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Reimagining Higher Education And Knowledge Management In Nigeria

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Funding Public Education In Nigeria: Towards An Alternative Financing Model
Prof. Tunji Olaopa

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Tunji Olaopa

(Being address delivered as Chairman of a Roundtable on ‘Reimagining Higher Education in Africa’ by the Graduate Research Clinic Network to Commemorate its 3rd Year Anniversary on Sunday, 28th of February, 2021)

The Graduate Research Clinic (GRC), an online platform of eminent scholars, erudite intellectuals and budding researchers, has thrown the gauntlet on the state of higher education in Nigeria’s national development agenda. And it did this through a most timely roundtable on the theme, “Reimagining Higher Education in Africa: The Role of Learned Communities and Professional Associations.” With the array of invited speakers and discussants, the GRC leaves no one in doubt as to how serious it is taking, and wants Nigeria and Nigerians to take the issue of higher education. The keynote speaker is by no other scholar than the president of Nigerian Academy of Letters, and a professor of Linguistics, Francis Egbokhare. And the discussants are two able scholars from two different but significant spectrums of the academy. Professor Moses Ochonu, from Vanderbilt University, has demonstrated his concern for Nigeria’s higher education dynamics over and again through many engagements with several dimensions of it. And Professor Yakubu Ochefu is eminently involved with the administration of higher education in Nigeria; first, as the vice-chancellor of Kwararafa University, Taraba and then as the Secretary-General of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities.

To have been invited to chair the occasion of the roundtable is a huge honour. The Graduate Research Clinic, over the three years since its establishment, has grown to become one of the reference points for how a professional and academic platform ought to be — sane, informative, engaging, and the very essence of scholarly discursivity. This is a site that makes intellectual dispute and informed narratives a beauty to be involved with. And there are arrays of academic benefits flowing daily from the platform—from a daily English refresher course to nightly cultural proverbs that sting one into awareness. And in between are myriads of timely and urgent discourses on the state of nearly everything in Nigeria. The roundtable on higher education is therefore a natural concern for a network that has as one of its objectives the facilitation of academic and scholarly interaction among scholars and academics of all hues. I think it is high time that the GRC started the process for its own institutionalization as a professional network, with a pride of place among the already established high-end networks.

I am not new to discourses on higher education in Nigeria or on the continent. My reform philosophy and advocacy have brought me to that axiomatic moment about the relevance of education not only to the human capital development of any state, but also to the development of other institutional dynamics that all cumulate towards national development and good governance. Right from my time as the coordinator of the education sector analysis and head policy division at the federal ministry of education, I have been opened to the multiple deficits of Nigeria’s education system compromised politically, infrastructurally, academically and policy-wise. Without mincing words, the Nigerian education system is not capacity and intellectually ready to backstop Nigeria’s entry into the knowledge age or even support her aspiration to be a top contender in global competitiveness in the twenty first century.

READ ALSO: Dealing With Procrastination

The recent celebration of the University of Ibadan among the top 500 hundred universities in the world is a good place to start reflecting on how to move the Nigerian education system forward. That achievement, for me, speaks to a lone feat; the sustained desire of one university to keep pushing the boundaries of qualitative and competitive tertiary education in Nigeria. Unfortunately, a lone effort, or a series of lone efforts, is not sufficient to catalyze Nigeria’s human and national development. The challenge is to deeply rethink the fundamental philosophy of education in Nigeria in the light of global benchmarks, continental peculiarities and national imperatives. Let me start my brief diagnostic analysis with one of the issues about higher education that is close to my heart—the sidelining of the humanities and the social sciences (HSS) in the overall scheme of things, according to the Nigerian Policy on Education. The disturbing issue here is that Nigeria is conceiving of a robust understanding of higher education by simply unreflectively following in the market-propelled neo-liberal ideological tradition with a low ratio for the HSS. The question then is one of how development could be holistic within a context that favors the physical and managerial sciences to the detriment of the HSS? True, the global benchmark for development now references STEM education. But then, STEM education cannot be regarded as a one-size-fits-all solution for all national education and development need. Rather than STEM, we need STEAMSS—Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics and the Social Sciences.

It is also high time we began to rethink the complicated relationship between the concept of autonomy and the funding of the universities in Nigeria. The nature of autonomy is such that it provides a university with self-regulating capacity not only to generate its own sustenance but to also calibrate its own research designs that speak to the context that gave birth to the university. In both cases, funding becomes very significant to the idea of autonomy, and demands some modeling that will catalyze the creativity of university administration to transform the university into an institutional driver of change. Unfortunately, our present reality is such that universities go cap-in-hand to Abuja every month in search of subventions that are grossly inadequate to cater for the twenty-first century needs of a functional and innovative university. The simple implication is the current model is not working. In essence, waiting on government hands-out forecloses the possibility of strategic planning for any creative vice-chancellor. This is even more so in an undisciplined governance environment where establishment of universities fulfils political consideration with scant regard to their viability and sustainable funding.

Rethinking the model of autonomy implies that funding could be generated to allow university administrators the leeway to deepen a university’s administrative and academic traditions. And without totally taking the government out of the autonomy picture, the idea is to factor the cost of educating an average student into a benchmarking of a negotiated financial model between the university, the government and the private sector. The negotiation is to arrive at a mutually agreed framework with inbuilt flexibilities to accommodate variability in government earnings. Government, through the National Universities Commission (NUC), can then empower such institutions like the Education Bank, Students Loans Board, with other stakeholders contributing to ameliorate equity concerns through bursary, scholarship, etc. This will ensure that the craving for sustainable funding does not snowball into untrammeled commercialization of higher education.

READ ALSO: Ogun State: The Legacy Of A Great Future

We cannot emphasize enough the relationship between universities and industries/private sector which, to all intents and purposes, has not really taken a firm root in the operation of Nigerian universities. This relationship has a lot to do to backstop the financial modelling of university funding. And this is even more so because such a partnership also suggests a collaborative dynamic that facilitates the research focus and direction of universities. As we noted earlier, a university is responsible to its context. This means that a significant aspect of the research framework of any university ought to be channelled towards meeting the challenges of where the university is located. This truism plays right into an industry’s research and development framework geared towards meeting the development needs of any state. The universities ought to be the natural point of call for all industries and the private sector in terms of R&D. Outside of this urgent collaboration, the universities will keep on with abstract research that fails to impact, while the industries will not enjoy the benefit of sustained and robust research. Such a collaboration defines knowledge management for the greater good.

The last point is definitely not the least. The notion and nature of community of practice and of professional associations is one that I am grounded in as an institutional reformer. A community of practice (and even of service) is a gathering of a group of people who are united by an endeavor they are passionate about and which they learn, through the sharing of experience and competences, to do better through critical collaborations, engagement and interactions. And the trajectory of this community of practice to the evolution of institutional reform is something I have charted for many years. In public administration, the communities of practice challenge researchers, scholars and practitioners of public administration as to the new frontiers and research issues that could facilitate breaking new research grounds and problem-solving framework for moving public administration theories and practices forward. The beauty of such a framework comes out fully in the emergence of the scholar-practitioner paradigm—a professor of practice that unites in her person the dynamics that bring town and gown together in deep and mutually beneficial relationship. The universities do not need less. Each discipline has its own professional association which acts as the gatekeeper for intellectual and academic agenda setting. But I will go further to recommend cross-disciplinary communities of practice that will be founded on the scholar-practice paradigm. Such communities serve the greater purpose of achieving a knowledge management framework that utilizes the professional competence of different disciplines and discourses. Universities certainly do not exist for the sake of producing unusable knowledge.

I sincerely hope that this roundtable will further tease out the other dimensions of the issues involved in making higher education more effective as a system from which to commence the transformation of the Nigerian state and her governance.

 Prof. Olaopa is a retired Federal Permanent Secretary & Directing Staff, National Institute For Policy and Strategic Studies  (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos. He can be reached at tolaopa2003@gmail.com

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Black Saturday As 10 Confirmed Dead, Others Injured In Abuja Church Stampede

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By John Michael Ojo

No less than ten individuals have been confirmed dead following a stampede which took place in an event organized by Holy Trinity Catholic Church, situated in the Maitama area of Abuja on Saturday morning.

It was stated that the church had intended to distribute rice as palliative to the people during the event before the tragedic incident took place.

While confirming the development, in a statement signed by the Abuja Police Command Force Spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, the Command said ten individuals died, while eight others sustained varying degrees of injuries.

The statement reads: “This tragic event, which happened at about 6:30 am, led to a stampede that claimed the lives of ten (10) individuals, including four (4) children, and left eight (8) others with varying degrees of injuries. Four (4) of the injured have been treated and discharged, while the remaining victims are receiving medical care.

‘’To prevent such unfortunate incidents in the future, the Command hereby directs that all organizations, religious bodies, groups, or individuals planning any public event, charitable activity, or large gathering in the FCT must notify the Police Command in advance. This will allow the deployment of adequate security measures to ensure public safety and prevent avoidable tragedies.

“Failure to comply with this directive will result in the organizers being held liable for any incident or loss of life resulting from their negligence.

’The FCT Police Command remains committed to safeguarding lives and property in the Territory. Members of the public are encouraged to collaborate with the Police by adhering to these guidelines and promptly reporting emergencies through the FCT Control Room via 0803 200 3913 or 0806 032 1234”

In a similar vein, an unspecified number of people mostly woman have reportedly lost their lives in Okija community of Anambra state in a stampede.

New Times gathered that the stampede was said to have occurred on Saturday morning during an event for the distribution of rice organized by Obi Jackson Foundation.

Saturday’s stampede comes barely 72 hours after a similar occurrence took place in a funfair event organized by a former queen of Ooni of Ife in Ibadan, Oyo State capital where nearly 40 children have been confirmed dead by the state authorities.

The repeated stampede is a testament to the current economic hardship being faced by the masses as a result of the economic policies of President Tinubu in recent times.

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Ogun Information Ministry Defends N2b Budget Proposal, Pledges More Service 

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Kayode Akinmade at the defence of the budget proposal.

Ogun State Ministry of Information and Strategy says it will continue to deploy all communication strategies to serve all organs of government in the promotion of government policies and programmes through a two-way communication channel between the people and the government.

The Special Adviser to the State Governor on Media and Communications, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, gave the assurance on Friday, while defending the ministry’s budget proposal for next year before the members of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, led by Hon. Musefiu Lamidi at the Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

Akinmade reassured the Assembly that the ministry was cognisant of the principles of separation of powers, and would continue to render the necessary assistance to all arms of government in publicising their activities.

He noted that the next fiscal year would see to the utilisation of more strategies to mobilize the people for positive development, stressing that more reawakening of the people towards embracing the State’s core values alongside branding to leverage the successes achieved by the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led administration’s development projects would also be explored.

To this end, the ministry proposed a total budget expenditure of N2.023 billion for the next fiscal year, out of which N328 million would go for capital, N1.23 billion for overhead and the remaining N461million would take care of personnel.

Responding, the House Committee members sought more collaborative efforts from the ministry in mobilising the people towards government laudable policies and programmes.

Other agencies that had their budget proposals defended before the State lawmakers were the State Television (OGTV) and its State Broadcasting Corporation counterpart (OGBC), as well as the State Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

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Yuletide: Abiodun Tasks New Police Commissioner On Security

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L-R: Deputy Commissioner of Police (Administration), Sagir Ismail; Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Lanre Ogunlowo; Governor Dapo Abiodun; Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Bolanle Muritala, and the Deputy Commissioner of Police (CID), Bode Ojajuni, during the visit of Ogunlowo as the newly appointed Commissioner of Police to the Governor at his office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, on Thursday.

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has called on security agencies to design and deploy workable strategies that would ensure adequate protection of life and property during this Christmas period.

The governor made the call when he received the new Commissioner of Police, Ogun State Command, Mr. Lanre Ogunlowo, who paid him a courtesy call in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

Abiodun commended the security agencies for ensuring peace and tranquillity, noting, however, that unscrupulous people are bound to take advantage of the period to cause security breaches in the state.

He said: “As we approach the yuletide period, we all know that this period comes with its challenges. Those who are bent on carrying out nefarious activities, the get-rich-quick schemes, will also get a bit desperate, so I want to admonish you to please develop or design strategies to ensure that this yuletide period is peaceful for everyone, allowing us to celebrate and enjoy with our eyes closed and not have to worry about the breakdown of law and order.

“I want to enjoin your colleagues to please join hands with you the way they had cooperated with your predecessor so that together we can continue to build the future of Ogun State to achieve the future of our dreams.”

According to Abiodun, the state is unique in terms of geographical location as it shares borders with four states and an international border, noting that this has brought about an influx of people to work and attend educational institutions, thereby raising numerous security concerns for the government.

The governor, while informing the new State police chief about the steps taken to secure the State and its people, said his administration reinvigorated the State Security Trust Fund to provide modern equipment and logistics to the security agencies, noting that this had helped make Ogun one of the most peaceful states in the country.

He emphasized the importance of inter-agency synergy, which he said had contributed to the peace being enjoyed in the state.

Prince Abiodun maintained that the State’s position as number three in Internally Generated Revenue would not have been possible in an atmosphere of insecurity.

“Like they say, you cannot have any socio-economic development in an atmosphere of insecurity. You can build all the roads, all the airports and seaports, but if there is an atmosphere of insecurity, or even if there is a perception of insecurity, nobody will come to that State,” the governor noted.

The governor pointed out the issue of cultism, which is prevalent in some parts of the state, urging the new police chief to liaise with his colleagues from other agencies to find a final solution to it.

Governor Abiodun commended the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for deploying a highly intelligent and professionally sound officer to the state and equipping him with two Armoured Personnel Carriers, adding that the new CP’s practical training and qualifications have prepared him for the position.

“I want to thank the Inspector General of Police who has found you worthy of this deployment. I want to thank him because he remains one of our proud illustrious sons who has not let us down. Ogun State is known for exporting such human capital, and he is one of those we exported to the federal government, and he is up to our expectations,” he added.

While pledging to do all it takes to keep the State peaceful, the State helmsman assured that his administration would continue to support the State Police Command and other security agencies to maintain peace and order across the State at all times.

Speaking earlier, the new Commissioner of Police, Mr. Lanre Ogunlowo, said he is in the State to add value to what he met on the ground, assuring that with the support of the state government, cooperation from sister security agencies, and the additional Armoured Personnel Carriers given by the Inspector General of Police, he would work to secure the people and gain their trust.

“I had the privilege of working in the tactical intelligence unit of the Nigeria Police Force in the past, and I have a good understanding of the situation regarding cultism. As I mentioned when the governor was speaking to me, the Inspector General of Police graciously approved logistics, including Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), for Ogun State when I was coming. They would soon be here.

“I have a good team on the ground. As I said, I will improve on what I met on the ground. Before I left yesterday, I had a conversation with our anti-cultism unit, and we have some strategies in place.

“What I can assure you is that we will do all that is needed to address this issue, especially at a time like this. We will engage all stakeholders; we know we can’t do it alone, but we’ve got the wherewithal to deal with it,” he said.

Ogunlowo pleaded with the people to support the police and other security agencies in achieving their mandates, adding, “Let’s enjoy the season, let’s be careful, let’s respect the rights of others. We want peace; criminals should stay away and let the people of Ogun State enjoy the moment. We will be on the ground for that.”

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