there was no school, you'd probably be living one kind of village existence, going nowhere and expecting nothing from life. I would probably have been some sort of area boy.

I wish i could take you on one of my trips around Africa. Maybe one of these days, we could just take a drive to Togo, if you get time.
Then and then, you'll thank God for being a Nigerian. At least Nigerians are able to come up with indigenous industries. Apart from Ecobank, nothing else is going on anywhere. I went to Ougadougou once, and had to first fly to Paris to get there. At least now, Air Nigeria and Arik are flying there, airlines that we all say are badly run. But at least they are functioning. Where is Air Afrique today?

Was in Kumasi a while back, and the likes of Oando and Sahara energy are already there to take advantage of the new oil boom. Nigerians are innovators. Where did GT and all those our banks come from? Stanbic and other foreign-owned banks are struggling to compete in our market. At least in the private sector, things are happening. Na government no dey do jack

I'll tell all Nigerian youth: Don't sit at home, go to school. It's better than staying at home and doing nothing.

Of course one shouldn't sit at home nah. Just maybe if I hadn't gone to school, I might have been a successful farmer. With the land wey my family get.
Maybe I feel we are saying the same thing cos I see your point tho not completely. Abeg me I nor mind to travel round Africa o so any trip that comes up where an extra tire is welcome *cough cough*.

Nigerians are enterprising yes, but is the 68% level of education actually commensurate with our level of innovation. Those things that have been read, how does it affect us generally? How many Nigerians have created apps or better still, new technologies? How many Nigerian doctors have come up with something new in their field?
Maybe I don't know much, but how many patents do Nigerians have in the world?

Then again could it be that Nigeria cannot be compared to countries like Togo that you mentioned earlier just because of the sheer size of our population?
I don't have the actual population figures in my head now but for the sake of argument let's say there are 1000 Nigerians to every 100 togolese. This means chance are high that there'd be 1 entrepreneurial Togolese to every 10 we have.

Lol, after all this typing sef I feel like I've gone off point. Using my phone so my thoughts aren't being translated into written words fast enough.

tollu:

Just maybe if I hadn't gone to school, I might have been a successful farmer.

Are you sure?

An example, please.

Great post.

My angle is this: are the universities developing courses/programs that match the current reality?
In the developed world, higher institutions consult and consort with industry, and the economy in general, to design
programs that match current and future needs.

I was shocked to see a new "university of technology" offering accounting/business admin courses as one
of the first programs.

Nigeria is lacking in so many areas, and to the best of my knowledge no new courses have been designed to address these- power, tourism, enterpreneurship, int'l business etc. That's why new graduates are simply clueless, and employers keep hollering that they are unemployable. Its amazing that after more than 50 years
post-oil discovery, no local university runs a reputable oil&gas program, except the PTI. I stand to be corrected on this, though.

I'm a big advocate for the increase in tuition fees. Our public universities are simply starved of funds.
There is a whole lot more to running universities than paying lecturers' salaries.

I found it most amusing that UK univesities would flood our newspapers and billboards with ad.s, and you
could hardly find basic information about any Nigerian graduate and post-grad program online.


I'm a big fan of Ajanlekoko, but I'd have to disagree with his Burkina Faso analogy.
There is simply no basis for that comparison.

Laajman:

Great post.

My angle is this: are the universities developing courses/programs that match the current reality?
In the developed world, higher institutions consult and consort with industry, and the economy in general, to design
programs that match current and future needs.

I was shocked to see a new "university of technology" offering accounting/business admin courses as one
of the first programs.

Nigeria is lacking in so many areas, and to the best of my knowledge no new courses have been designed to address these- power, tourism, enterpreneurship, int'l business etc. That's why new graduates are simply clueless, and employers keep hollering that they are unemployable. Its amazing that after more than 50 years
post-oil discovery, no local university runs a reputable oil&gas program, except the PTI. I stand to be corrected on this, though.

I'm a big advocate for the increase in tuition fees. Our public universities are simply starved of funds.
There is a whole lot more to running universities than paying lecturers' salaries.

I found it most amusing that UK univesities would flood our newspapers and billboards with ad.s, and you
could hardly find basic information about any Nigerian graduate and post-grad program online.


I'm a big fan of Ajanlekoko, but I'd have to disagree with his Burkina Faso analogy.
There is simply no basis for that comparison.

Okay, where do i start from?
First off, all the problems you are highlighting are as a result of government interference in university education.
Even before I entered a university, ASUU has been striking, asking government to implement the recommendations in the Gray Longe commission report/white paper on Nigerian universities. This commission did their investigations in the early 70s. There are many other such panels what were set up by various Nigerian governments; they all chime the same song: Increased funding, academic freedom, autonomy of the university system. How many times have governments ignored all these reports, and kept on treating the university system like the nation's sporting bodies. Essentially an avenue to reward political jobseekers.
The fact that university education is outdated and poorly executed in Nigeria is the fault of the government, and not the students.

Secondly, University of Ibadan petroleum engineering program is supported with grants by Schlumberger in Nigeria. Sola Oyinlola, current MD of Schlumberger in Nigeria, is a UI alumnus. There are also programs in UNIBEN, UNIPORT, and FUTO. Other universities have chemical engineering as a program.
PTI was set up to address all levels of manpower in that sector, particularly to support the indigenous communities of the oil-producing areas. So there is no shortage of skilled hands, just a shortage of employment opportunities. We all hope the much-vaunted PIB will create new opportunities in this sector.

I'll even say a word about the telecom sector and electrical engineering products in Nigeria. When the telecoms deregulation started, engineers came from everywhere to work in Nigeria. Today, Nigeria is exporting telecom engineers all over Africa, even to Europe and the US. I have a former colleague who's currently involved with the LTE rollout with AT&T and Ericsson across many US states. He went to school exclusively in Nigeria, and cut his teeth in our local telecom industry. He was hired out of Nigeria.

What about aviation? For a very long time, Nigeria boasted the only aviation training school in Sub-Saharan Africa, the NCAT. Even that has gone to the dogs now, with government refusing to buy aircraft, such that pilots are not able to graduate, and nowadays people head to South Africa for aviation training. Should the ignoramuses in government not have privatized aviation education all this while, rather than clinging to a school that, even though people are willing to pay to attend and train, they are unwilling to fund? Nigerian pilots and engineers dominate airlines in Africa, and many fly in grade A airlines all over the world.

In summary, my take is this: Nigerian youths want to learn, and are willing to pay the price. However, the environment is providing nothing, by way of quality of education as well as job opportunities. For those who think people should look at artisanship, well, it's a welcome point of view, but people are not inhibited from doing this by going to university. I know an economics grad who is now a major building contractor, with businesses in the UK and Nigeria.

And what I am saying is this: As a Nigerian youth, don't lose hope, still try and go to school and do the best you can. There's plenty of opportunity in the wide world for you to catch up. And the problem isn't peculiar to Nigeria. More than 20 million American college graduates are currently underemployed or unemployed. That's a shocking number for a country where people pay tens of thousands of USD per session to go to school. There is still hope, guys.

P.S. Burkina Faso? I used that as an example of the typical West African nation controlled by France. Not much by way of tertiary education, indigenous tertiary education in fact. And the rest is, from what i have observed, very very low local entrepreneurship. Their economy is heavily controlled by France, no local companies, only Ecobank (which isn't theirs by the way), and tons of youth not doing anything meaningful. I would rather be a Nigerian than be a Burkinabe, anytime.

AjanleKoko you made a good point about engineers in the telecoms indusry

Imigine what would have happend to all the fine enginers in the telecoms industry if it was not deregulated.

The same thing happens in all the other sectors.

Education alone is not enough. Having solid experience solving complex problems stimulates creativity.

For example an engineering grad is not going to be a creative engineer if all your experience is in building 3 story buildings

AjanleKoko:

I differ on the issue. I don't think the issue is the number of graduates really, or even prestige,  but the number of jobs created by the government.
In the developed countries, governments are measured by the number of jobs they create, especially nowadays during this recession period. Whether white, blue, red, or yellow collar, how many jobs have been created in Nigeria by governments over the last 20 years? In fact, apart from the OBJ regime that created telecom jobs, nothing has basically happened. Thanks to telecom, now we have so many call center jobs that graduates are happily doing. We also have so many graduates that are employed as agents of telecom dealers, SIM registration officers, and even payphone call shop operators. How many other jobs in any other sector did government create?

As per the quality of Nigerian graduates  . . . yes, the quality is abysmally low. But this is due to the total neglect of that sector by government more than anything else. After all, the graduates aren't meant to educate themselves. You have departments in universities staffed by only graduate assistants, in some case, none at all.

I think the desire of Nigerian youths to get an education or skill is largely responsible for our literacy level of 68% (that's the rating assigned to us by UNDP and all the other agencies). India with all their so-called hi-tech is at 52%. Left to the activities of successive Nigerian governments, maybe that would have been at 20%. That many people go to school is a credit to us as a nation. Else we may have all been bandits, militants, and sea pirates like the Somalis.

I don't think there is any need for any paradigm shift. People we voted into power should just do their gaddem jobs (excuse my French, it's just my exasperation!) and stop focusing on stealing 100%. Imagine if Fashola in Lagos actually built all his toll highways, free trade zones, railways, and airports in the next 4 years. Imagine how many jobs would be created! And that's just Lagos. The government at the centre have the power to do 20 times whatever Fashola does in Lagos. If only they could just get the power sector reform on track, rather than puss.yfooting around. Or even award the so-called Lagos-Ibadan railway contract. Just imagine how many jobs they could create!

I beg to differ sir! The Obj regime created much more than telecom jobs. A lot of jobs were created in the finance, investments and securities sectors before the Sanusi gale swept them away! Between 1999 and 2007, a total of 37 private universities sprang up in Nigeria. That is a result of the liberalization of the university space by the Obasanjo regime. Dangote alone added more employees than any other employer of labor in Nigeria after the FG. Those are the result of Obj's backward integration policies. The banning of so many hitherto imported goods into Nigeria triggered massive investments in SMEs in Nigeria. A lot of Chinese and other Asian exporters of goods to Nigeria were forced to set up shop in SME factories in Nigeria. A total of 39 government firms were privatized and many of them were brought back to life. New entrants entered the airline industry after 2005 restructuring of NCAA due to series of air crashes. Do you realize how many hotels sprang up under Obasanjo's eight years? A lot of multinationals like British American tobacco, Indorama, KFC also came to nigeria. Do you know that there are Canadian and Australian mining companies in Nigeria prospecting for solid minerals? You wont hear much from them yet until they strike and begin commercial exploitation. That is a result of OBJ regime passing the Minerals and Mining Act of 2007. So Baba Iyabo tried even though he could have done more!

The way forward should be a further liberalization of the economy. The railway industry should be liberalized and private transporters like Chisco, ABC etc should be licensed to buy their own trains and run on the existing tracks and put the incompetent monopoly called the NRC out of business. They can do it. Competitors should be licensed to compete against the inefficient NIPOST in first class mail. Holland has private mail delivery companies. The National Inland Waterways decree should be amended to allow private companies compete with the moribund NIWA. The Nigerian Law School has no business being a monopoly. In other nations, there are hundreds of law schools. We shut down arms makers in nigeria and yet we import arms? where is the sense? We shut down 'illegal' refineries while the 'legal' ones never work! It sounds silly!! The repeal of all these archaic anti-investment (socialist) laws will spur private sector investment and create jobs. There are many sectors like that in Nigeria with inefficient and corrupt state run monopolies that are enabled by laws barring private investment and competition. The government should only set up independent regulators for oversight and policy making functions. This was what they did to NITEL that drove it out of business and relieved us of our collective misery.

@OP
As for the declining quality of education, that is to be expected since Nigerians pay peanuts for university education. You will always get what you pay for! Some people even say Ghana has a better university education standards but they fail to mention that university education in Ghana will cost you nothing less than 2 million naira per annum. Something that their citizens are willing to pay but Nigerians would never be willing to do. Why won't they be better? You cannot have cheap / free and quality at the same time!  And please don't mention Scandinavian or European countries without mentioning the confiscatory taxation in those nations. They are paying for it indirectly.  Anyone who wants quality would send his kids to private schools or abroad. Either way, you WILL PAY!!