Congratulations to Nigerians, especially millions of students who have been forced to stay at home in the last 8 months. ASUU has suspended its strike.
I think it is high time the Nigerian university system is properly restructured - some level of autonomy that allows significant internally generated revenue (IGR), and private sector audit coordinated by the stakeholders are critical. It is time to introduce tuition and scholarship. The latter is for brilliant students whose parents cannot afford part or full tuition. There are more than a million students (2.1 million as of 2021) in public universities in Nigeria, a tuition of N100k/student translates to N2 trillion in revenue per annum; N50k tuition will create over N1 trillion in revenue. There are several university ventures that can generate revenue - press, guest house, license to private taxi owners and companies, rent from lecturers and staff, etc. Sports could be a means to generate funds if properly managed - soccer, basketball, swimming, etc. The university can generate tons of money from entertainment - theatrical shows, music concerts, etc.
Minimum and base salary may be set the same but lecturers do not have to be paid the same salary. Negotiated salary based on the profile and what a lecturer/prof. is able to deliver should be the driver of remuneration. Annual increase should be based on performance in a transparent annual review process. This drives competition and increases innovation.
If the university can generate 25 - 50% of its revenue internally, the rest can be augmented by the governments and the private sectors who hire the highly qualified personnel produced by these institutions - Federal and State. In the form of competitive and non-competitive grants. A sound and multilayer accountability process will help plug the channel of siphoning IGR by administrators.
The truth is that a lot of the money generated internally is not accounted for..... when corruption is endemic in the nation and you have toothless anti-corruption bodies, EFCC and ICPC, and a judiciary process that is also corrupt and slower than the snail, how can anything work? This is where Nigeria needs to grow up, otherwise, any modernization approach to solve the perennial labor unrest problem in the country's higher institutions will be a waste of time. And, unfortunately, we will continue to slip into the abyss of self-destruction. However, if we get it right, we are just a few years from emerging as a power block in the global arena. A strong higher education system often translates to a STRONG nation. There is no better NATURAL resource than human capital. The human mind can create seemingly impossible stuff (mind-blowing innovations) when the environment is right.... no such could happen in a truncated educational process and system.....
I just came back from Nigeria . I traversed the length and breadth of the nation a bit in my three-week stay. Something is different about the country compared to when I visited last year.... The people are more desperate... Hunger has increased astronomically.... The gap between the haves and have-nots has further widened... You feel impunity in the air... You see police collecting bribes openly like we have not seen since the Shagari era in 1983... There are more law enforcement agents on the roads now, yet the crime rate has not abated... You see VIO , Road Safety, State Law enforcers, the Police, everywhere mounting illegal roadblocks... I heard things from those close to the seat of power about those who hold the reins of power, and I weep for Nigeria - it is beyond disheartening... Projects are being abandoned because a significant portion has been given as bribes to government officials like governors and ministers, including major monarchs - they all collect money for projects...
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