Nigerian higher education have been eluded with lots of negative vices such as constant strike, cultism, corruption and sexual malpractices. And lots others, All these are agents of death to our educational industry. The youth should be given the appropriate quality academic training and an environment that would enable them to reach their full potential.
Presently in Nigeria the educational system or cycle can be divided into to three cycles which includes
Cycle one: primary education
Cycle two: secondary education
Cycle three: tertiary education
Each of these cycles has its own setbacks or factors which are responsible for the death of our educational system in this country.
Primary education
This cycle form the foundation of our educational system in this stage students are first and foremost exposed to the moral ethics of the class room they come in contact with the out side world where they learn how to read, speak and write but the reverse is the case in Nigeria. Most Nigeria public primary schools Although Nigeria's educational institutions in general are in dire need, the most troubled of the three tiers is the primary education sector. The recent statistics on primary education available to this writer shows that there are about 2,015 primary schools in Nigeria with no buildings of any type. Classes are held under trees. The quality of lectures conducted under such an inhumane condition would not be anything to be proud of. With this dismal statistics, the government is still in the habit of allocating less money to the educational sector. If one may ask: with the troubling revelations of the shortage and "half-baked" teachers employed to teach in the nation's schools, how are we certain the current UBE program will be successful? Has the government trained the required number and quality of teachers needed. teachers are also not properly motivated to perform their duties well? classrooms and lacks seats , and as such most pupils going sit on bare floor. books and other teaching materials are not readily available. inother improve the standard of education in Nigeria, the society has to first educate the educators, and motivate them to perform their duties well, But the leaders do not seem to want to listen!
However, the UNICEF in it's 'state of the world's children' report for 1999' pointed out that about four million Nigerian children have no access to basic education, and that majority of those that are 'lucky' to enter schools are given sub-standard education .
(i) SECONDARY SCHOOLS - Before the active participation of Nigeria in the oil producing sector, that is, when Nigeria was run by money from groundnuts produced from the North, palm products from the East, and cocoa in the west, students saw the enabling hard work that parents put in for their children to attend schools. It was not too surprising then that many students helped their parents on the farm during their summer holidays, students respected their teachers and the nation was morally upright. The value of hard work was ingrained in the working habit of students. The academic environment under which the students worked then was very soothing to the soul, conducive to academic pursuit and encouraging to students. Primary and secondary school teachers were interested in a holistic academic growth of their students and parents were the first line of academic success for their children. The schools were kept neat, students were inspected to make sure their uniforms were clean, moral character and social orders were maintained. The students were able compete in a healthy academic environment. Students also found time to read books during their holidays and some even pushed the knowledge of their teachers to the limit when they got back to school from holidays. That was then and this is now.
Today, students go to school hungry, they suffer from all kinds of water borne deceases, and they lack of textbooks that reflect improved technology. The school libraries are empty and students can now only yearn for knowledge. The fact that secondary school students are still excelling should not come as a surprise because Nigerians are very gifted and talented. The developed world will not survive for a year if they are presented with Nigeria’s present educational system. As we noted above, students were much healthier, schools and library were well stocked with textbooks, academic environment was enabling, teachers had innate interest in the progress of their pupils, and parents made sure that the children grew academically, socially and morally. Unfortunately, today students are learning in dilapidated buildings, environmentally depressing and learning disabling situations and yet some of these students are still excelling.
ii) UNIVERSITIES: Nevertheless, the increased need for higher education during the oil boom of the 1970s in Nigeria, up to mid 80’s the five premier universities, Ahmadu Bello university, Zaria; University of Ibadan, University of Ife, University of Lagos, and University of Nsukka were centers of academic excellence. There were few universities and many students to be admitted and competition was very fierce but healthy. Even then, many students with grade II found it difficult to gain admission because there were so many excellent students to pick fromcoupled with political pressure, led to the establishment of many universities in the society. And 'an explosive expansion in enrolments' during this period marked the beginning of 'the decline in quality' of education in the society. During the Gowon era, prices skyrocketed, and then crude oil became the only way that Nigeria generated her revenue. Many otherwise capable farmers, and market men and women abandoned their lands, bought themselves suits, briefcases and headed for Lagos in search of easy money. Earlier in the seventies, government created new states that also demanded for and got their own universities. Nigerian government influenced the admission standards by establishing the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB, introducing Federal character, catchment areas, et cetera but without monitoring the standard. Prospective university students that needed admission simply got letters from the head of state, a governor, or a Minister in order to gain admission. There is nothing wrong with helping another human being in need but when such help is provided, those who stretch their neck out to help must also make sure that such help does not go to waste. In and by itself, getting to the university at all cost should not be the only reason for the destruction of a viable educational system but the fact that these students did not work hard to justify the chance of a life time is.
Self-seeking visionless leaders created new universities but did not present viable strategies for absorbing the graduates. Unfortunately, the universities were asked to turn out more graduates without adequate plan to absorb the graduates in a viable employment. It was also during this same period that many none graduates that could not execute contracts were awarded contracts, talk about real marginalization. These contactors were able to make millions without performing the project or at best without completing the contracts and nobody queried them. Graduates, students and lecturers found that some of their eastern, northern, and western friends, their parents and fellow lecturers that had access to government became rich overnight. Hard work and excellence was no longer the yardstick by which success was measured but political connection. Connected students were richer than their lecturers and the unemployed graduates. Hence, prospective university students sort admission to university just to attach B.Sc. or M.Sc. to their names. Many also thought that they needed the degrees to legitimize the wealth they obtained from easy money making with or without a credible degree. Hence, some bought degrees from unscrupulous fake degree peddlers.
A beautiful young lady was once quoted to have said that "I just want to get admission to the university because once I am in I know what to do to graduate, I don’t mean hard work." Now history is judging the prudence of government, students, lecturers and parents.
soon became apparent how many lecturers became rich by selling out to any government in power, selling notes to students that wish to pass a course or selling out examination papers. In fact, many that aligned themselves with government of the day displayed wealth on campus and the scramble for political academic power began in earnest. What did some of the heads of States gain from this exercise? Some of them that could not even spell their names were given honorary degrees to add to the repertoire of their many ill-earned titles. On a more serious note, Nigerian government encouraged and members of the elite class participated to make Nigeria a dumping ground for almost all substandard imported products by the new breed of businessmen that made easy money. Unemployed graduates and university students were noting that it did not take a genius to get contract and they learnt their lessons well. Nigerian government preferred to give simple projects to foreign firms in return for 10% kickback at the expense of the country (students, workers), and Universities that needed opportunities to gain from and transfer technology to the nation.
Thus, lack of good education and unemployment in Nigeria would contribute to many social ills, including crime, prostitution, and the break down in law and order. For this, the society should invest more on the youth, and educate them to differentiate rights from wrong before they become adults. As Rousseau has noted: "People, like men [and women are] amenable only when they are young; in old age they become incorrigible. Once [bad habits] and customs are established and prejudices ingrained, it is a dangerous and futile enterprise to try to reform them; the people cannot bear to have the diseases treated, even in order to destroy it, like those stupid and fearful patients who tremble at the sight of the physician" (Rousseau - trans. by Betts; 1994, p. 80). Therefore, to move forward the government should adopt necessary policies to destroy the current bad value system in the society, and create conducive environment that would enable the educational institutions to engage in healthy competitions, raise funds through private donations and grants, and attract and retain qualified students financially positioned to pay tuitions. (Higher education in Nigeria should not be free. If one would pay for any service, one could afford to complain, or move to an institution where he/she could get the money's worth of service. This, however, does not mean that diplomas should be sold to the highest bidder. Also the universities should develop a system whereby students could transfer to schools of their choice (and change their major) if they are qualified, without it adversely impacting their studies. And university admissions should be based strictly on merit, without ethnically and state-based criteria, which have unfortunately colored the system). All these are not available in system currently. If these suggestions are implemented they would, among other things, help the institutions of higher learning to prepare grounds for more intense academic competition, and to attract better quality teachers by "rebuild [ing] a culture of scholarship which has been eroded by under funding" so as to motivate them to be more productive (Bollag, Feb 1, 2002, A40). And any institution that cannot survive should be allowed to wither. Improving the condition of things in this sector would pave the way to the nation's prosperity.
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