The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Biometric-fatigue?

    Biometric-fatigue?

    •BVN should be open-ended, but it is imperative that every account holder is captured by the present window

    With less than 40 percent registered barely a month to go, it seems all is far from well with the apex bank-ordered current Biometric Verification Number (BVN) registration exercise.

    Giving an update last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Director, Corporate Communications, Mu’azu Ibrahim, disclosed that only 20 million out of the 52 million active bank accounts in the country have registered. That is a whopping 32 million yet to acquire the BVN as at the end of September. For the 20 million already enrolled, the CBN spokesman further observed that 14 million are linked to the BVN as at September.

    For  an exercise launched with so much fanfare on February 14, 2014, and which was initially planned to end by June 30 this year, it must be disappointing that the shift in the deadline, by four months, did little to change the situation. We wonder if this is not by itself a measure of how biometric-weary Nigerians have become.

    Today, all manners of agencies – public and private – are known to mount the siege on the citizens for the same biometric information, while hyping the same grand claims about delivering fool-proof identification systems. Yet, what we have seen over the years are miserably poor outcomes, after expending enormous resources – in cash and productive man-hours.

    Given the current level of compliance, it seems highly unlikely that the October 31 deadline will be met. And if experience is anything to go by, Nigerians can expect to see chaos and bedlam in the coming weeks, as customers besiege the banking halls to beat the deadline.  A further extension of the deadline would therefore, in the circumstance, seem absolutely imperative.

    The latest development obviously throws up a number of salient issues. First, has the apex bank – as indeed the Bankers Committee as a whole – done enough to create the awareness required for its success?  The second point is whether the Bankers Committee couldn’t have come with a better, less disruptive way to get the job done; and third, whether the idea of the deadline, and the threat of sanctions for failure, make any sense at all.

    On the first, we agree that there is a lot to be said of Nigerians’ penchant to dither on important issues such as the BVN registration. It is however the CBN’s primary responsibility to mount a matching public enlightenment response as well as a pragmatic programme to secure the needed buy-in for the exercise.

    Obviously, if the power to draw up deadlines or issue threats of sanctions (as against creating the right environment for its adoption) is all that is required to get the job done, the exercise would have long been concluded.

    Rather than seek to enforce impossible deadlines, therefore, the CBN, as indeed the Bankers Committee, would do well to focus on creating the right atmosphere to get more customers to sign up for the programme.

    On the second issue, we also think the CBN could have done better to develop a simpler, less cumbersome and less time-consuming process, or better still, a single platform to integrate the banks. A single platform would obviously save time and eliminate the additional burden imposed on multiple account owners.

    That should neither prove an impossible task given the current level of application of Information Technology in the sector, nor be considered too late given the foregoing circumstances.

    Finally, we see the idea of stopping the operations of accounts in the event of the failure to meet the registration deadline as stemming from the failure of imagination. Would the apex bank rather shut the offenders out as against finding creative means to sign them on to the BVN? Would that mean that only those signed on would enjoy banking services?

    The answers to these questions would have a great impact on the economy, since banking is at the core of every economic activity.  That is why the CBN must come out with a flexible BVN aimed at maximum compliance without a penalty regime that shrinks the banking market.

  • Gamaliel Onosode (1933 – 2015)

    Gamaliel Onosode (1933 – 2015)

    • Exit of Mr. Integrity. When comes another?

    For years, Gamaliel Onosode’s name was strongly associated with integrity in the public mind because he exemplified that high virtue in socially significant ways. He was the type whose professional career suggested a political promise. Perhaps it is Nigeria’s loss that his shining leadership qualities were denied expression on the political stage. He was a presidential candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP).

    Onosode was an acknowledged major player in boardroom politics in the private sector, but his respected management expertise also proved useful in the public sector; and was beneficial to the country’s political administrations at different times.

    His death in Lagos on September 29, at age 82, spoke about his life and the paths he followed to distinction. From his emergence in the 1970s as a promising chief executive following his stint at NAL Merchant Bank, Onosode rose to impressive heights in Nigeria’s corporate world. Among the distinguished positions he occupied were: chairman of Dunlop Nigeria Plc (1984 – 2007), chairman of Cadbury Nigeria Plc (1977- 1993) and chairman of Zain Nigeria. He also had leadership seats on Nigeria LNG Working Committee and Nigeria LNG Limited (1985 -1990).

    A quintessential technocrat, he was Presidential Adviser on Budget Affairs and Director of Budget (1983) and President of the Nigerian Institute of Management (1979 -1982). In 1998, he became a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria. He was also a Fellow of the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank.  He was richly decorated in various spheres.  He made a defining contribution to public sector management by his headship of a Commission on Nigerian Parastatals in the 1980s, and it is a testimony to his positive role that the Onosode report, produced under his tenure, identified major developmental drawbacks that are still identifiable problems decades after.

    According to the report: “Public capital expenditure rose during the oil boom at a much faster rate than Nigeria’s physical, technical or financial abilities; huge expenditure on particular industrial projects did not yield expected returns because of “inappropriate choices in their selection, size, design, location and management.” ; government policies laid too much emphasis on industrialisation, without regard to Nigeria’s resource base and comparative advantage; frequent changes in fiscal and monetary policies created planning problems for the private sector; the exchange rate of the naira was not managed “to reflect the basic strength of the economy and the need to encourage domestic production.”

    Onosode’s image as a forthright personality and patriot was also cemented by his role as Chairman of the Niger Delta Environmental Survey, a non-governmental organisation focused on environmental and social impact assessment of oil exploration in the Niger Delta.  The group, based on research, blamed the environmental degradation in the region on oil majors, the Federal Government and the oil-producing communities. It was another case of identifying the causes of a problem that remains problematic.

    There was no doubt about Onosode’s comfortable status.  But he was never defined by money — only by character and by uncommon modesty. It is noteworthy that, in a tribute, his friend of more than five decades, former Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku, said Onosode’s resources were “righteously acquired.” He passed through life, and lived at the top, without a whiff of scandal, which is a lesson for the country’s living men of means.

    Although it is speculative how much his life was influenced by his religion and religious role, he took Christianity seriously, and in 1984 started Good News Baptist Church at his home in Surulere, Lagos. It is to his credit that by the time he died the church reportedly had over 2, 000 members. Onosode, known as a deacon, was until his death Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

    A man of impressive elocution, Onosode’s signature centre hair parting made a generational statement. Of Urhobo roots, educated at the Government College, Ughelli, and the University of Ibadan, he was a generational example and represented a receding era.

  • A grave charge

    A grave charge

    • The military should identify unpatriotic Borno elders sabotaging the campaign against Boko Haram

    Only a foolish man would chase a rat,” goes an African adage, “while his house is on fire.”

    The disturbing news, that some prominent persons from Borno State — Borno, the epicentre of Boko Haram — are sabotaging the efforts of the army against the insurrection, leaves us wondering: are these elders the foolish people in that adage?

    Still, if the elders choose to fool around with fire, then such foolishness undermines not only their locale, but the entire national security — which is why we urge all the relevant authorities to call those involved to order.  But if they still persist in their unpatriotic ways,  get  them to account.

    This news came from a statement credited to the acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Usman: “The Nigerian army wishes to inform the public and send a very strong and serious final warning to some prominent individuals and political groups, who hail from Borno State in particular and North East generally, … on plans … to undermine and scuttle the fight against terrorism and insurgency in this country”

    Indeed, if the so called prominent persons or groups are ignorant, let us remind them that insurgency or waging war against the country, is a treasonable felony; and that under our criminal laws, conspiracy and/or aiding and abetting treason, attract similar punishment as the principal offence.

    So, let those who play with fire, be reminded that fire burns. Under our laws, the punishment for treason is death, and we wonder how those who claim to be elders, can choose to play with such a high offence, that attracts capital punishment.

    It is even stranger that those involved in undermining the army, are also the primary beneficiaries of the war against insurgency. While the North East in particular, and most parts of the northern Nigeria, have been under the atrocious activities of Boko Haram, in the past two to three years, Borno State has had the unenviable record of being the epicentre of the armed insurgency.

    Until recently, Boko Haram bandits had been roaming about, maiming innocent children, women and men, from Borno and other states, without any justification.

    So, what could propel, possibly, the brothers, fathers and husbands of the victims of such callous acts, to join the enemy of the Nigerian state, to undermine government’s effort to save the members of their families?

    Personal aggrandizement, the Army spokesman alleged. “It has come to our knowledge,” Colonel Usman said, “that they are employing all means to see that our operation does not succeed, in order for them to continue to enjoy certain benefits. People,” he added, “should place the interest of the nation above any personal gain or ambition”.

    We recall that a similar complaint was laid against the Borno elders, in the past, by the previous commanders of the Nigerian Army.  So, why are the elders persisting in their dangerous gambit?

    If they have issues, they should raise it. Otherwise, we urge the army to rein in their intelligence, to find out those elders involved in this criminal conduct. Once they are able to isolate them, the federal government, should quickly bring them to face the law.

    For now, we join the army to warn those concerned that this insurgency has caused Nigeria so much in man and material, and as such, the country would not spare any person cavorting with the enemies.

    A word, they say, is enough for the wise.

  • Trouble with Nigeria

    Trouble with Nigeria

    SIR: The “Trouble with Nigeria” the title of the late Chinua Achebe’s book gives a fitting and exhibit description of the state of the nation. Nigeria is not a great country. It is one of the most disorderly nations in the world. It is one of the most corrupt, inefficient places under the sun. It is one of the most expensive countries and one of those that gives least value for money. In short, it is one of the most unpleasant places in earth.

    Add to that, a country of kleptomaniacs whose insatiable quest for power has put a country of great potential and promise on an almost irreversible track of imminent explosion.

    We celebrate independence at a time when insecurity in varied forms like terrorism, kidnapping and armed robbery is at an all time high. Government says the economy is growing when factories are either closing down or functioning far below installed capacity: they are winning the war against corruption but indicted persons in monumental frauds like the fuel subsidy mega-scam are cosseting with their co-travellers in the corridors of power. Misrule and resultant poverty are traced to the rise in religious extremists in Northern Nigeria. Boko Haram has crippled the economy of the North and sent thousands of innocent Nigerians to their early graves.

    It is unfortunate that a country that offered so much in hope and possibilities for its citizens at independence has today become a land of suffering, insecurity and near hopelessness, signposted by youth unemployment, poor electricity supply, incessant ethno-religious crisis, no thanks to rudderless and bumbling leaders who have failed to lead a well-endowed nation to harness the talents of its vibrant, energetic and resilient people.

    Nigerians must turn deaf ears to the rhetoric that celebrate growth without visible development. Infrastructural deficit has become the opportunity cost of corruption, negatively impacting our socio-economic development. We must reverse the high cost of running our federal system of government. We must do away with tyrannical tendencies that engender impunity, disregard for the rule of law, and the fundamental right of Nigerians. The political class and the ruling elite must take the blame for the abyss the country find itself. Nigerians must as a matter of urgency begin to build a nation of our dreams. We cannot continue to tax, but take off.

     

    • Bello Ibrahim,

    ibrahimbello349@gmail.com

  • Nigeria at 55

    Nigeria at 55

    •There are more rivers to cross

    Today, Nigeria marks her 55th independence anniversary amidst challenges to nationhood. The anniversary this year is particularly significant as it is at a time the country is celebrating the first time power would change hands from one party to another, with an incumbent President peacefully defeated through the ballot box. The development held out so much hope.

    The election of President Muhammadu Buhari on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is even the more significant because his party came up with the promise of fundamental changes to the economic and social structure of the country. President Buhari pledged to fight insecurity that had reduced Nigerians to the sub-human level and corruption that had threatened to sink the economy. The APC is seen as a left of the centre political party, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) it replaced is regarded as a right of centre political party. The APC victory therefore attracted the expectation of greater attention to the welfare of the people.

    However, about four months into the Buhari administration, disappointment is beginning to set in. While the government has lived up to the pledge to fiercely fight the insurgents in the North Eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, other forms of insecurity have set in. Kidnapping that used to be a problem restricted to the East is now rampant in other parts of the country.

    The economy is deep in the woods and Nigerians look up to the Federal Government to come up with articulate measures to arrest the drift. Unemployment is a time bomb ticking every second as educated youth ply the roads idle and hungry. The Buhari campaign team promised to come up with dole for them to check the effect. When and how this would be is still uncertain.

    The social fabric of the country must not be torn. Inter-ethnic harmony must be protected by the government that has the duty of providing for the needs of all. The nomads deserve to have ranches and grazing reserves where they could take care of their cattle and protect their livelihood. Farmers, too, should not be exposed to avoidable losses in the hands of the herdsmen. Studies of wars and internecine conflicts have shown that the root causes are mostly economic. About 45 years after the civil war, Nigeria cannot afford another.

    The anti-corruption war is believed to have been flagged off with the arraignment of Senate President Bukola Saraki before the Code of Conduct Tribunal. This is not enough. Nigerians are calling for concerted action. They want a system put in place that would check mindless looting of the treasury that has become the norm. We share the concern.

    The economy is being greatly harmed by the failure to put in place an economic team more than four months after the change of baton.

    While President Buhari has shown that he has the intention of promoting good relations with the country’s neighbours and fully integrating her into the international system, there can be no substitute for a foreign policy that would promote the Nigerian interest.

    As Nigerians celebrate 55 years of independence, the Buhari government has a duty to assure all that the electorate acted right in voting it into power. The power sector, agriculture, housing and infrastructure deserve urgent attention.

    Many scholars and nationalists have shouted that the country is at the Edge of a precipice; about to fail. The House must not fall. But, to ensure this, all- government workers, the academia, the youth, the public and private sectors must come together to raise Nigeria. Beyond being regarded as a country of great potential, actual growth and development is required. To rouse Nigeria  from her slumber, all hands must be on deck. The Nigerian nation, at 60, cannot afford to fail the African continent. It should be a giant indeed.

  • Needless deaths in Mina

    Needless deaths in Mina

    •The Saudi authorities must take pilgrims’ safety seriously, as Nigerian Muslim Board failed in accounting for the whereabouts of our nationals

    As at the last count, on September 29, Nigerian pilgrims who died in the Mina, Saudi Arabia, stampede had risen to 64.  But 244 others were still missing.  That is a stupendous harvest of deaths, while performing the Hajj.

    Pilgrims, to the yearly Hajj, should exit with a sense of pride and accomplishment.  Yet, the land is covered with a virtual shroud of death and mourning.  We therefore condole with families of the dead and sympathise with the wounded.  We  pray to God to comfort and strengthen them.

    For Nigeria, the list is especially grim, the flower of the nation and the Nigerian Umma: Prof. Tijjani el-Miskeen, a leading Islamic and Arabic scholar, Justices Abdulkadir Jega and Musa Hassan Alkali, both justices of the Appeal Court (Justice Jega was the presiding judge of the Abuja division of the court), Alhaji Abbas Ibrahim, the Panti Zing (Emir of Zing, in Adamawa State), the Amirul Hajj (leader of the Adamawa pilgrims) who died with two of his four wives), Alhaji Bello Gidan-Hamma, former caretaker chairman of Illela Local Government of Sokoto State, who also died with his mother, stepmother and two wives, and Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf, former editor of the defunct Citizen magazine, just to mention a few.  These were deaths — avoidable deaths — too many!

    With all due respect, the inviolateness of Islamic fatalism that everything that happens has Allah’s stamp, this Saudi stampede had more than its fair share of human carelessness.  The Saudi authorities claimed the stampede would have been avoided, if only the pilgrims had been more orderly.  That might well be.  Nigerians are not especially famous for orderliness since, even here, they seize every available space to cut corners, even if a little patience was better.

    But what the Saudis have tried to keep mute about was that the confusion that triggered the stampede arose from a rather vainglorious closure of the path of the pilgrims — thousands of surging pilgrims, exiting to Mecca from Mina, after the final Hajj rite — to allow the convoy of a Saudi prince easier passage.  So, the Saudi attempt to blame the stampede victims, to cover their own mistake, is obtuse, to put it mildly.

    What the Saudi authorities owe each of the victims and their countries is fulsome apology; and a guarantee of such never happening again — not some insensate rationalisation, betraying a rather cavalier attitude.  Aside from the stampede, there was also the crane accident that felled many at the holy mosque in Mecca.  Were the victims responsible for that too?

    The Saudi authorities must therefore sit up.  God has blessed their land, making it an obligatory destination for every Muslim worldwide, at least once in their lifetime.  That is a sacred privilege that must come with a grave sense of responsibility.  They certainly can do better — and they should.

    But the Saudi aside, it is regrettable that Nigeria also betrayed the shambolic organisation at home, that has given the country a bad name.    It is evidence of lack of the most elementary of organisations that, even days after the stampede, the Nigerian Muslim Pilgrims Board cannot seem to definitively account for the Nigerian casualty, dead or wounded.  Everything appears to be speculation, so much so that as late as September 29, as many as 244 Nigerians are still “missing”.

    A “missing” status is perhaps even more soul-searing to the families of the victims.  In times of great catastrophe, Nigeria must work out a system that accounts for victims in record time.  That way, victims’ families can at least enjoy short periods of closure, even as they cope with their grief.

  • Saraki, resign now

    SIR: The move and the boldness of 83 senators in passing a vote of confidence on the Senate President Bukola Saraki at the red chamber’s sitting of Tuesday 29 is scandalous to the integrity of the chamber, an affront to the sensibilities of Nigerians, the rule of law and also principles of morality. This is a man standing trial before the Code of Conduct Tribunal for alleged false assets declaration. One is bound to be ashamed that senators who should be distinguished in their actions could be seen to glorify criminality.

    It is sad that many of our distinguished senators have not changed from their old ways of handling sensitive national issues such as when their presiding officer, the Senate President is involved in a trial touching on acts of dishonesty, fraudulent disclosure or non-disclosure of his assets.

    If there be honour and integrity in the Senate, its president on being publicly put on trial ought to have stepped aside to await the end of his criminal trial and not to face the other way as if nothing happened. It is mischievous insisting that his travails are the handwork of the people he referred to as “powerful individuals, outside the legislature”. This is an infantile argument to distract attention and also to win the favour of his colleagues.

    The call for Saraki to throw in the towel is premised on the fact that the mandate he holds is that of his constituency but the public office he holds as Senate President is that of an institution belonging to all Nigerians. The Senate as per Dino Melaye may not be distracted by the actions of some powerful individuals outside the National Assembly, but Melaye should be be reminded that by the conventions of civilized democracies from where we learnt our democracy, Saraki would have long been asked to step down and not to taint the sensitive function of making laws.

    Again, to debunk Saraki’s argument that it is taking the government 13 years before bringing him to court, let it be known to him that the law does not prescribe timelines within which he could be tried.

    Finally, one wonders the probative value that the public would ascribe to laws made by a Senate whose head is standing trial on grave criminal allegation. The Senate as a responsible arm of government should act now to save the institution and the Nigerian state from public disparagement. Apart from Saraki, there are other well qualified senators from other sections of the country to pilot the affairs of the Senate. After all, Senator Evan Ewerem who started the senate presidency in 1999 did not in 2003 conclude it; neither did Senator Chuba Okadigbo who took over from him within the same senate session.

     

    • Chief Utum Eteng,

    Calabar.

  • Falae’s kidnap

    Falae’s kidnap

    •Nigeria must confront the abduction epidemic squarely

    The abduction and eventual release of former Secretary to the Federal Government, ex-Minister of Finance and elder statesman, Chief Olu Falae, is yet another stark reminder of Nigeria’s signal failure to properly tackle the kidnapping scourge that has afflicted the country.

    Like similar episodes, the abduction of Chief Falae followed an all-too-familiar trajectory: the victim was going about his legitimate duties when he was accosted by an armed gang which seized him, forced him into a vehicle and disappeared from the vicinity. A few hours later, a ransom demand for N100 million was sent to his family. Some days after, he was released in a blaze of publicity, with the Nigeria Police patting itself on the back for a rescue job well done.

    Kidnap scenarios such as these obviously raise more questions than answers. Why is it that those who engage in the business of kidnapping find it so easy to abduct citizens on such a consistent basis? Why do they always seem able to virtually disappear into thin air, despite the best efforts of security agencies and local vigilante groups to find them? Why has the registration of mobile phone numbers failed to facilitate the location and apprehension of kidnappers? Why are relatively few of these criminals brought to trial?

    While Chief Falae may be arguably the most high-profile victim of kidnapping in the country to date, the list of those who have been abducted reads like a roll-call of the Nigerian elite. It includes the parents of prominent citizens like ex-Minster of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Mikel Obi, politicians, businessmen and entrepreneurs. Foreigners resident in the country are not left out; indeed, the current spate of abductions first began with the kidnapping of foreign oil workers in the-then restive Niger Delta in 2006.

    Abductions have expanded in variety and scope: terrorism-related kidnappings in the north-east; abductions of politicians during elections; seizures of children by housemaids and drivers; ritualistic abductions of individuals in order to harvest their body parts. Several states have become synonymous with the crime, especially Abia, Anambra, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Lagos, Rivers and more recently, Ekiti.

    By some estimates, a minimum of 1,500 individuals are kidnapped in Nigeria on an annual basis. In 2009, the country was ranked sixth in the top ten kidnap nations. In the first half of 2013, the country accounted for an estimated 26 per cent of global kidnap and ransom cases.

    The problem has been worsened by the inadequacy of the country’s overall response. Families are so intent on getting their loved ones back that they are prepared to negotiate with kidnappers, regardless of contrary directives from the security agencies. While this may be a natural response, it simply facilitates the aims of the kidnappers and makes their arrest all the more harder.

    ‘Kidnap scenarios such as these obviously raise more questions than answers. Why is it that those who engage in the business of kidnapping find it so easy to abduct citizens on such a consistent basis? Why do they always seem able to virtually disappear into thin air, despite the best efforts of security agencies and local vigilante groups to find them?’ 

     

  • Averting starvation

    Averting starvation

    •Our prisoners should be entitled to healthy and adequate meals

    If truly a hungry man is an angry man, then trouble looms in our prisons. A non-governmental organisation, the Alliance for Good Governance and Democracy (AGGD), has revealed that the Nigerian Prisons Service is owing contractors supplying food to the prisons about N3billion in the last one year.

    “There are about 56,000 inmates scattered in Nigerian prisons. A lot of prisoners would have been dying on a daily occurrence if not for the kind gesture of the contractors who have not relented in supplying foods to the inmates despite the huge indebtedness by NPS in the last one year,” a release signed by AGGD’s national coordinator and national secretary, Shadrack Nwokolo and Jimi Sanwo, respectively, claimed. The group said the finding was the result of a thorough investigation of the state of prisons across the nation.

    This is surprising; especially coming barely months after the Federal Government increased the feeding allowance of prison inmates from N200 to N300 daily per inmate, excluding N150 allowance for gas per inmate a day, thus bringing the total provision for feeding of each inmate to N450 per day. Despite the so-called increase in the feeding allowance of our prisoners, the N450 per prisoner per day for feeding is still ridiculous. That the contractors are being owed adds salt to the injury.

    Our prison authorities and the government have to realise that prisoners too have rights, and these include access to good food. Even in the best of times, our prisoners are not well fed; that is why many of them look so haggard and abandoned whenever they are brought to court. Moreover, almost all the prisons in the country are congested; making the possibility of contracting diseases very high among the inmates.

    The prisoners provide many of their basic needs like tooth paste, soap, toilet rolls, etc. Indeed, life in the country’s prisons is worse than being in hell whereas prisons are supposed to be reformative centres. Here, unfortunately, they are punitive centres, irrespective of the status of the prisoners, whether they are convicts or awaiting trial.

    Despite this appalling condition, some of the prisoners remain resolute about their dreams. Only a few weeks ago, we celebrated, on this page, the exploits of some of the prisoners who braced all odds to study and even excel, in spite of everything. What this tells us is that being in prison is not the end of life. Indeed, ours is one of the few countries where prisoners are seen as outcasts and never-do-well, and are therefore treated scornfully; this should not be so. Matters are worsened by the fact that majority of the inmates in the country are awaiting trial, which means they could still be freed after trial in the courts of law. So, we ought not to let them pay for offences or crimes they never committed by treating them disdainfully, a thing we should not even extend to convicts serving prison terms in the first place.

    The government must probe the circumstances that led to this huge debt on prisoners’ feeding if it has released funds for the purpose. Nigerians want to know those responsible for this ugly situation and would also appreciate if such people are arrested and prosecuted to serve as deterrence to others. And if it is the government that is yet to release funds for the purpose, it should do so without further delay and also ensure that such a thing does not recur.

    ‘The government must probe the circumstances that led to this huge debt on prisoners’ feeding if it has released funds for the purpose. Nigerians want to know those responsible for this ugly situation and would also appreciate if such people are arrested and prosecuted to serve as deterrence to others’ 

    We have had many cases of jail breaks due often to neglect of prisoners. Prisoners are human beings and are therefore entitled to their daily bread. They can also become violent when starved because a hungry man has nothing to lose. We should not push them to the wall.

     

  • Our beleaguered universities, again

    Our beleaguered universities, again

    • No Nigerian institution makes world’s top 700

    It must be cause for lament again that, as in previous surveys, no Nigerian university was found worthy of inclusion among world’s top 700 in the 2015/16 QS World University Rankings.

    It is even more lamentable that no Nigerian university figures among the 18 that made the cut in Africa  — nine from South Africa, five from Egypt, and one each from Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

    And yet there was a time in recent memory when Nigeria’s first-generation universities – the University of Ibadan, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the University of Ife (since re-named Obafemi Awolowo University), the University of Lagos and Ahmadu Bello University enjoyed at least the same, if not a higher reputation, than the institutions in West and East Africa ranked in the latest QS Survey.

    Nigeria’s premier tertiary institution, the University of Ibadan used to be a destination for recipients of the highly regarded Commonwealth Scholarship. Academic and professional degrees granted by the first-generation universities were deemed equivalent to those granted by the best foreign universities, and those who went on to pursue advanced study with such degrees more than justified their acceptance.

    Those who stayed at home to pursue careers went on to a good start and to flourishing careers, having been prepared adequately.

    Not anymore.

    Degrees from Nigerian medical schools are no longer registrable in most countries of the Western world. Even Master’s degrees from Nigerian universities are oftentimes not deemed sufficient preparation for advanced study abroad. As a result, holders of such degrees are often required to take tests of validation that are often frustrating, if not demeaning.

    There is more than a hint of condescension in this, academic imperialism even.  But even at home, senior government and university officials who cannot be dismissed as flippant, ignorant or unpatriotic, have stated occasion after occasion that the average product of the Nigerian university system today is so lacking in the basics that he or she is for all practical purposes unemployable.

    That assertion may be overbroad. But it is undeniable that the standard of higher education in Nigeria, and indeed the standard of education in general – has fallen precipitously.  It can no longer be assumed that education in any given field equips an individual with the knowledge or the skills set inscribed on those glittering certificates.

    The reasons are plain.

    There is a huge deficit in the educational infrastructure. Classrooms are cramped. Hostels are crowded. Laboratories are poorly equipped.  Library collections are severely dated.  The university environment is for the most part not conducive to learning and to the building and nurturing of character.

    While there has been exponential growth in numbers of tertiary institutions, there has been no appreciable increase in the number of qualified faculty.  The result is two-fold.  The available pool has been spread too thin to make the kind of impact that earns good notice in rankings. Faculty possessing less than the optimal qualification often do the bulk of the teaching, especially in the newer private universities, with a sprinkling of senior professors who left the older institutions on reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.

    Pay and conditions for faculty, though much improved, still lag considerably behind standards elsewhere, with adverse consequences for commitment and dedication.  Funding hardly keeps pace with expenditure, and universities are taxed with generating revenues in an unpromising economic environment.

    Despite much talk about autonomy, public universities are still treated as extensions of the public service rather than the special institutions they are.  Private universities, whether secular or faith-based, function largely as fiefs of their proprietors. Some of them are monuments to vanity, if not folly.

    In such an atmosphere, it makes little sense to keep on establishing more and more universities that hardly fit the description.  There will have to be at a point some rationalisation and consolidation so that available resources can be used more productively.

    As a way of enhancing the revenue-generation capacity of the universities, research that can translate into blueprints and patents should be funded by industry and government.

    The alumni constitute a largely-untapped source of support for our universities.   To be able to draw on this potentially vast resource, each university must cultivate and engage its alumni.

    ‘It must be cause for lament again that, as in previous surveys, no Nigerian university was found worthy of inclusion among world’s top 700 in the 2015/16 QS World University Rankings. It is even more lamentable that no Nigerian university figures among the 18 that made the cut in Africa’