Fw: prof's column

[ayo_ol...@yahoo.com]

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From: Ayo Olukotun <ayo_ol...@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, 13 July 2017 11:38 To: ayo_ol...@yahoo.com Reply To: ayo_ol...@yahoo.com Cc: betap...@yahoo.com Subject: prof's column

     RESTORING THE CREDIBILITY OF OUR UNIVERSITIES

           AYO OLUKOTUN

"Paucity of funds alone does not tell the full story of the non-performance of Nigerian universities. The governance system is as important, if not more important. A university that has all the funds it needs, but is deficient in governance capacity is almost certainly going to shipwreck" A Former Vice Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University, Prof.Olufemi Mimiko, July 10,2017.

This columnist spent the better part of Monday at a robust parley on higher education in Nigeria, organised by the Pan-African University Press, in conjunction with the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy. Held at the Conference Centre of the University of Ibadan, the conversation paraded a distinguished roll call of University administrators, past and present, denizens of the Ivory Tower and professionals associated with the education industry.

The topical dialogue was structured around a 2017 book entitled 'Getting our Universities Back on Track: Reflections and Governance Paradigms from my Vice Chancellorship", authored by Professor Femi Mimiko, a former Vice Chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba, who also gave a keynote address, from which the opening quote is sourced. Senior professors in attendance included, Oladipo Akinkugbe, Bolanle Awe, Adetoun Ogunseye, now in her 90's ,Ademola Oyejide, Gabriel Ogunmola, Bayo Okunade, Tola Badejo, Eghosa Osaghae, Ebun Oduwole, Segun Ogungbemi, Michael Adeyeye and Toyin Falola, who chaired the discussion. Ibadan, with its dense concentration of star academics has been described as the 'Boston of Nigeria', an intellectual epicentre that replicates, to an extent, the cultural effloresence of the North Eastern seabord of the United States. This much was in evidence in the quality of ideas on offer on Monday, as well as in the evident nostalgia for those years when Ibadan and other Nigerian Universities provided, in the words of Prof. Babs Fafunwa, as quoted by Mimiko, "educational qualifications comparable to the academic standard, culture and character of European Universities" .

Falola, the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas, called for a shift away from the colonial paradigm of higher education, to a framework that is sensitive to changing contexts and technologies , globalisation as well the informal economy and demographics such as an exploding youth population. 

Put differently, we should stop trying to reproduce the classical western university but sustain institutions that tie up with African socio economic and cultural contexts. Ogunmola, Chancellor of Lead City University, Ibadan. makes the same point by asking the question, are our universities purpose built? He went on to suggest that our universities should explore multiple sources of funding and share resources instead of spreading themselves thin. Drawing on her background in information science, Ogunseye elaborates Ogunmola's point, by suggesting a network of information, data and resources among Nigerian Universities. Oyejide argues the need for evidence based policy that takes account of the linkages across policy areas. He mentioned the proposal of a National Skills Strategy, to more properly align university training with the employment market. He agreed with Akinkugbe on the need to close the widening gap between policy and implementation in the educational sector. 

The point requires some amplification, given that several conversations of this nature have been held across the country on the crisis in higher education.It is to be regretted that most of the recommendations from these talkshops had little or no impact on the policy arena . It is worth asking the question why there is such a disconnect between policy related conversations, and implementation of policies.Before developing the narrative further, this writer requests the reader to indulge an interlude of a short take.

It was a relief that the Supreme Court finally ended on Tuesday the long drawn tussle for leadership among rival factions of the Peoples' Democratic Party, by declaring the Senator Ahmed Makarfi faction as legitimate. By this landmark judgement, the apex court ended the slide of the party to irrelevance and self destructive bickering. For the PDP which ruled Nigeria for 16 unbroken years, it was a long night filled with activities of anti heroes, who made fortunes out of the crisis, fifth columnists, infamous judicial verdicts, daring double dealing, and unedifying dramas. For those of us who dread the prospect of one party rule, it is salutary that the PDP now has the leeway to reconstruct a ruined past, and become a genuine alternative to the ruling All Progressive Congress. If there is any lesson to be learnt, it is the folly and futility of power plays gone gaga and costly ego games.It says much of the standards of the political class that a major party had no qualms about staging a war of attrition among its component parts. For now, the PDP has a lot to live down:if it succeeds in getting its acts together, the chances are high that the politics of 2019, will rise above the familiar tale of voting without chosing at election time.    

 To get back to the discourse on higher education, Wale Babalakin made the interesting point that if Vice Chancellors and senior academics spoke truth to power more often, we will be rid of the charade whereby state governors who can barely afford to sustain existing universities defy rationality to set up even more universities for political or primordial reasons . The same pattern of the politicisation of higher education was lamented by prof. Bolanle Awe, who lamented that many of those appointed to university councils by the Federal and state governments are second rate politicians, who know next to nothing about university governance. Still on politicisation, Dr. Tunji Olaopa, Executive Vice Chairman of ISGPP argues that "the most evident problem of higher education in Nigeria, is majorly one of politicising every plank on which development rides". He went on to allude to 'policy irresponsibility that turns the establishment of universities into amenities for political compensation, thus littering the whole space with underfunded universities that government themselves know that are not viable'. Implicated in this dimension of the debate are such issues as the subversion of excellence and merit through Federal Character, the tendency for every state governor to establish a university in their home towns, the over centralisation of education through such bodies as the National University Commission, and of course, the impact of a poorly governed polity with huge infrastructural deficits on the educational system.

Mimiko, after providing a justification for writting his memoirs went on to advance what he called five theses on university governance. These centre around the need to professionalise university administration, to reimagine the running of universities by situating them in a governance paradigm based on excellence, moderating union activism on campus, redressing the persistent underfunding of universities as well as weaving into the policy matrix, the interlinkages between universities and national development. 

It is difficult to systematically discuss the issues in the course of a brief write up; it is nevertheless interesting that using this paradigm, Mimiko like his counterpart at the Olabisi Onabanjo University,Prof.Saburi Adesanya, maintained the calendar for five unbroken years without shutdown. It should be rewarding therefore for policy makers and university administrators to pay attention to his new book and the compelling suggestions that flowed from it at the Ibadan discourse on higher education.

[Tunji Olaopa]

http://opinion.premiumtimesng.com/2017/07/16/empathetic-scholarship-from-odia-ofeimun-to-richard-joseph-by-tunji-olaopa/

[Michael Vickers]

Yes. 

Tis vital to incorporate,

Not ignore 

The indigenous context. 

Yes, in alien Western systems there is the vital and intense focus on the 

Rational/ Cognitive, which is of course merely Instrumental. 

But there is the root which must give life to it all, 

If it is to serve its fundamental Divine Humane Purpose; 

And that derives from Heart/ Soul/ and Being. 

And it is from out of this that Africa--largely ignored/ unheralded/ carefully excluded/ suppressed--is already Well-advanced in providing the leading thought, and actions, 

--As above with the many mentioned and contributing--The Rocket-Fuel of Humane Civil Life that is the future of Of our Planet Earth; This small bit of territory and its peoples in the Creator's Universal Freehold, Of which he is Landlord Supreme. 

All very simple of course. 

And we human folk in our slow and cautious manner 

Are progressively making our way. 

One can but ask in soulful voice/ lament:  "How long, oh Lord? 

How long?"

Baba m

Sent from my iPad

[Tunji Olaopa]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Femi Mimiko, mni" <femi....@gmail.com>
Date: 18 Jul 2017 9:38 a.m.
Subject: Re: Empathetic Scholarship
To: "Tunji" <tolao...@gmail.com>
Cc: 

EVC Dr Olaopa,

Quite an exciting and refreshing thought, this certainly is, on your concept of "empathetic scholarship." It is more so because it challenges, and to good effect, the conventional cannons - commitment to objectivity - by which social science scholarship is benchmarked. The truth actually is that at some moments, and on some subjects, what we social scientists do is to struggle to achieve what at best does not go beyond mere detached academic studies/proclamations.  Herein for me, lies the critical value of your thesis, that we should, maybe not always, take the liberty and courage to allow our empathy some space in our scholarship. The present danger, however, is that we may easily slip off into mere advocacy thereby.

I concur that Project Nigeria is indeed a project, for all the reasons you adduced, as nation building everywhere is a journey not a destination. On the widespread frustration with and about this project, the central issue remains the same. The prevailing level of alienation which the Nigerian contraption is ensconced in, makes it practically impossible for it to be stable. It can neither  seriously undertake nor accomplish the task of development. Elsewhere, I used the concept of "terra nullius" to explain this. It is the impression that Nigeria is not really owned, in the true sense of the word. It doesn't seem to belong to anyone, and so everybody, especially its ruling elites, would readily lay it to waste without any compunction whatsoever. Maybe this is where your thesis on empathetic scholarship becomes relevant, focused as it were on practical modalities of stanching alienation, including on the intellectual plane, and getting the country to be owned, and thus empathised with, so that the development agenda could for all time be mainstreamed.

- femi mimiko, mni.

On Jul 16, 2017 11:52 AM, Tunji Olaopa <tolao...@gmail.com> wrote:

http://opinion.premiumtimesng.com/2017/07/16/empathetic-scholarship-from-odia-ofeimun-to-richard-joseph-by-tunji-olaopa/

On 13 Jul 2017 20:36, <ayo_ol...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

From: Ayo Olukotun <ayo_ol...@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, 13 July 2017 11:38 To: ayo_ol...@yahoo.com Reply To: ayo_ol...@yahoo.com Cc: betap...@yahoo.com Subject: prof's column

On 16 Jul 2017 5:43 p.m., "Richard A Joseph" <r-jo...@northwestern.edu> wrote:

Greetings All:

The eloquent essay by Dr. Tunji Olaopa, and others in recent weeks, testify to the intensified collaboration taking place across time and space. I read Dr. Olaopa's kind tribute moments after resolving to bring all the resources I can gather to meet the challenges he describes.

Odia Ofeimun and Eghosa Osaghae, also saluted in the essay, are former students of mine at the University of Ibadan. They have demonstrated profound intelligence and integrity in the subsequent four decades. Many of our colleagues are of similar character. We must combine our talents and strengths to move the Nigerian Project up and over the Sisyphean cliff. 

In a few months, a distillation of my essays and commentaries on Nigeria since 1977 will be made available in an online repository, Arch Library, of Northwestern University. Much more will be made available for Collaborative Research, Learning, and Action in the months to follow.

Sincere regards,

Richard

---

From: Tunji Olaopa <tolao...@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 16, 2017 5:52 AM
To: Prof Ayo OLUKOTUN
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Subject: Re: Fw: prof's column

 

[ayo_ol...@yahoo.com]

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

From: Ayo Olukotun <ayo_ol...@yahoo.com> Sent: Tuesday, 18 July 2017 11:26

To: ayo_ol...@yahoo.com Reply To: ayo_ol...@yahoo.com Cc: betap...@yahoo.com Subject: prof's column

 OKOGIE AND NIGERIA'S UNENDING SEARCH FOR LEADERSHIP

AYO OLUKOTUN

"Neither an ailing and absent president nor an acting president can lead Nigeria out of the present situation.Nigerian leaders must wake up lest the ship of state sink". Emeritus Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, July 10, 2017.

If the arena of an underperforming and clearly inefficient state is Nigeria's governance underbelly,its magnificent ,if sometimes docile civil society, is its most precious asset. Indeed, a future historian will ponder how a civil society with an eminent cast of characters and internationally acclaimed actors, end up ever so often with dysfunctional governments, populated by mediocrities, crooks and more than a fair share of legislators who have reduced governance to jestful, low grade entertainment. 

Given this backdrop, it is exciting to have the likes of Archbishop Anthony Okogie, quoted in the opening portion of this write up, speak out from time to time. Counterposing to our unending dance of the forests, a vision of an orderly, democratic society, in which inspirational leaders chart the path to greatness, Okogie now in his 80's, is no stranger to social and political alerts, addressed to our leaders, on burning national issues. Last year, he addressed an open letter to president Muhammadu Buhari, warning that widespread hunger and famine constituted clear and present dangers to the nation under his watch. 

The priest's latest intervention touched on several critical issues that have thrown the nation into a precarious balance, and a state of decided unease. The first, which he merely flashed, but did not discuss in detail concerns the political vacuum created by the president's protracted infirmity, and repeated medical vacations, in the context of the politics surrounding an Acting Presidency. It should be recalled that Buhari has now spent over 70days away from his job, at a London hospital, in what is becoming a medical odyssey, giving rise to several speculations about the exact state of his health.The opposition People's Democratic Party, notably Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose, and former Minister for Aviation, chief Femi Fani Kayode insists, without offering proof, that Buhari is severely incapacitated and possibly terminally ill. His handlers, on the other hand, maintain that he is recovering fast and might resume in a fortnight. No one seems to know for sure; what is clear however is that Buhari's doctors have not given him a clean bill of health, that will enable him to return to his job.Okogie argues that the untidy situation and lame duck character of an Acting Presidency, complicated by the national question, suggest that in a season of growing disquiet, the country lacks the cohesiveness of clear and decisive leadership. 

There is nothing to dispute about the unsatisfactory nature of the current impasse, except to reminisce that it was an avoidable circumstance . Okogie eloquently raises other issues of pressing concern, such as the growing insecurity in the land, the melodramatic nature of the anti corruption struggle with its fascination with trial by media, rather than due diligence, growing socio-economic disparity between the super affluent rich and the miserably poor, as well as the feebleness of law enforcement institutions. To be sure, and as this columnist repeatedly argued, the famine of good and visionary leaders is not a Nigerian exception, but a global malaise. Look, for example, at the United States, which under a Donald Trump presidency, features a divided nation, a leader with an uncertain, sometimes laughable grip on foreign policy, a rapidly eroding public approval rating, in the context of an economy where the upper 10% are splendidly and obscenely wealthy, in comparison with the rest of the population. By some estimates, Trump is projected as the most unpopular president in American history, despite a diminishing but sizable number of true believers in his style of anti politics. 

Do you want to cross the Atlantic and look at post Brexit Britain? An election called by the Prime Minister, Theresa May, to increase her parliamentary base, and strengthen her hand in impending negotiations around Brexit,turned into a nightmare and a reversal of her party's fortunes. Uncertainty rules the roost as the combination of repeated terror attacks, diminishing economic growth and a neo-Thacherite roll back of the welfare state, take centre stage. Would you want to visit Latin American countries, such as Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico?There, popular agitations and protests over corruption, cronyism and the incompetence of state officials are notable features. The promises of developmental Utopias, very much in the air, a decade ago, had gone unfulfilled; while the gains of neo-liberal reforms had been eroded by state incompetence, bureaucratic corruption and the downturn in commodity prices in the world market.Neither socialism, wearing a democratic badge, nor neo-liberalism, have availed for these countries, some of which are far slipping into ungovernability. 

I make this point, not to excuse the slovenliness and laxity at home, but to throw in a global perspective on our leadership failures, as observed by Okogie. Engrossing is what the priest had to say about growing insecurity across the nation, rapidly flickering pass the danger mark.Listen to him,"We have the police and the military;we have assorted security agencies with exotic names. Yet, Nigerians are robbed and murdered in their homes, abducted on the streets, at the mercy of gangsters, ritualists and cultists, in their neighbourhood, while the police are helpless to the point of non-existence". This brings up the paradox of a state, in this case, a semi democracy that is authoritarian without being authoritative, as Ali Mazrui once observed, featuring a security infrastructure that is bloated and visible, but fails in the capacity to deliver on it's core mandate, namely the protection of lives and citizens. 

How did this come about? A recent report indicating that the police had not paid its staff for a couple of months, forcing its rank and file to beg, is instructive. There is too much focus on appearances and externalities, rather than the substance and efficiency of good governance.For a nation in the throes of a demographic revolution, resulting in an upsurge of the youth population, it is scandalous that we lack a credible youth policy, and that we both underpay and sometimes starve security institutions, which are expected to maintain a vigil over the fall out of an exploding youth segment. 

To slow down descent to anarchy, we must go back to the drawing board, in order to firm up national security, and to socialise the youths by tackling unemployment, and providing amenities, including decent education, that will absorb the ingrained restlessness of our youths. 

I do not agree with the priest regarding his take that because poor leadership marginalises all Nigerians, the hue and cry about marginalisation of some ethnic groups are uncalled for.There is a relationship between leadership mediocrity and the national question; it is this relationship and inability to confront the national question, that have made it easy for daring crooks and nonentities to become notable politicians.Once we resolve the national question by renegotiating the terms of association of the nation state, it will be easier to resolve the leadership crisis.

Overall, Okogie has raised interesting issues in a direct and forthright manner. It is worth our while to ponder his thoughts.

[Tunji Olaopa]

http://opinion.premiumtimesng.com/2017/07/21/toyin-falola-nigerian-history-and-the-african-humanities-by-tunji-olaopa/

[ayo_ol...@yahoo.com]

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

From: Ayo Olukotun <ayo_ol...@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, 27 July 2017 11:36 To: joel...@yahoo.com

Reply To: ayo_ol...@yahoo.com Cc: betap...@yahoo.com Subject: prof's column

HARVEST OF U.K DEGREES FOR THE WARDS OF OUR POLITICIANS

AYO OLUKOTUN

"With the quality of Nigerian degrees likely to remain substandard, Nigerian students who can afford to study abroad will continue to do so. As a result, the total number of international students will continue to rise, with Britain well placed to benefit". British Council Report 2012.

Recently, the graduation from British Universities of the sons of some of our top politicians attracted animated discussion on social media, following the posting on facebook of photos from their graduation ceremonies. Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki's son, Seni, graduated with a first class degree from the London School of Economics, Bidemi, Senator Babafemi Ojudu's son, graduated from Durham University, also with a first class degree, while Ahamefela, Dr. Rochas Okorocha's son, successfully completed a masters' degree from Imperial College, London, having also bagged a first class degree from the university of Manchester, two years ago.

The facebook photos conveyed the proud ectasy of the politicians as they hugged or shook hands with their sons.Fully conscious of what a fortune it costs these days to educate one's wards abroad, this columnist congratulates the three politicians for both the graduation of their sons, and their star performance. Beginning on a lighter note, many will recall that Punch Columnist, Prof. Niyi Akinnaso, had recently queried the glut of first class degrees in Nigerian Universities (What is your Class of Degree? The Punch May 23, 2017). Well, Akinnaso may wish to extend his probing research skills to the United Kingdom, where so many first class degrees are being netted by sons and daughters of the political elite. As someone noted in the torrents of comments in the social media, even Mutallab, who was later caught trying to detonate a bomb on a United States bound plane, bagged a first class. 

Of course, it is unlikely, even far fetched to imagine that British Universities, with a reputation for excellence will lower standards just to please Nigerian politicians with deep pockets. Still, it might still be of interest to investigate the matter, in case the concept of degrees for export is not totally extinct. Now to substantive matters. The Eastonian definition of politics as the authoritative allocation of values, suggest, among other things that the actions, inactions, even the body language of political leaders chart a course for the rest of us to follow. So, with so many top politicians, with access to the national kitty, proudly advertising the education of their wards abroad, while perpetuating the comatose state of Nigerian education, one would think that Nigeria had been recolonised by Britain! A few months ago, I chaired the 7th Founders' Day Lecture of Caleb University, Ikorodu, which was delivered by Prof. Abel Olayinka, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan. On that occasion, the Special Guest of Honour, Dr. Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosunmu, went down memory lane to recall that her father had a policy of educating all his wards in Nigeria. Chief Obafemi Awolowo made an exception in her case, she reminisced, because of the existential threats, posed to the politician and his family, in the year she gained admission to the University of Ibadan. I can confirm that the late Mrs Ayodele Soyode, Dr Awolowo's sister, graduated a few years ahead of me at the then University of Ife. So, for politicians of an earlier generation, nationalism was not an abstraction to be deployed for political correctness,but the definitive mentra by which they ordered their actions. 

What do we have today? A riot of populist slogans that bear no relationship to political behaviour. Our leaders tell us to buy made in Nigeria goods, but flaunt the latest goods and services from everywhere in the world except Nigeria. At the faintest evidence of a headache, they jet out to British or American hospitals to be diagnosed or treated. Does it not strike them that the leaders of the countries they visit, do not behave that way, and they employ every occasion to promote the brand, the identity, the peculiar niches of their countries?Does it not worry any of our leaders that as the opening quote indicates, the British are now banking on the continued existence of Nigerian education as a substandard species? Dr Patrick Wilmot, it was, who is credited with the remark that a later generation of Nigerians surveying what a mess our politicians have made, despite the splendid opportunities they have, would wonder why there are so few wise men among them. Wise men see beyond today to invest in the future.They realise that some of the opportunities offered today to their nation may never come again, at least not in the same posh manner. They also know that the trends that they set today will become points of departure for their nation tomorrow. 

It would have been refreshing, therefore, if there is a critical mass of Nigerian politicians who are not only making efforts to turn the tide of mediocrity in our educational landscape, but are willing to match words with actions, by making it mandatory for their wards to take their first degrees in Nigeria, while going overseas to take post graduate degrees. 

Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, obviously has his weaknesses and transgressions, but he at least has the presence of mind to have insisted that his kids be educated within our shores. That gesture allowed him, last week, to claim the moral high ground against politicians from the ruling party, who had sent their wards at tender ages to the United Kingdom. That list includes President Muhammadu Buhari, whose son and daughter graduated last year from a British University. Fair comment requires that we admit that the quality of Nigerian education has continued to go down hill for many years. The question however is, how can the system be healed if all the doctors who should cure it go to all lengths to ensure that their wards do not partake of it? 

The outpourings of criticisms, mainly by Nigerian youths on social media in respect of the politicians who posted the graduation photos of their sons on facebook, are based on the condemnation of the hypocrisy of claiming to reform a system, while not been man enough to allow your family members to experience the reforms.

There is another side to the matter, namely that the kids who are sent abroad at tender ages learn the normal curriculum, as well as imbibe a hidden curriculum which glorifies the countries and races where they studied, and disdain their country of origin, which presumably they are coming back to govern. No wonder it is so difficult to make meaningful changes. 

What then is to be done? The Nigerian legislature should pass a law which will make it mandatory for top office holders to train their wards up to first degree level within Nigeria, making exceptions for cases where their courses are not available within Nigeria. That apart, it is obvious that the thorough solution is to bring up our schools and universities to the competitive standards that they once enjoyed. Finally, the electorate should be mobilised by civil society to sanction politicians, at the polls who only engage in glib talk about reforms, but jump ship when the going gets tough .