From the Archives: Sacked and New VCs by Fiat and Bantustanization of Nigerian Universities

[Okey Iheduru]

On October 18th, 2014, I posted a very long response to an open invitation to me from Prof. Bolaji Aluko which he made in this Forum. He had invited me to come join him at FU, Otuoke for a year to witness the challenges of running universities in Nigeria, instead of "jetting in and out of Nigeria and criticizing everything Nigeria from the comfort of [my] foreign location." Aluko was responding to my criticism of the lack of diversity at the University of Ibadan--a development I called clannishness and Bantustanization--in an institution that claims to be the "premier" university in Nigeria (even though that title rightly belongs to the University of Nigeria as the first full-fledged indigenous university in the country). Readers will recall that I provided overwhelming evidence that rested the suggestion that I was simply clueless about the higher education landscape in Nigeria which I supposedly relished in pillorying. 

Looking back now, I believe my elaboration of the dangers 

brewing at UI and other universities in Nigeria (excerpted from that reply to Aluko) which I've pasted below remains as instructive as ever in the context of the on-going furor over due process issues in the sack/retirement/ replacement of the heads of 12 Federal Universities last week by the Minister of Education. Hopefully, this two-year old write-up also contributes to the more elevating discussions about the way forward that's just beginning in this Forum.  Enjoy!

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"... in the 21st century, we don't necessary all have to be physically present in Nigeria 'to contribute our own quotas.' The frontiers of citizens' loyalty have so expanded that citizenship can nowadays be mutually shared by those in the in homeland with those outside of it. Virtual citizenship and 'migrant transnationalism' are no longer a novelty, while shared citizenship may actually enable the home-country to benefit from the best its nationals can offer from wherever they are domiciled. It would therefore be inaccurate to suggest that I'm either disconnected from Nigeria; or that I simply 'jet in and out' of the country and only relish in criticizing its educational system.

I conceded to Prof. Aluko that my experiences are hardly the same as actually running a university in Nigeria. I made it clear--and I've already stated earlier--that I'm not sure I'm cut out or ready for such a responsibility right now. The VC and I further reminisced on the impossible challenges university administrators and staff/faculty face in Nigeria and the imperative of both transparency and a committed support staff for any successful administration. Besides, some folks may be better gifted at identifying problems and/or producing blueprints for their solution--or even being gadflies; but such people may be atrociously unsuitable for implementation or governing. There were a few surprising thoughts about the future I shared with VC Aluko that I hope convinced him that critics of official actions or policies are not necessarily enemies--he should know better, being an activist whose name was once conspicuously displayed on the Nigerian government's 'WANTED LIST' at all immigration entry/exit points. Take it from me folks, if Aluko fails as VC, most of us Diaspora Nigerians will be in for a nasty future in Nigeria.

However, there is a difference between asking a fair question about official policy or actions and blind criticism (thanks to Ogugua Anunoby for his usual crisp analysis). The University of Ibadan's (UI) PRO's challenge for me to produce evidence that UI is worse than other federal universities in its lack of diversity unfortunately missed my higher expectation of Nigeria's premier university. What made UI great in the past was its diverse faculty, staff and students. 

Today, this is what you'll see at Ibadan:

In the Dept. of Educational Management, all but one of the 14 PhDs on the faculty obtained their doctorates from Ibadan. 

In Political Science, it's 15 UI PhDs out of 17; 

Sociology: 18 UI PhDs out of 19; 

Economics: 21 UI PhDs out of 27; 

Agricultural Economics: 15 UI PhDs out of 18; 

Food Technology: 7 UI PhDs out of 8; 

Medicine--Preventive & Primary Care: 7 UI MBBS/MPH out of 8; 

Environmental Health: 6 UI PhDs/MPH out of 7; 

Human Nutrition: 11 UI PhD/MSc out of 12; 

Child Health: all 8 faculty have UI MSc/PhDs; and 

Microbiology: 14 UI PhDs out of 15 doctorates. 

One of the few 'diverse' departments is Chemistry where 9 of the 42 lecturers (including 3 MSc from UI) are non-UI PhDs. Surprisingly, one of them is a PhD from Bayero University, Kano--the only PhD from any university in northern Nigeria in all the departments I reviewed at Nigeria's premier university! 

Altogether (those departments I reviewed), there was only one PhD from Unilag, but NONE from OAU--Ife, UniIlorin, Uniben, ABU--Zaria, Maiduguri, Sokoto, Unijos, Port Harcourt or Unical; let alone The University of Nigeria, to stay with the 13 older universities. I did not bother with the ethnicity of the UI faculty (unfortunately, our names give us up in situations like this) because I didn't want to start another civil war. Yet, you wonder why I'm being vilified by UI's attack dogs for suggesting this culture of 'group-think' falls significantly short of what might qualify as 'global best practices' for a '21st-century university.' 

Perhaps, a one or two-day retreat led by the very same officials who built this comfortable enclave over the years is the answer. I also acknowledge the difficulty in producing PhDs, or any graduate for that matter. However, someone must explain why it wouldn't make sense to try to consider the dangers of in-breeding in a university like UI in faculty recruitment. In some of the departments under review, PhD A supervised PhDs B and C who in-turn supervised PhDs D and E who supervised PhDs F and G who are currently supervising another cohort of PhDs. At times, it's one or two PhDs who produced the other half a dozen PhDs and retained them as "21st-century" academics who dare not challenge his Olympian erudition with as little as 10 Google Scholar citation counts (perhaps, self-citations). 

Unless you have not experienced first hand the tyranny among some members of our professoriate (thankfully, the UI retreat broached the taboo of treating students like human beings!) ... And, you also wonder whether these positions IN A FEDERAL UNIVERSITY are ever advertised; or, are they simply filled through cronyism and godfatherism? As I acknowledged in my initial reaction to the news about the UI retreat, Ibadan is not alone in this; even many of the newly-created state and private universities are doing the same. Might it not be a case of the kid-goats learning how to eat the grass that causes acute bowel movement from watching Mother Goat? 

When issues like these are raised, especially by any one in the Diaspora, our compatriots in the homeland easily take refuge in irrelevant comparisons with "Europe and America" where there's no NEPA problem, blah! blah! blah! And I say, please don't bring America or Europe into this. None of the issues I've been accused of "criticizing" about Nigerian universities has anything to do with the absence of the supposed bed of roses I enjoy in America--from quality control (of teaching and scholarship productivity) to toilet facilities for students; over-grown lawns and footpaths; students' final year projects that nobody reads; how to teach 17-20 year-olds and set proper exam questions and mode of exams; mind-boggling lack of diversity; the wickedness of asking job applicants to submit 30 copies of their application packets; container loads of outdated and anachronistic cultures and traditions that were developed for a 200-student body that are still applied to 38,000 students, etc. 

And, then the biggest problem: ATTITUDE!!! It may interest you to note that the Nigerian military uses the "Turnitin" anti-plagiarism software at NDC, Abuja and at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji to minimize the problem of academic dishonesty among its officers. Will ASUU accept this innovation, starting with its members' publications? While residing in the same country that has insurmountable NEPA problem, I was able to teach four courses ONLINE to my students in America--a number of Diaspora academics who are currently in Nigeria are doing the same right now. Does it mean there's no electricity problem? Absolutely not.

It's not NEPA, bad roads, bad water, bad schools for kids, run-away inflation, "poor salary"; instead it's the neo-medieval ATTITUDE that is destroying so many universities in Nigeria: especially, seeking comfort and protection among folk that look, think and act like us, thereby in many cases murdering critical thinking and the ability to ask the "why not" questions; a neo-feudal and vassalage system which benefits, and therefore, irrational to break by members of the ethnic/clan volk. It would indeed be tragic if UI still does not appreciate its pride of place in Nigeria's educational journey and consequently try to be the adult in the house. The issue is not coming home "to help"; are we willing to listen and, possibly, help both sides change for the betterment of all of us?

There will obviously be another day to continue this conversation--and I sincerely apologize for making it too long. I strongly believe there's need for another UI retreat--this time ON DIVERSITY. I'd be happy to be part of the conversation--if I can do it with folks with tanks, mortars and koboko, I don't see why it can't happen among kindred spirits. It won't help anymore maligning one another on either side of the pond. And, I'll continue talking with VC Aluko about FU Otuoke for both of us actually share a lot of values in common, even though I may not like his politics."

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Okey Iheduru

You can access some of my papers on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at: http://ssrn.com/author=2131462.