Educational Planning and Reform in Nigeria

7/28/2019 Educational Planning and Reform in Nigeria

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complete 360 degrees U-turn. Then, what is the essence of educational reforms in

Nigeria?

Neglect of the Inspectorate ServicesOne of the consequences of misguided reforms is the relegation of the Inspectorate

Services, the quality control watchdog in the education sector to periphery. Federaland States ministries of Education shifted their priority to allocation of phantom

contracts in the name of education.

Inspection is indispensable to acquisition of quality education. No educational

programme will function effectively without a quality inspectorate service. Theconcept of inspection has now been changed to supervision. The change is

necessitated by the perception of school inspectors as no less than police inspectors

with a colonial mentality. They are seen as enforcers of discipline, their presence ina school is both fearsome and awesome to school teachers and administrators.

They brook no nonsense as such do not tolerate incompetence to duty. Despite theshortcomings of the colonial inherited inspectorate services, the system is by farbetter than what we have today. School supervisors have lost their powers to

ensure schools run according to the National Policy on Education, they are nomore than insignificant nuisance in the education sector.

The repercussions of relegating the inspectorate services to periphery have

manifested itself in the quality of education delivery. The standard of education has

fallen, discipline in the schools has relaxed, and schools curriculums are not fully

implemented. And what we end up having are examinations malpractices. Studentsstruggle to acquire certificates at all cost without actually fulfilling the required

educative process.

Effect of Misguided Educational Reforms

What had happened to primary and secondary education would invariably meet up

tertiary education. The absence of specific agenda for the Nigerian educationmanifested itself in the tertiary institutions. These institutions especially

universities became disorganized when compared with their counterparts in other

developing countries such as Brazil, South Africa, lndia etc. Closure of the

universities become the norms and so the dismissal of lecturers. Unconduciveteaching environment, poor remuneration and threat of dismissal all tend to

dampen lecturers morale. The university dons could not continue to tolerate theway and manner Federal Government is handling education; therefore they take to

militancy by resorting to strike actions, an NLC (Nigerian Labour Congress) style.

It is painful our dons are made to behave unbecoming of their status. Academic

Staff Union of Universities (ASSU) and Federal Government engage in running


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battles from the time of Babangida Administration and continuing up to today with

occasional truth brokered by self-style elders, traditional rulers and politicians. TheYaradua administration inherited this fiasco which lapsed and relapsed depending

on the situation.

It is the failure of education reforms that made Nigerians obsessed with paperqualifications and chains of diplomas and degrees, which in most cases are not in

the sciences or technology. Some so-called big men simply purchase their

certificates in the open market. We forget that we go to school to learn skills whichwill enable us to make a descent living, to acquire knowledge which will help us

reason rationally. Education is much more than acquiring certificates, its a life -long pursuit. Education should help student fashion his future needs, makes him

dream of possibilities, and helps him contribute productively in the development of

his country. Bill gate the Microsoft guru and the richest man in the world was sooverwhelmed by his dream that he dropped from university and pursue his dream

of simplifying computer to users, a cutting edge technology that only few peopleunderstood. Because he dropped from school does not mean he stopped learning.He continued to study and work hard, to Bill gate and his like, education is not just

acquiring knowledge for its intrinsic value, it is a competitive enterprise that onehas to continue updating himself as well as pushing the frontiers of knowledge

forward. We want an education that can nurture such kind of people who can thinkahead.

A mere change of government in the Nigerian context can result in educational

reforms which in most cases are thoughtless exercise, mindless of futureconsequences. One of the funniest education reform hits students nutrition. Food

issue is delicate to learner, but Nigerians being what we are seem to believe thatwe can get the best out of our universities and other tertiary institutions, whereas

learners going to classes with empty stomachs. Students lost privilege tosubsidized food since 1984 when General Muhammad Buhari upstaged President

Shehu Shagari from power, Since then it is common campus language to hearsome unusual numerical terminologies, 100, 010, 001 etc. These figures signify

how many times per day you ate. If it is one time it could be 100 (breakfast), 010

(lunch), 001 (dinner). Our students are busy Fasting as well as battling with their

studies. Students began to lose weight and so their studies also lose weight. Onewould like to ask, when did hunger and learning become friends?

I am of the opinion that a lot of people were discriminated from access to tertiary

education due to poverty. I believe food situation at our tertiary institutions is one

of the issues the new administration in the country should seriously look into with

a view to ameliorate discomfort associated with nutrition.


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Tertiary Education: Growth Without Development

As at 1970 there are only six universities in Nigeria, they rose to thirteen in 1979now we have eighty nine. The growth shows federal has 27, States 30 and private

sector 32. To establish as many qualitative universities is not just necessary butalso desirable, on the other hand, unplanned creation of universities is not just

undesirable but also dangerous.

It seems we are revisionist in our practice to tertiary education. We do not have to

follow the history of evolution of universities before we have one. It is true thatmost oldest universities are religious establishments both in the Islamic and

Christendom. Al-azhar University in Egypt evolved from mosque as Islamic centre

of teaching and learning. Same with the Oxford and Cambridge Universities inEngland, they were meant to teach Christianity.

In Nigeria for the last eight years, the National Universities Commission (NUC)indiscriminately issued license to all sorts of interest groups; State Governments,

Religious bodies, Bussiness tycoons and who knows whether local Governmentswould have their universities? It is imperative to ask. Do the newly licensed

universities adhere to policy requirements of 60:40 science to arts admission ratio?Do these newly licensed universities have equipments and personnel for teaching

and research? We have to remember that university is a community dedicated to

teaching, learning, sharing of ideas, research and dissemination of research

findings to the larger population, anything less than that is not a university.

It is disturbing if what the Newswatch magazine (September, 2007) was reportingabout these newly licensed universities. Some of these universities are monolithic,

they professed to one idea or mission as the only truth. In other words they are notjust religious like Cambridge but also sectarian. Some test for HIV/AIDS, some

test pregnancy in young female students, some prohibit eating of meat, and somebeat their students as if university is a secondary school.

It seems we are Americanizing our tertiary institutions where all sorts of degrees

are awarded and people are ready to get these junk degrees. To America, it is achoice, their system warrant that, their economy can withstand that. In nutshell,

America and its education is awesome and attractive, because its science andtechnology is still ahead of other nations, so its economy. Out of the ten top

universities in the world eight are in America and two in the United Kingdom that

is why these two countries have confidence in their education. Compared with the


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Nigerian universities, that out of five hundred top universities in the world none is

in Nigeria.

I think we have to revise growth of Nigerian universities. It has to be planned insuch a way that we have a guided expansion that takes care of growth and

development. University education is supposed to inspire in students to thinkcritically on issues pertaining his society and come up with solutions that will

uplift his society to a greater height.

The Ibadan School dominated the academic study of Nigerian history until the

1970s. It arose at the University of Ibadan in the 1950s and remained dominantuntil the 1970s. The University of Ibadan was the first university to open in

Nigeria, and its scholars set up the history departments at most of Nigeria's otheruniversities, spreading the Ibadan historiography. Its scholars also wrote the

textbooks that were used at all levels of the Nigerian education system for manyyears. The school's output appears in the "Ibadan History Series."[51]

The leading scholars of the Ibadan School include Saburi Biobaku, Kenneth

Dike, J.F.A. Ajayi, Adiele Afigbo, E.A. Ayandele, O. Ikime and Tekena Tamuno.Foreign scholars often associated with the school. include, Michael Crowder,

Abdullahi Amith, J.B. Webster, R.J. Gavin, Robert Smith, and John D. Omer-

Cooper. The school was characterized by its overt Nigerian nationalism and it was

geared towards forging a Nigerian identity through publicizing the glories of pre-colonial history. The school was quite traditional in its subject matter, being

largely confined to the political history that colleagues in Europe and NorthAmerica were then rejecting. It was very modern, however, in the sources used.

Much use was made oforal history and throughout the school took a strongly

interdisciplinary approach to gathering information. This was especially true afterthe founding of the Institute for African Studies that brought together experts from

many disciplines.

The Ibadan School began to decline in importance the 1970s. The Nigerian CivilWarled some to question whether Nigeria was in fact a unified nation with a

national history. At the same time rival schools developed. At Ahmadu Bello

University in Zaria, Nigeria the Islamic Legitimist school arose that rejectedWestern models in favour of the scholarly tradition of the Sokoto Caliphate and theIslamic world. From other parts of Africa the Neo-Marxist school arrived and

gained a number of supporters. Social, economic, and cultural history also began togrow in prominence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibadan_Schoolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Ibadanhttp://c/Users/SKYNET/Documents/History_of_Nigeria.htm%23cite_note-50http://c/Users/SKYNET/Documents/History_of_Nigeria.htm%23cite_note-50http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saburi_Biobakuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Dikehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Dikehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Ade_Ajayihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiele_Afigbohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmadu_Bello_Universityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmadu_Bello_Universityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaria,_Nigeriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokoto_Caliphatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Marxismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Marxismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokoto_Caliphatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaria,_Nigeriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmadu_Bello_Universityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmadu_Bello_Universityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiele_Afigbohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Ade_Ajayihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Dikehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Dikehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saburi_Biobakuhttp://c/Users/SKYNET/Documents/History_of_Nigeria.htm%23cite_note-50http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Ibadanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibadan_School


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In the 1980s Nigerian scholarship in general began to decline, and the Ibadan

School was much affected. The military rulers looked upon the universities withdeep suspicion and they were poorly funded. Many top minds were co-opted with

plum jobs in the administration and left academia. Others left the country entirelyfor jobs at universities in the West. The economic collapse of the 1980s also

greatly hurt the scholarly community, especially the sharp devaluation of theNigerian currency. This made inviting foreign scholars, subscribing to journals,

and attending conferences vastly more expensive. Many of the domestic journals,

including theJournal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, faltered and were onlypublished.

Educational Planning and Reform in Nigeria

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