By Morenike Taire
OF the innumerable sms messages this column receives each week in reaction, only a few stands out. The ones that do are not usually the most brilliant or profound.
Typically, it is the one delivered simply–sometimes even a tad simplistically–, with virtuosity and straight from the soul without the benefit of editing that hits the nail on the head with the most efficiency.
The perfect example would be the following: We seem to be emphasizing the issue of ASUU salary over and above other issues plaguing our universities; for example lecturers’ quality, unethical and unprofessional conduct (sexual harassment, ethnicity, victimization of students), equally responsible for the half baked graduates we’re producing in this country. Haba!
The merits of this point, so simplistically delivered, derives not from ingenuity (he has told us nothing we did not know hitherto), but from its genuineness. The sender of this text (name withheld), has enough courage and integrity to take the less popular, less politically correct side.
Because it has become somewhat politically correct for the Nigerian educated elite not of the political classes to stand staunchly on the side of ASUU and whatever else that active union ever manages to rustle up.
Perhaps it is the symptom of class self-preservation, for a section of society which feels its demise is imminent and that this demise is being orchestrated by the so called military industrial complex of the ’80s and ’90s, and by the complex, ruling political class of the moment.
It must be asserted on a continual basis therefore that it is heretical to pay a local government chairman or councilor more than double what a professor is paid by the Federal Government.
And it is by no means a piece of cake, as they say, to attain professorship even in a Nigeria university. Of course there are the cases of those exceptionally lucky women in the public sphere, who also happen to be exceptionally brilliant, who were conferred with professorship while working outside of the figurative laboratory.
Professors Akunyili and Okereke Onyuike are the exceptions rather than the rule and the former in her painstaking way has at least bothered to explain that her professorship was under consideration before she took the long break from teaching and research.
Usually, a professor would, after having spent many tough, sacrificial years working on a doctorate, then have to have initiated or cooperated on a line of investigation or inquiry within his area of specialty at least a few dozen times.
This would usually take, each time, months of research, writing and thought requiring extraordinary levels of concentration. When he is done, he would then need to get his findings published. This is by no means the hardest part of his work, yet no easy task. The long and short of it is that a professor is a man who is an undisputed expert in his field.
If this is not respected by policy makers and budget writers alike, there is the danger of intellectualism being threatened by complete annihilation, whether in theory or in practice.
It is easy to then lose sight of the fact of its being lost, slowly but surely, not only as a result of material and psychological under-motivation, but also the result of the sectional will of the sector of society not only responsible for preserving it as a heritage, but whose very sustenance and indeed very survival, is dependent on this.
It is not easy, either, to be elected a local government councilor or chairman, even where they are selected rather than elected- more the rule than the exception.
In nine cases of ten, it is extremely dangerous, and it is hard work. To even mention the remuneration at the LG in asking for more university funds is to disrespect the workers of that institution. The issues are in any case more complex than that, as the writer I quoted has little qualms about pointing out.
Asking for more money, even for research, is going to do very little for the state in which the Nigerian university finds itself today, even on the long term, and assuming it is sustained. Professors deserve to earn ten times what an LG chairman or councilor or whoever earns.
In fact, despite the conventional philosophy, the teacher’s reward is always going to be in heaven, and it is impossible to actually pay a teacher back for what he imparts into his students or/and protégés, particularly on this level.
Asking government to do something about remuneration by fiat however is like ‘re-branding Nigeria’. How does more money translate into better value in an environment where there is no value? The work of a professor goes much further than teaching, though it is a huge and important part of it.
More importantly, though, is that the professor is-or should be-the chief adviser of the nation in whatever field of human endeavor, thought or belief. The quality of work going on in the nation’s university reflects directly on the level of development of that nation. It is not necessarily the other way round.
Of all the real problems that plague the university and in deed the entire tertiary education system in Nigeria, the alleged poor salary of lecturers , is the least of them, to deserve the attention given to it, in the just concluded negotiation with ASUU and the FG. But the government had very few choices, than to succumb to this “shake down” offer to the lecturers,due to pressure from parents, students and other stakeholders.
Other than comparing their pay to senators and politicians in general, the lecturers are not really worse off in the overall scheme of the Nigerian economy. Do two wrongs make a right? Nigeria should rally and bring down the immoral and irresponsible compensation of politicians and not ratchet up every other groups’ to match. The health sector is in shambles and is one of the least developed in the economy. The list goes on. The next group to cripple the nation, would likely base their demand on the offer made to the lecturers.
A senator represents a third of a state and has term limit of 8 years, not to talk of elections, while a lecturer has a lifetime appointment and teaches a class or two, three times a week and has a total 4-5 months off in a year! In a lifetime, a professor in actuary terms represent a much larger financial burden than a senator, to the nation.
Lecturers in the US and other advanced countries are lucky, if they take their annual leave. They need all the time they have to do research and publish in other to retain their jobs. The hardest task a lecturer in the US faces in the first seven years of appointment is proving himself worthy of a lifetime investment by the university. They are paid 9 months out of 12 in a year. Talk of No work No Pay, as a way of life! In Nigeria lecturing mostly involve dusting up the same lecture notes every year.
Salaries and wages should be viewed within context of the society or economy, under consideration. A workforce that produce defective and flawed product, cannot rightly justify demanding higher, reward, when such reward is not in anyway guarantees improved products. Lecturers contribute to the defects in the products they unleash on the society. It is not just lecturer poverty, poor infrastructure, funding that is at issue, but the culture of tyranny, exploitation, extortion, intimidation of students. Violation of the fundamental rights of female students, putting additional financial price tag on services that they have already been paid for and trading grades for sexual favors and cash, are at the root of the problem. These were not addressed in the settlement, nor can 52% raise for the lecturers lecturers enough incentive for them to voluntarily quit these destructive practices and behavior.
Nigerian universities are simply a sink hole. No matter the amount of resources thrown into them, without a comprehensive look at how the derailment that started in the 80’s has turned into a complete wreck, nothing will change. We must go back to the source of this national problem/emergency: the rudimentary supply chain represented by primary and secondary schools; the nature and relevance of NECO, WAEC, JAMB, NUC and other Higher Education parastatals and establishment.
Will 52% salary increase stop the lecturers from their unprofessional and unethical conducts that confers a cloud of illegitimacy on the degrees they grant to students? University system without academic integrity is mere degree mill. There has always been rumors about romantic relationship, between lecturers and students in Nigerian. Those were mere rumors then and there were very fewer female students, in the system, during those glory days of university education in Nigeria. But it was never at the scale found in all tertiary institutions in Nigeria today, where its a rule rather than exception. Degrees and grades were never bought with money, as is the case now. No lecturer during my time, would go that low, nor can it be justified by any alleged poverty and impoverishment of lecturers.
The strike and its settlement did not address the real issues debasing our universities and their products. The system needs fundamental changes, backed by law. Until erring lecturers change their ways or are forced to do so, or be prosecuted and lose their jobs, our universities would continue to produce half baked graduates, since there are widespread institutionalized alternatives to hard work and serious studies, in obtaining a university degrees. Students need to be empowered through administrative processes to keep their lecturers honest and ethical. The students need to start evaluating lecturers as is the case in the US universities and exam answer sheets should become the property of the student, not the lecturers’ or the university’s. The nature of exams questions need to change, to include some short answers, objectives and requiring every student to attempt all questions in examination, rather giving choices.
I quote again “lecturers’ quality, unethical and unprofessional conduct (sexual harassment, ethnicity, victimization of students), equally responsible for the half baked graduates ”
What quality of lecturers are you expecting with the quality of pay being offered in our education sector. If your child gets a 1st class from any university today, would you advise him to go lecture in any of our nigerian univerities as they are presently. Shame.
The issues that should concern us are not the ones mentioned in the text you are praising. those are societal problems present everywhere. You can not correct them without addressing the issues of brain dran and pay packet. Universities in the developed world are primarily for research, in our country they are primarily for teaching (recycle of the same matter over and over). I say again, shame.
Of all the real problems that plague the university and in deed tertiary education system in Nigeria, the alleged poor salary of lecturers in deed, is the least of them, to deserve the attention given to it. But the government had very few choices, than to make this shake down offer to the lecturers. Other than comparing their pay to senators and politicians in general, they lecturers are not really worse off in the overall scheme of the Nigerian economy. Does two wrongs make a right? Nigeria should rally and bring down the immoral and irresponsible compensation of politicians and not ratchet every other groups’ up to match. The health sector is in shambles and is one of the least undeveloped in the economy. The list goes on. The next group to cripple the nation, would like base their demand on the offer made to the lecturers.
A senator represents a third of a state and have term limit of 8 years, not to talk of elections, while a lecturer has a lifetime appointment and teaches a class or two three times a week and has a total 4-5 months off in a year! Lecturers in the US and other advanced countries are lucky, if they take their annual leave. They need all the time they have to do research, publish in other to retain their jobs. The hardest task a lecturer in the US faces in the first seven years of appointment is proving himself worthy of a lifetime investment by the university. They are paid 9 months out of 12 in a year. Talk of No work No Pay, as a way of life!
Salaries and wages should be viewed within context of the society or economy, under consideration. A workforce that produce defective and flawed product, cannot rightly justify demanding higher, reward, when such reward is not in anyway guarantees improved products. Lecturer contribute to the defects in the products they unleash on the society. It is not just lecturer poverty, poor infrastructure, funding that is at issue, but the culture of tyranny, exploitation, extortion, intimidation of students. Violation of the fundamental rights of female students, putting additional financial price on services that they have already been paid for and trading grades for sexual favor and cash are at the root of the problem and the lecturers cannot be bribed out these conducts.
Nigerian universities are simply a sink hole. No matter the amount of resources thrown into them, without a comprehensive look at how the derailment that started in the 80’s has turned into a complete wreck, nothing will change. We must go back to the source of this national problem/emergency: the primary and secondary schools, the nature and relevance of NECO, WAEC, JAMB, NUC and other Higher Education parastatals and establishment.
Will 52% salary increase stop the lecturers from their unprofessional and unethical conducts that confers a cloud of illegitimacy on the degrees they grant to students? University system without academic integrity is mere degree mill. There has always been rumors about romantic relationship, between lecturers and students in Nigerian. Those were mere rumors then and there were very few female students then. But it was never at the scale found in all tertiary institutions in Nigeria now, where its a rule rather than exception. Degrees and grades were never bought with money, as is the case now. No lecturer during my time, would go that low.
The strike and its settlement did not address the real issues debasing our universities and their products. The system needs fundamental changes, backed by law. Until lecturers change their ways or are forced to do so, or be prosecuted and lose their jobs, our universities would continue to produce half baked graduates, since there are alternatives to hard work and serious studies in obtaining a university degree. Students need to be empowered through administrative processes to keep their lecturers honest and ethical. The students need to start evaluating lecturers as is the case in the US universities and exam answer sheets should become the property of the student, not the lecturers’ or the university’s
I quote “The quality of work going on in the nation’s university reflects directly on the level of development of that nation. It is not necessarily the other way round”. Nothing can be far from the truth in this post-space age. In industrialized world or even in the emerging economies, development is innovation-driven, and nowhere else than the universities and core research organizations, is where the seed of innovation are produced and planted to germinate.