• Says brain drain in education sector alarming
• 50% of varsity lecturers have left country
A Professor of Genetics at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Khalid Adekoya, has lamented the increasing brain drain phenomenon rechristened as ‘Japa’, in Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Speaking at the annual conference of the Lagos district of The Companion – a group of Muslim men in business and the professions – held on Sunday, October 22, at Shamsudeen Adisa Mosque Multipurpose Hall in Ikeja, the don said about 50 per cent of university lecturers have left the system for greener pastures, while 80 per cent of those left are still willing to go.
Prof. Adekoya, who was the guest lecturer, charged the government to urgently reverse the ‘japa’ syndrome to ‘japada’, saying that it is achievable through proper funding of education and research in the country.
According to him, the government is at the centre of the solutions to the challenges affecting tertiary education in Nigeria.
“Government being the father of all needs to create an enabling environment for all stakeholders to be able to function effectively,” he said.
“If we want education to give out what it is expected to do for national development, we need to make our universities functional.
“Out of 13 lecturers in a department at the University of Ibadan (UI), nine resigned and left. In my department, we have about five or six that left within a semester. How many are we in the first place that five people are going? We don’t have enough. Universities cannot also employ directly since IPPIS has been introduced. Before IPPIS, VCs could employ adjunct lecturers and make do with temporary. Now, before any university can employ, it has to go through seven MDAs for approval. Lecturers now take too many courses. And when you have too many courses, you cannot be effective.”
Prof. Adekoya noted that the government must invest in the infrastructural development of universities and motivate lecturers so that upcoming academics can be convinced to stay in the country.
He said most first-class graduates have refused offers to serve their alma mater due to the state of the university education.
“The infrastructural development in schools is one factor. The wherewithal is another. When you have lecturers who are not happy doing their job, nobody would want to come and lecture. The majority of the universities today in Nigeria are short-staffed, both academic and non-academic. The pressure of the students in the university is so much on the small number of lecturers available. So, there is no way they would be able to function effectively and pass out the information to make the students better. If the infrastructural environment is good, lecturers will follow suit. Then, the students will be able to benefit.
“One of the things we should be serious about is the budget for education. What the government provides to run education is not adequate. The salary is not adequate. So, people are working and there is no good incentive for them to be able to achieve. Looking at the case from 2009 to 2023, the salaries of lecturers have not been increased. This is why most departments are short-staffed. Departments lose staff from time to time due to the search for greener pastures. We have had cases of first-class graduates told to take up jobs in the university and be sponsored by the university, and they refused to stay. They see their lecturers and are not happy with what they see concerning their welfare.”
Prof. Adekoya further noted that most lecturers would stay where the academic environment is good, adding that colleagues who have left for greener pastures would also come back — a development which he termed ‘japada’.
“If the environment is good, and academic staff can have the wherewithal to stay, we will stay. Many people will stay. When we have an enabling environment where people are staying and lecturers are there, there will be camaraderie and we will be able to push our educational system up. But when the environment is very harsh — no salary, no equipment — then we will continue to have issues. I always pity those running universitied. They are doing so under serious stress. There are no provisions”
Earlier in his welcome address, the Amir of the Lagos district of The Companion, Abdulkabir Baruwa, said the 2023 conference was one of the interventions of The Companion to spotlight a critical sector of the economy that holds the key to reshaping the trajectory of the nation’s development.
He said, “The progress that any country makes has a direct correlation with the development of its education sector, hence, the choice of this year’s conference topic: Rethinking Tertiary Educational Standard in Nigeria.”
The Amir also noted that while the standard of education at all levels is very important, tertiary education is the barometer for measuring the development and progress of a nation.
“A critical assessment of our tertiary education will reveal that whereas there has been a geometric rise in the number of higher institutions owned and operated by government and private bodies, the quality of academics and the products i.e. graduates of these institutions are below average.”
While advocating more provisions for education in the budget, Baruwa also tasked universities to attract funding from the private sector.
“I would like to advise that in rethinking our strategy to reposition our higher institutions, more funding should be made available from the budgetary system. It is also imperative for our higher institutions to attract funding from the private sector through endowments and professorial chairs. Our universities should be recalibrated to become global centres of academic research and innovation with breakthrough patents that the private sector will adopt on a commercial scale. This will ultimately lead to attracting more funds into research and development initiatives of our higher institutions,” he said.
On his part, the National Amir of The Companion, Engr. Kamil Olalekan said the conference holds immense significance as it serves as a platform to deliberate on matters of paramount importance.
He noted that tertiary institutions, which are meant to be the crucible of knowledge, innovation, and societal transformation, are faced with numerous challenges that have hindered their ability to deliver effectively.
“Let us be catalysts for positive change, and may our efforts bear fruit in the form of a stronger, more vibrant, and more inclusive tertiary education system that will drive sustainable development and moral renaissance in Nigeria. May Allah guide us aright in all our endeavors,” the National Amir said.
In his remarks, the chairman of the event, Alhaji Thabit Shonaike, expressed delight in being called upon to chair such event.
He said the theme of the event incorporates the aspiration for endurance, competitive quality and standard development in Nigeria’s tertiary education cutting across personal, professional, institutional and societal development.
“Tertiary education in Nigeria and elsewhere is vital for the training and production of high-level skilled manpower as well as middle-level and technical workforce required for rapid and sustainable socio-economic and technological development of any nation.
“It, therefore, deserves all the attention and support it could get from all stakeholders, including government, employers, parents, professionals, students, labour unions, private institutions, local and international donor agencies and so on.”
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