Is there hope for Nigerian universities?

There is no need to waste precious space narrating a jeremiad for the problems that exist in our education sector, specifically as they concern our institutions of higher learning. All of us have heard them time and time again; in fact, it is likely that every Nigerian has not only heard, but experienced the monstrously ugly status quo in our universities first hand. Is it the half-baked graduates? Is it the dilapidated infrastructure? Is it the partisan politics-polluted academia? Is it the non-existent research centres? They are numerous.

It is a pity that none of our universities is rated among the best in the world. In a recent rating, no Nigerian university featured on the world best 500 universities list. To make matters worse, in Africa, the best Nigerian university was ranked number 44, trailing way behind universities in Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana. But this is not as troubling to me, as the fact that our universities cannot live up to the expectation of being the nucleus for technological advancement in Nigeria, as it ought to. A commentator once remarked that poor funding, brain drain, infrastructural deficiency, knowledge gap, poor ethical standards and different levels of malpractices are some of the reasons Nigerian universities cannot drive innovation in Nigeria.

Nevertheless, in as much as there is a general sense of angst concerning this sector, there are two vital truths that we must appreciate, and, perhaps, in which may be found the key to the door out of the maze. Firstly, our failure in the academic sector is not symptomatic of a problem with the Nigerian as an individual, but with the system. This is why if you send the average Nigerian to anywhere in the world to study, he will excel and come up among the best. Secondly, the rot in the universities is not actually a sign that we lack qualified and experienced lecturers; nor that we are short of top rate scientists and innovators. No. At an individual level, many of our professors and researchers can hold their own among peers from any part of the world.

So, what is the problem? But rather than discuss the predicament, I wish to point out that the hope for our universities lies in the environmental sector: a golden opportunity that we must harness as quickly as possible in order to turn the tide. It is an undisputed truth that globally, the triangle of innovation is held together by the cooperative endeavour of the government, the academic community, and the industry. In today’s world, though there exists the mainstream innovative slant towards defence technologies, nanotechnology, advanced ICT, etc; there is fast growing multilateral support for research in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and agro-based innovations.

And with the threat climate change poses to the world, innovation drives are geared towards emissions reduction policies, strategies, and technologies. Nigeria has abundant natural resources to harness in this area of research and development, and the human capital to deploy. Our youths are so eager and passionate, and just need to be properly inspired and guided. On this, there are a couple of developments that gladden the heart.

Recently, it was reported that a Nigerian student, Segun Oyeyiola, converted a Volkswagen Beetle into a wind-and-solar-powered car perfect for the country’s extreme weather. A student at Obafemi Awolowo University, Oyeyiola completed the project for just $6,000 using mostly scrap parts donated by friends and family. The retrofitted Beetle comes equipped with a giant solar panel on the roof and a wind turbine under the hood that takes advantage of airflow while the car is in motion. To ensure the car does not buckle under the weight of the entire additional eco-friendly tech, Oyeyiola also installed a super strong suspension system.

The most interesting aspect of the matter is that in a country where many people are still in denial about the seriousness of global warming and its impending effects, the student was reported as saying, “I wanted to reduce carbon dioxide emissions going to our atmosphere that lead to climate change or global warming which has become a new reality, with deleterious effect: seasonal cycles are disrupted, as are ecosystems; and agriculture, water needs and supply, and food production are all adversely affected.” This is a philosophy that should drive our higher institutions. Truth be told, if Oyeyiola’s innovative spirit is not encouraged here, the Western world will pluck him out in no time; and the vicious circle of brain drain continues.

The other encouraging news is that Afe Babalola University, which last year emerged as one of the three winners in the General Electric/US African Development Foundation Off-Grid Energy Challenge, is set on redefining tertiary education in Nigeria. The winners each received $100,000 for their innovative solutions to off-grid energy in respective communities. Afe Babalola University plans to generate 2.5 megawatts of electricity through a renewable hydro-electric power system that will serve over 10,000 members of the university community and beyond. To achieve this, the university plans to construct a dam in a community river. According to investigation, the project is on course, and is set to earn the university Carbon Credits in the global Emissions Trading Market, and then make the university the most carbon-neutral higher institution in Nigeria.

There is also another veritable signpost that Nigeria is joining the renewable energy innovation hub globally; as Team Nigeria, led by Mr. George Ebube Ebisike, has been officially invited to the World Solar Challenge, scheduled to take place in Adelaide, Australia in October 2015. This is the first time a Nigerian delegation is going to showcase at the highly competitive global event.

My point is that green economy and allied technological innovations hold clear promises for our universities to reverse their fortunes. For once, let us ignore rocket science and other of such sophisticated innovations and concentrate on basic green innovations to drive our country, and see how fast we shall join the world. I was in a forum recently, where a woman entrepreneur shared her sad experience at the innovation centres of our universities. Armed with the blueprint for a prototype briquette making machine, she proceeded to a couple of Nigerian universities but was disappointed to discover that the research centres could not produce these machines, despite the grassroots demand and its primary-level technological configurations.

Anyway, the problem with our universities exists within the substructure of our national (split) personality. The three innovation arms – government, university and industry – are working separately and in confused disarray. The government does not fund the universities enough to prop up their research systems. And then when the university gets the little fund available, it uses them for white elephants that eventually come to nothing (as opposed to primary, needs-driven innovations for SMES). On its part, the industry outsources technological procurements, and refuses to reach out with grants to universities in the country as is standard practice in saner climes.

But it has to be pointed out that our oil and gas, and the ‘fast buck mentality’ it inspired in the country have made all of us lazy. It is the same indolence that makes the average Nigerian bureaucrat not to think of applying for Climate Fund or CDM because our Ecological Funds and other emergency committees’ funds are easy pickings; that dissuades the Nigerian professor from striving to apply for foreign grants for research – always conscious that the next strike action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities will force the hands of those “government fat cats to drop some crumbs off of the gigantic national cake.”

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