ZAINAB ONI
Some Nigerian students in universities abroad have decried the high level of decadence in Nigeria’s education sector, as well as challenges experienced by their counterparts in higher institutions across the country.
They expressed regret that the country’s education sector was facing enormous challenges, making it difficult for citizens to get good quality education capable of bringing about sustainable development.
The foreign-based Nigerian students spoke against the backdrop of the series of disruptions of the academic calendar and the ongoing nationwide strike action embarked upon by the members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics.
Olufemi Adebola, who had his first degree in Civil Engineering at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- ife, Osun State, and is currently running his Master’s in Business Administration at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, justified his decision to undertake his second degree abroad.
He told our correspondent that the duration of studying abroad was shorter, when compared with the situation in Nigeria.
Adebola said, “The sector is poorly funded; which has given birth to poor graduates. Unfortunately, from 1999 to date, the annual budgetary allocation to education has always been between four per cent and 10 per cent. No other developing country like Nigeria allocates less than 20 per cent of its annual budget to education. Even among many African countries, we are still trailing far behind smaller and less endowed nations in terms of investment in education.
“When I was studying for my first degree, I didn’t realise that the lectures were only based on theories. It was when I traveled out of the country that I actually realised what I missed while studying engineering here. Many Nigerian institutions lack the equipment and infrastructure that will aid proper acquisition of knowledge and skills. So, tell me, how can a Nigerian graduate compete with a foreign graduate who has gone through all the practical aspects of his course?
“We are in serious danger with the way our government is taking educational issues in the country, because, right now, foreign countries find it hard to reckon with our first degree certificates before even giving our people admission into their schools.”
Another foreign student, Osazuwa Richard Osayande, who teaches World History at Sacred Heart Academy, Pasig in Philippines, argued that the issue of educational development across the world was that of responsibility
and control.
He deplored the usual occurrence of conflicts between the Federal, state and local government councils in Nigeria over the management of education at the different levels, which he said was one of the problems confronting the country’s education
sector.
He said, “The control of primary education is neither fully in the hands of the Federal Government nor state/local government, and this is a great barrier for effective educational development at the basic level. In October, the Philippines government approved free education for all its citizens up to tertiary level, such that parents only need to transport their kids to school and back home.
“But in Nigeria, the universities keep going on strike, despite the fact that citizens pay for tuition themselves, and our leaders are refusing to make their exact salaries known to the people who pay them through taxes. The government’s responsibility to its citizenry is to make life meaningful for them. The signs are not encouraging at all and it is very unfortunate that we find ourselves in this bad
situation.”
Another foreign-based Nigerian student studying Economics at the Houdegbe North American University, Cotonu, Benin Republic, Esther Nwabueze, said that the reason the education sector in Nigerian had become crippled was the frequent and incessant strike actions by teachers.
She added that the unenviable condition of the teaching staff in Nigerian schools had crippled the system of education in the
country.
Nwabueze said, “The question is why instability? The answer is that, the condition of service does not favour them to stay in the profession and as such, they are always looking for alternatives.
“The recent competency test by Governor El-Rufai is a good step in the right direction. How can people say the teachers should not be sacked? This has contributed to the recruitment of many unqualified teachers in our schools. Other states should emulate Kaduna State in giving aptitude test to applicants who want to join the teaching service as a means of minimising the number of incapable ones. Crises in our schools today have led to “brain-drain” and the students of today are no longer interested in academic excellence.”
A lecturer in the Department of History and Strategic Studies, University of Lagos, Prof. Rufus Akinyele, said that, so far, the education sector remained largely underfunded as government continued to pay little attention
to it.
“The sector won’t witness any revolutionary growth, which is why the strikes have been incessant for years. This issue of strikes is one of the reasons people prefer to study abroad. This is because, sometimes, for a course that ought to be four years, you are still struggling to graduate after five, six years, and even after graduation, you don’t know when the certificate will be ready for collection,”
Akinyele said.
He added that in terms of marketability and employment, it would be advantageous to have global certification as Nigerian degrees were being considered as substandard, stressing that this should be of great concern to the
government.
He, therefore, suggested that the government should declare a state of emergency in the sector and map out strategies that would make the sector work and also ensure full implementation.
