Date Published: 06/21/09
THE STATE OF THE NATION: ROT IN THE EDUCATION SECTOR (CONCLUDING PART)
By Temple Chima Ubochi
Authority is quite degrading (Oscar Wilde)
Lack of money is the root of all evil. (George Bernard Shaw)
Make money your god and it will plague you like the devil. ( Henry Fielding)
The truth is we are all caught in a great economic system which is heartless. (Woodrow T. Wilson)
The chief value of money lies in the fact that one lives in a world in which it is overestimated. ( H. L. Mencken)
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with those who are reckless with yours. (Mary Schmich)
He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money. (Benjamin Franklin)
Poverty cannot deprive us of many consolations. It cannot rob us of the affection we have for each other, or degrade us in our own opinion, of in that of any person, whose opinion we ought to value. ( Ann Radcliffe)
Recently, Yar’Adua and Obasanjo expressed serious concern over the crises that have plagued the university system and the falling standard of education in Nigerian universities, especially in the last 15 years. From the podium at the seventh convocation ceremony of the Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun State held on June 07, 2009; Yar’Adua said that what had happened in the last 15 years in the university life in Nigeria had brought the country back severely, adding that there had been great disruption of work, while students had not been able to acquire the kind of education and learning they required and teachers have not met the expectation of students. Well said, but, this writer started picking hole in all the ex and incumbent presidents said when they (Obasanjo and YarÁdua) in dissecting the various problems in the university education, blamed the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Non-Academic Staff of Universities (NASU) incessant strikes and disruptions of the education system as the root cause of the problems. More to that, they both (President Yar’Adua and Chief Obasanjo) said that the coming and licensing of the private universities like Babcock University, had brought hope to the university system. What a trash?
Yar'Adua also stressed the need for institutions of higher learning to devote their time and resources to adequate research, saying this would enhance the growth and development of the country. He observed that research was an integral part of nation building, saying, "It is only through it that we can make progress, because that is where national development, national security, growth and indeed the heritage we are to leave for the people come from." But; he failed to tell us how the universities would raise the funds when his government’s budgetary allocation to education is a “peanut”, and why he is delegating the responsibility of leaving a heritage for the people to the universities and not to his leadership. This man is hollow, he “got” nothing for Nigeria.
Yar'Adua, while speaking about schools' curriculum, lamented that most institutions were turning out graduates who were not fit for the job market, adding that there was need for institutions to include entrepreneurial education in their curriculum that would enable graduates to stand on their own. In his words: "As Nigeria grows, and as the demands for able hands grows in our industry, there is a great desire to look at education in a totally different way. How can we turn our youths into people who will not think of white collar jobs but would want to be creative in their own way?” This writer is telling Yar’Adua that the onus lies on his government and not on the universities only. As our graduates are no longer fit for the job market, so also is our president not fit to lead! He is betraying the office with which he has been entrusted, in a way that endangers the country's fate. As he (Yar’Adua) bemoaned the low quality of our graduates, so also are Nigerians bemoaning his low quality leadership.
Obasanjo, on his own part, said the institution ( Babcock University) was experiencing progress and smooth academic calendar which was not typical of other government and federal institutions in the country. What do we expect this man to say, afterall he owns a private university also and must justify his selfish policy (when he was president) of allowing private universities to flourish at the expense of government-owned ones.
This writer is sick and tired of our so called “leaders” blaming others for the problems they created; they are always shifting blames and exonerating themselves when it is clear even to “goats and fowls” in Nigeria, that the country is mired in myriad of problems caused by the leaders. Obasanjo ruled for 8 good years and was unable to bring sanity and development to Nigeria in general and the education sector in particular. What he did was to establish his private university and a secondary school while in office. Obasanjo also granted operational license to his friends and cronies for the establishment of private universities (such as Babcock university), while allowing the federal ones to rot away; so that parents and guardians, who want quality education for their children or wards and can afford the fees, will patronise those private universities rather than the government-owned ones. YarÁdua has been there for 2 good years now, but still, has been unable to turn the fortunes of the universities around, just as he has been inept in everything leadership and governance. Obasanjo and YarÁdua should know that Nigerians are not amused at all, the policies they and their predecessors pursued while in office precipitated all the rot we are seeing today and the incumbent president seems not to know that he is there, if not for anything else, as a former university lecturer, to find solutions to the problems. He has failed himself and the degrees he claims to have. At this stage, this writer is still to fathom the reason(s) in this whole wide world why Obasanjo gave Nigeria “a poisoned chalice” in the person of this president; everyday, this question begs for more and more answers. I hope that Obasanjo will answer the question before passing on, when his time comes.
Some state governors are putting their state at a disadvantage by initiating projects they cannot complete or the ones which “drain away” the meagre resources that should have gone into solving other more pressing needs. Some states are building state university when there is no need for it; just because other states which have the need for a state university built one, other states which have no need for it will then emulate those which have the need for it, “just to be like others”. That’s wrong; no state should sheepishly do what other states have done, that also should be one of the principles of life for we human beings, we should not do what others have done just for the sake of it. No two persons or states are 100% similar, human beings or states have peculiar needs and worldview. The point this writer wants to make is that some states are building state university when they do not even have the potential students to offer admission to, or enough and qualified academic staff to man it; some states are building state university when they ‘ve not filled up their quota in the federal universities; some states are building state university when they ‘ve not taken care of the other higher institutions of learning already in place in their state, which are being incapacitated by paucity of funds. Instead of those states to channel the resources to be invested in building a state university into the already existing state’s higher institutions of learning in order to boost their academic performance and capacity building, they (the states) will elect to build an university that will not meet the required standard, because, at the end of it all, the already existing higher institutions and the newly built state university will all be in short of funds. Least I forget, building state university affords the thieving governors another opportunity to loot state fund.
Another ugly scenario with these state universities is that while many states cannot meet up with the demand from their indigenes for admission, other states will have their university empty due to lack of qualified people from the state for admission. The problem here is that those states without enough students for admission will not give admission to people from those states which have more people for admission than the universities there can offer. If Nigeria is really “a country”, people from areas of high demand can conveniently get admission in the areas of low demand, but, that’s not the case. State universities have discriminatory admission policies aimed at preventing as many non-indigenes as possible from securing admissions, they (state universities) also charge the non-indigenes exorbitantly than the indigenes. A case here is the Ogun State University where non-indigenous students pay almost double as school fees when compared to what the indigenes of the state pay. That’s wrong.
The states finding it hard to recruit enough and qualified academic staff for their state university are not giving the unfilled employment opportunities to people from other states which have more than enough qualified manpower at all levels. Some states in Nigeria have a lot of qualified people they cannot employ because of saturated job market in those areas, but, the states still lacking the needed manpower are finding it extremely hard to employ the qualified unemployed Nigerians from other states and still, we claim to be “one Nigeria”. Most of the northern states lack the qualified personnel for their states´ education sector, but, will not give the existing employment opportunities to those qualified southerners; instead they prefer to recruit teachers and lecturers from the Arab and Muslim lands such as Libya, Egypt, Pakistan, Iran etc. “One Nigeria”, Isn’t it?
The academic and non-teaching personnel under the Joint Union of Tertiary Institutions (JUTI) in Borno State have kicked against Governor Modu Ali Sheriff's bid to set up a state university. They advised the government to instead develop the existing seven tertiary institutions through adequate funding to enable them provide "qualitative and functional" education in the state. The union said the proposed university was diversionary and a non-priority of the government, that’s like putting the cart before the horse, instead of addressing the falling education standard in the state. In their words: "The establishment of Borno State University by Governor Ali Sheriff, was to cause mischief in the state education sector by starving the seven institutions of funds to develop structures. The people of Borno do not need a university now because it is not their priority. Once the primary and secondary schools, as well as the seven tertiary institutions of learning are not fully funded to develop into functional centres, the state university would be on a very weak foundation and may not be able to compete with other universities in manpower development”.
The Union told us that because of the gross neglect of primary and secondary schools in the state, Borno State could not fill its admission quota in the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID). In their words again: “Since UNIMAID was established in 1975, Borno and Yobe states were yet to fill their admission quota because most students do not have a minimum of five credits. So what is the rationale or justification for establishing such an institution if not to cause mischief and lack of focus in the state education sector that has been neglected for more than two decades by the current and previous administrations?" (Ref: Guardian Feb. 20, 2009)
Hussaini Monguno of University of Maiduguri told us that a non-governmental organization, “coalition for democracy and good governance”, said that Borno State is about the only state in the federation that has not accessed international development funds, (IDF's funding) to the tune of over two billion Naira meant for the development of primary education and health facilities simply because the state governor refused to provide a counterpart funding of less than two hundred million naira. Ironically, it is this same government that could not access over two billion naira free funds and could also not develop post secondary education that is toying with the idea of establishing a state university even when experts have advised against it.
In 2007, Yobe State suspended degree courses in its university. Governor Mamman Bello Ali of the state suspended the running of all degree programmes and courses by the Bukar Ibrahim University, Damaturu, following the state's inability to produce qualified candidates for admission and lecturers to teach in the then recently established higher institution. That suspension, which was indefinite, was to allow the state produce enough candidates and teachers to fill the admission and teaching quotas before the university runs its full-fledged degree programmes. The then governor said “although the idea of establishing a state university is for the development of education and training of more manpower, Yobe State has been unable to produce the qualified candidates required for admissions into the institution”.
It is unbelievable that this happened in Nigeria of the twenty first century? While many qualified southerners are fruitlessly looking for admissions, because of scarcity of offers, a university in Nigeria suspended all its degree programmes, due to lack of qualified students and lecturers.
As this writer once wrote: there is no free education at all levels despite the claims to the contrary; university students and those of other higher institutions of learning are not being given educational grants to help them in their studies, which they can pay back after getting a job upon graduation! The students do not even have enabling learning environment and other things needed for their success. Many students of my time (mid 1980s) just struggled to survive, living on 0-1-0 feeding system, which means; going hungry in the morning, eating in the afternoon and going to bed with empty stomach due to poverty. In some cases then, some well-off students were doing 0-1-1 feeding system; going hungry in the morning to eat in the afternoon and evening. The reason(s) for this forced fasting was that their parents and guardians were unable to provide them with all the money they needed to cater for their welfare (food, books, miscellaneous or sundry expenses etc), due to the ugly economic condition in the larger Nigerian society. The Buhari government stopped the food subsidy that helped many students. That is not to say that there weren't some well-to-do students that lacked virtually nothing, but, they were so infinitesimal in number to count in this dispensation. When 95% of the students were poor, then the entire student population were almost living in penury”.
This writer knows that things can only get worse in Nigeria and that since the aforesaid 1980s, the situation must have been worse. That time (1980s), students did buy a plate of food for N1.00 or a plate without meat or fish for 50 Kobo. This writer wonders if N20 can “fetch” anybody a plate of food now.
Still at all these, Professor Okojie of all people, remorselessly said this recently: “Given the cost of running universities and even the amount that are paid in some secondary schools, I think Nigerians should change their attitude towards government-owned institutions. At least N150, 000 which is just about $1,000 should be the minimum amount students should pay for a year.” Prof. Julius Okojie, who is the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), was quoted as expressing the government's alleged resolve to increase tuition in tertiary schools at a forum on Financing Higher Education in Nigeria. Okojie allegedly told the gathering that students of private universities had become reference point due to their purportedly better performance than their counterparts from public universities, adding that he was not a proponent of private university initiative just because of fees but for their assumed efficiency. What a gibberish! Good that the minister of education later refuted that the federal government had plans to increase school fees. But still at that, it’s worth knowing why and how Okojie made such suggestion when nobody asked him to.
This writer thinks that there’s something inherently wrong with authority position in Nigeria, in that whosoever finds him/herself in it, tends to forget his/her past, or who he/she was. People, once in authority position, forget from where they were coming and hence where they are going, as he/she who forgets his/her past will not find his/her future. When a person from a poor background by chance or luck or dent of hardwork, gets where he/she never dreamt of, some of them tend to forget the condition of their birth or how hard things were for them, and will start to behave as if they were born in a castle built with gold, thereby overlooking the plight of the poor people who will be affect by their decisions in one way or the other.
This writer once wrote: “While in the university, many of us joined Marxist or socialist clubs and started claiming to be Marxists. We started seeing Karl Marx and Frederick Engels as benevolent philosophers with heart and their ideas as the best for mankind and solutions to societal ills; while Machiavelli and Charles Darwin were loathed, because of their theories. We could then easily recite "the history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggle...” by Karl Marx. We started carrying as our companion, the "Communist Manifesto". Nowadays, we have jettisoned the Marxist or socialist ideology that we embraced so dearly during our university days for Machiavelli (the end justifies the means) or Charles Darwin (the survival of the fittest) theories we loathed with passion during those days; now, anybody not "meeting up" must blame him or herself for lagging behind. Our attitude changed 180 degrees from what it was.
To digress in order to buttress my point: This writer is compelled to use an excerpt from one of his articles to condemn some of the attitudes of the “well to do”. It goes thus:
“Some of us that are privileged to have house helps, drivers, gardeners, gatemen etc due to our current status, are seeing it as our rights to trample upon the rights of those people “serving” us. The way some of us talk to those helpers are so disgusting, we treat them as slaves or animals and our wives and relations even insult or beat them simply because our lives changed for the "better". Some of us forgot where we came from and how we got to where we are now. Some of us forgot what we suffered during our university days and how poor we were then and thereafter, before getting to where we are today. We forgot that our condition then was not of our own making, the same goes for the house helps serving us, they are what they are, not because they love to be that, but, have no other choice; the housemaids or women, house boys or men, drivers, gardeners, gatemen deserve better from us. What then did we learn from the university, if we can’t put the theory that "all men/women are created equal" into practice? We can tell our wives and relatives, as the case may be, that those serving us are doing a great favour to us and deserve our respect also. Everybody, no matter how highly or lowly placed, was born of a woman and should therefore be treated kindly. That people might be low in status is not of their own making; they should be treated with compassion and love, and not to remind them always of their pitiful condition, we should not always bring them down with our ego and attitude.”
Recently we read how the Lagos State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, maltreated her housemaid named Blessing (leading to Blessing’s mother's death) for losing her jewellery to con men. This writer condemns Blessing’s error of judgment, but, even at that, her mother’s death was too much a price to pay for mere jewellery; the commissioner should‘ve been more circumspect in her actions.
What of Magistrate Olagoke Akintayo of Osun State who rough handled his police orderly for failing to open the gate for him? The judiciary in Nigeria is compromised; some men/women of the bench behave in such a way that one wonders if they have conscience at all. If people that are supposed to be the custodians of justice start spewing out injustice, then that society is in for a big trouble. The men of the bench are well educated, but, some of them are not worthy again to put on that robe.
Recently, a housemaid, Lydia Elisha, petitioned the House of Representatives over allegations of torture and humiliation meted out to her by the police on the orders of a member, Mr Henry Shawulu.
The three-page petition, addressed to the Speaker of the House, Mr Dimeji Bankole, was written through her counsel, Mr Tom Metu of Peace Chambers, Abuja. In the petition, Elisha said the “law maker” accused her of stealing N40, 000 from his residence at EFAB Estate, Abuja. Following the allegation, Elisha said the “lawmaker” took her initially to EFAB Estate police station where she was detained between April 5 and April 9, 2009. The petitioner said she was transferred to Life Camp police station where she was almost tortured to death by the police.
Narrating her ordeal, Elisha said: “I was handcuffed, tortured and taken to a hidden corner outside the police building in a container where I was asked to agree that I stole the money.” Elisha said her refusal to agree to the police request earned her more torture and humiliation, as her boss (the law maker) directed and watched her being dehumanised. She added: “The IPO implored me to agree that I stole the money to avoid further punishment. I refused. He, therefore, poured tear gas powder on me after soaking my body with water. My body, breasts and private part were severely burnt such that I was unable to sit down for days”. The housemaid said a lawyer, Teslim Agboola, who came to assist in securing her release on bail, was equally assaulted by the police officers who threatened to beat him up. In maintaining her innocence Elisha said: “I want to state categorically that I never stole any money from Shawulu’s home but I was no longer tolerating abuses, curses and insults from Shawulu’s wife and children".
Elisha, a 22-year-old girl from Kanke in Plateau, was engaged by Shawulu on November 14, 2008 on a monthly salary of N12, 000 before it was increased to N15, 000 due to her diligence and hard work.
The girl, through her counsel, had threatened to sue the “lawmaker” and claim damages for the brutality, humiliation and violation of her fundamental human rights. (Ref: Vanguard April 27, 2009)
This writer having seen, smelt, felt and been through excruciating hardship at a point in his life, is wondering if he finds himself in any higher position (not necessarily political) “tomorrow”, God willing, whether he will forget that he was one of the poorest students during his undergraduate days. Most of all, this writer gives thanks to God for the “very little” he has achieved so far while praying for good health and more breakthroughs in life. No matter our condition, we should always be grateful to God; afterall, health is wealth, so as long as we are alive, we are rich. This writer hasn’t done enough for humanity, so he looks forward to God to give him the wherewithal to do more for his fellow human beings (no matter the number). That’s the essence of life. Mother Theresa once said “We realize that what we are accomplishing is a drop in the ocean. But if this drop were not in the ocean, it would be missed”. Confucius wrote that “He who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own”. Igbo Proverb says “Oji ngaji eri, cheta onye ji aka. (He, who eats with spoon, should not forget he, who eats with hand)”. Bertha von Suttner had it that “After the verb 'to love', the verb 'to help' is the most beautiful verb in the world” and Irish Blessing has it that “Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others can not keep it from themselves”.
Prof. Okojie was not born rich neither is he from a rich background, but, today, he has forgotten who he was and for him, anybody born poor has no right to acquire university education. Maybe, he was trying to paraphrase David Mark, who as the communication minister during IBB’s “aberration called government”, said that “telephone is not for every Dick, Tom or Harry”. Okojie might as well be saying that “university education is not for every Dick, Tom and Harry”. Is it not recently that the Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, disclosed that no fewer than 50 million adult Nigerians are illiterates, which effectively places the country among the least educationally developed countries in the world? The Minister added that over 7 million Nigerian Children of school age have not had the privilege of acquiring formal education which has left a yarning gap in the education of the populace. The minister then warned that Nigeria’s vision 2020 might be unrealistic in the face of the prevailing situation except urgent steps were taken to revamp the educational sector. This writer is then asking how Nigeria can redress this ugly trend, if it imposes such school fees? The minister should get cracking by matching words with actions. Talks will get Nigeria to no where.
Prof. Okojie cannot be living in another planet to suggest N150, 000 a year school fees in a country where the minimum wage is about N7, 500. How many people can afford to pay that amount for their children or wards, what about those having upto two, three or more children or wards in the universities at the same time, what of those earning less than N30, 000 a month? Are they (Okojie and co.) trying to make university education only for people of rich background? Okojie has forgotten that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is planning to fight this government to a standstill and to embark on a nation-wide strike unless their demand for a N52, 000+ minimum wage is met. In this writer’s opinion, N52, 000+ minimum wage is ludicrous and out of touch with reality, but, a N30, 000 minimum wage will be reasonable, realistic and justified.
Okojie proposing annual school fees of about N150, 000 is heartless. We know that the government has been under-funding the universities and cannot bear the burden alone, but, that should not be the reason to keep university education beyond the reach of the common man. Okojie is one of those who schooled from primary school to the university without paying any dime; Nigeria gave him everything to succeed, he must have acquired some of his degrees through scholarship, he received bursary while in schools, he has been working in his field of specialisation since graduation. Now he wants Nigerians to pay through their nose to acquire what he himself acquired free of charge. May be Okojie forgot that holders of today’s degree(s) are not sure of ever getting a job based on that/those qualification(s) and might not work with it/them in his/her life time; unless, he and his ilk in authority postions, put Nigeria on another pedestal, and soon too, different from the one it has been on since independence!
The Vanguard Newspapers of May 11, 2009 wrote that “Professor Okojie leaned on the fees private universities charge and their better services to propound his theory that only higher fees would improve the services public universities provide. His conclusion is faulty because higher fees alone cannot improve things, not only in the universities. The fact that private universities remain reference points abroad is not based on the high fees that they charge. Those universities are built on foundations of excellence, which those schools maintain in all they do. This strives for excellent result in great researches that institutions and individuals fall over themselves to fund.
Millions of Nigerian youth are lost without education. Even those who attend the universities that Okojie’s NUC superintend are barely better. NUC thinks that more money means better standards for our universities. It failed woefully to give the universities adequate autonomy to run their affairs, which would have included the appointment of leaders who can run the universities as businesses without sending students away through high fees.
NUC cannot run universities. It does not appreciate the role of the universities in national development. NUC believes that university education is only for the rich. It has no thoughts on using education to minimise poverty. How does a government that is fighting poverty expect more than 105 million Nigerians to mass the resources to see their own through university? NUC should devote itself to promotion of university education for all, inciting utterances like Okojie’s is not part of that project”.
Is Okojie saying that brilliant students but from least privileged backgrounds, should not go to university because they cannot afford the school fees? What Okojie and others should be suggesting is for the government to start giving students scholarships or educational grants and loans which they can repay after securing a job upon graduation and not just suggesting the hiking of school fees without offering them the means of payment.
This writer is asking if we need an oracle or a soothsayer to tell us why Nigerian female students engage in prostitution; why students engage in kidnapping, armed robbery; why everybody engage in looting, embezzlement, cutting corners and other financial crimes to be like others? This writer frowns at all these vices, but still, that does not wish them away. Even if the students pay such astronomical fees, what’s the guarantee that the standard of education will improve better than it is now? Did Anyone read whatDetoun Ogwo, the Managing Director, Afterschool Graduate Development Centre told the Punch Newspapers of May 17, 2009, when she said that she cried for first-class graduates who couldn't spell 'graduate'. In her words: "I remember the day I made the decision to do what I am doing now is when I was at Guinness in 2005 and we were shortlisting from 96,000 to 15,000 applicants. They needed 15 graduate management trainees and 96,000 applied. They all had first class and second class upper degrees which employers were looking for but some of them could not even spell the word 'graduate'. Those days I would just be crying”. Can anybody imagine that, where are we heading to in Nigeria?
Is it not recently that the education minister told us that 40 million unemployed Nigerian graduates are unemployable?The minister also lamented the declining standard of university education in Nigeria, saying that about 80 percent of the country’s university graduates are unemployable, but, attributed this ugly trend to poor teaching in the system, inadequate and obsolete infrastructure and equipment as well as poor library facilities. The minister said about 15 -30 percent of the instructional and infrastructural facilities are non-functional, obsolete or dilapidated. These have adverse consequences on the quality of teaching, learning and research. The question here becomes: What is he doing to tackle the problems crippling the universities in their bid to produce high class or quality graduates?
This writer wants to report the minister to my readers: There is a serious allegation hanging on his neck, hopefully it’s not true. The Coordinator, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Zone A and Chairman, NANS Committee on National Youth Service Corps, Comrade Danjuma Bello Sarki, alleged that the Minister of Education, Dr Sam Egwu, offered him a bribe of N5 million.
The alleged cash inducement was targeted at discouraging the students’ body from holding a protest against government for refusing to mobilize graduates of Nigerian Monotechnics to National Youth Service programme. Danjuma said the kickback was handed to him by the National Secretary of NANS, Martins Igwe, who told him that the minister was ready to do a lot for him if only he could forget about the protest. His words: “The minister of Education was on air to say that there was no money to mobilize Monotechnics graduates to service but went through the secretary general of NANS, who rates money more than any other thing, to cajole me to take N5 million to stop this demonstration but I refused. National secretary told me that the minister had asked him to bring me to collect N5 million.” ( Sun June 4, 2009). Is it still a wonder that NANS has been compromised and turned into a toothless bulldog by the government, quite different from the NANS of the 1980s that made “ruling” miserable for Buhari and IBB? The NANS of today is balkanised and in disarray. If the story is really true, then redeeming Nigeria will take unconventional means.
Back to where we stopped: Even if the fees are rammed down the throat of the students, where is the guarantee that the government will create jobs for the graduates so as to enable them to pay back (in cash or kind) the money spent on their education? At least, parents who spent such a handsome amount on their children or wards are supposed to be assured that upon graduation, those children and wards will reciprocate their (parents’) gestures by taking care of their younger ones or even those parents who laboured through thick and thin to see them through the university.
Due to lack of job, Nigerian graduates have no value again and have to do anything to scrap through. Didn´t we read what Punch Newspapers of May 16, 2009 wrote, that, a day to taking up new employment, trailer crushes UNILAG Accounting graduate working as okada rider.The Paper wrote that “Less than 24 hours before he was to bid unemployment goodbye and put a stop to his dangerous stop-gap routine as a commercial cyclist, otherwise called okada, a trailer crushed 35-year-old Emmanuel Aiyegbusi, a graduate of Accounting from the University of Lagos, and sent him to early grave”. Why should it end all like this for this guy after spending those years in the university and not enjoying the fruit of his hard labour even for a day? If a degree in Nigeria guarantees a job, Emmanuel Aiyegbusi shouldn't have had to die. He was even married. The Nigeria’s ruling class have a lot of bloods on their hands; they will have a lot of explanations to do to the Almighty God soon. I really feel for Aiyegbusi´s family. He sponsored himself through the university from the okada business and before his world could change, okada led to his death. Nigerian students are engaging in all sorts of trade to finance their education. A country that does not give bursary or scholarships or study loans or meal subsidies, is pushing the indigent students into a life of crime or immorality. Students engage even in prostitution, kidnapping, 419, extortion etc to make it through the university. Even as Emma paid for his education through okada, his connection with okada should have ended once he graduated, if the job was there for him; but, the lack of it, made him to continue the dangerous business with a degree in accounting.
Many of the female students, mainly the indigent or greedy ones, have resorted to a life of weekend prostitution to help finance their education. That’s morally wrong. No girl should have given that as an excuse for prostitution, if it had been that Nigeria’s ruling class has been living up to its responsibility.
P.M. News of April 15, 2009 with the captioned: “Varsity Students Besiege Lagos For Prostitution”, gave a lewd account of what some university girls engage in to get money for their education, when it wrote:
”As sex trade continues to boom in Lagos state, female students from various institutions of higher learning have besieged the metropolis for prostitution. P.M.NEWS can reveal that most brothels now play host to female students who often come into Lagos on weekends or while on breaks to prostitute. One of such brothels, P.M.NEWS investigations revealed, is located on Ajibode Street in Iju-Ishaga. The brothel is on the same street where the Oba of Ishaga’s palace is located. The brothel, which has 26 rooms and houses 26 ladies, was recently built. Some of these ladies are students of the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers state.
Further investigations revealed that a new comer pays N5, 000 weekly and subsequently pays N3, 500 every week after staying there for long. Aside these, any damage on the door or any part of the building attracts a fine of N10,000, while any quarrel among the occupants attracts a fine of N5,000 for the ladies involved. The ladies are also expected to take turn in cleaning the kitchen, toilets and bathrooms and anyone who fails to do so is fined N2, 500. Some of the students who spoke with P.M.NEWS said it is their only way of making ends meet and also paying their school fees.
One of them, who simply gave her name as Ngozi, a student of the University of Port Harcourt, said, she doesn’t intend to prostitute for long. “I am only doing this to get money to fund my education and also feed my family. My parents and siblings reside in Okigwe, which is my village and can’t afford to pay my fees. I also give them money. “I have a boyfriend who lives in Europe and we are both saving for our wedding. After my wedding, I would definitely stop prostitution,” she said.
Another lady, who gave her name as Ada, said she started prostitution in Ghana where she lived for two years and then moved to a brothel in Egbeda, a suburb of Lagos, where she also spent two years before moving to the present one. She added that she has two kids in her village, somewhere in Abia State, that are being taken care of by her mother. “My children are in the village with my mother. I usually send them money, food and clothes. I make my money from prostitution. Asawo no be work? Na two men I carry last night and dem pay N1, 000 each. I use the money shayo (enjoy) till day break,” she said in Pidgin English. Another student of the University of Port Harcourt, whose name is Onyinye, said, she is into prostitution for the first time, claiming Ngozi introduced her to it and that she has made over N15,000 for herself since they arrived last week. Asked if their parents would suspect what they are into, some of them said their parents are aware and benefiting from it, while the others said their parents will never find out since they (girls) come all the way to Lagos to prostitute.
Virtually all the girls are students of higher institutions in the east while others are mostly from Benue state. Asked how they get their customers, Ngozi said they just wear skimpy outfits and stand in front of their doors. Whoever comes around, walks up to his choice girl and bargain. “We usually have our bath in the evening and put on skimpy clothes. Then we stand in front of our doors for men to come,” she stated. According to her, it is usually better to settle for quickies (short time) than all night. “One quickie will fetch you between N1,000 and N2,000 and if you are lucky, you can get five customers for a night while all night fetches us between N3,000 and N5,000, which includes transport fare.” Some of the girls, she said, have sex without condoms for N2, 000, but claimed she has never tried it and called those who indulge in such ignorant. Asked why she preferred to do her business in Lagos rather than in Port Harcourt, she said apart from the fact that there are too many prostitutes in Port Harcourt, the risks of meeting people who know them are very high out there. The brothel also serves as a bar and most of its patrons are regular clients. The brothel in Iju is just one of the many brothels in Lagos. In Ogba, there are over 10 brothels scattered around the area”.
The afore-narrated accounts are chilling and disgusting. These are happening in a country where a member of the House of Representatives (Representathieves), Hon. Bala Ibn Na’Allah representing Zuru/Fakai/Zakaba/ Dawazagu Federal Constituency of Kebbi State, has made history as the first lawmaker in the country since independence to own a private jet he acquired recently in the United States of America. This member of the Nigeria’s LOOTING HOUSE CALLED NATIONAL ASSEMBLY was one of those who called the Niger Delta militants “criminals” and asked the government to kill ‘em all. He boasted that flying was the best thing that has ever happened to him. In his words: “I am enjoying it more than anything. To fly is the easiest thing to do. I have come to realize it. In fact, if it is possible, I won’t mind flying an aircraft from my bedroom to the toilet”. No wonder we have only idiots and thieves in the national assembly.
It is not only this writer that is disturbed by the rot in the education sector: Few days ago, June 16, 2009 to be precise, students from tertiary institutions staged a peaceful protest over the poor standard of education in the country. The students arrived in Oshogbo, the Osun State capital, in six buses chanting various anti-government songs. They said the 2009 budget allocation to education sector was too poor. The protest rally was organised in conjunction with Education Rights Campaign (ERC), as well as National Association of Nigerian Students, Zone ‘D’. The protesting students carried placards with various inscriptions such as “Workers Deserve Better Pay”, “Don’t Monopolise Education”, “Scrap All Fees”, “Reduce Fees in Imo State University”, “There is more than enough resources in Nigeria to fund education”, “Give us Free and Qualitative Education.” They called for upward review of allocation in the 2009 budget for education. According to a statement signed by their leaders, the students said the amount budgeted for the education sector by the government was too poor to address the problems of the sector. (Ref: Tribune July 17, 2009)
Similarly, the law students called on Yar’Adua to review the increase in their tuition fees with a view to accommodating brilliant students who could not afford the fees. They pointed out that the current hike in tuition fees in the Nigerian Law School has made it impossible for graduating law students to get admitted to the Nigerian bar. They rightly frowned at N250, 000 tuition fees charged by the law school, and lamented the plight of some of the graduating students who could not further their studies at the law school due to constant increase in fees.
A country where the national assembly marked the 10th anniversary of Democracy Day, (fake democracy) with N159 million, (who knows what the presidency and the governors spent for the mockery?), should also afford to give its citizens free education at all levels. The situation of things in Nigeria has turned the joy of acquiring university education there from that of exhilaration to sadness!
Concluded
Continued from Part 4
OFF-POINT:
How many of us read about how Taraba State College of Agriculture has been closed down after students protested over cases of rampant missing genital organs. We learnt that three male students of the College reported that their genitals disappeared after body contact with another student. Even the state Police Public Relation Officer, Sani Baba, said 10 cases of missing genitals had been reported in the state. According to the report, the rampant incident of missing genitals which started in the state capital has spread to other parts of the state and that the latest case happened at a church located in Magami area of Jalingo during a Sunday service immediately the Pastor preached against it. (ThisDay June 16, 2009). This kind of story does not belong to the 21st century, that’s why Nigeria is heading back to the stone, instead of the technological, age”. Will all sorts of evils happen in Nigeria? Even Sodom and Gomorrah can’t compete with Nigeria of today in terms of decadence. Let those having the power to make genitals disappear, use such to solve societal ills and not to hurt their fellow human beings. It is nauseating reading this.
THE THANXS IS ALL YOURS!!!
Temple Chima Ubochi writes from Bonn, Germany through ubochit@yahoo.com
