Silence of the Nigerian academia
The loud silence of the Nigerian academia with regards to the raging debate on how best to rescue the economy from recession and economic crisis is worrying. An academic recently suggested (more as pun) that “there might be a ban on the academia (possibly a self-imposed one)” on debates and comments on national issues. One could easily notice the absence of Nigerian academics in imported forums (such as the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) conferences) where national policy issues are discussed and policies recommendations made to the government.
Predictably, and as we all know, the standard academia defence is that the government do not consult them and often ignore their recommendations and positions on national issues. But that is a lazy defence. The academia is no standard or compulsory consultant to government and governments do not owe them a duty to consult them or take implement their recommendations. It is the job of the academia to make themselves relevant and their views indispensable to governments. Fortunately enough, Nigeria has a history of a rich gown and town, government and academia interactions and engagements. But that is no more!
The silence of the Nigerian academia isn’t only about national issues. They have been mostly silent too in their trade. With the exception of a few, most Nigerian academics are lost in the conversations within their disciplines. Haven cut themselves off from ‘the conversations’ with their global colleagues, they create illusory ‘fiefdoms’ in the various universities where they are lords. They also create their own journals where they ‘converse’ with themselves and assess themselves and award themselves professorships with relish.
To be sure, these academics still converse, argue and debate vociferously, but in their enclave and on their own terms. An academic described his visit to one of the universities thus:
“On a recent visit to a federal university in the South-East, I shared my worries with another senior colleague who maintained that the academia is talking but in a rather different and interesting way. He took me to ‘Beer Joint’ very close to the campus and to my surprise, I met over twenty-five academics including about ten professors in a heated debate on the need for urgent restructuring of Nigeria among other national issues. The debate was extremely organised and lively that it can be likened to a national conference except for the bottles of Hero beer and plates of pepper soup that covered the tables. Any television station that airs the debate live will definitely increase their viewers by about 70%. It was terrific but somewhat disappointing!”
True, the entire society, and not just the university system, is out of joint. The university is part of the society and is not immune to influences from the society. But the society must not and cannot dictate the pace for the university. The University, by nature, is a place for the teaching, acquisition and diffusion of universal knowledge. It sure depends on society for its sustenance, but more importantly, the society depends on it for fresh and revolutionary ideas and knowledge that drives the progress and development of society. Very importantly, this endeavor can only take place in an atmosphere of freedom. But, as history has taught us, the exercise of freedom, as desirable as it is, can produce undesirable outcomes. It is imperative therefore, that members of the university, whose occupation is the pursuit of knowledge – which is also the pursuit of truth – cultivate certain recognizable values and principles by which adherence to will surely and consistently lead to the truth or the acquisition of true knowledge. Virtues and principles such as respect for the freedom, dignity, and ideas of each individual, honesty, sincerity, decorum, temperance, and fortitude are indispensable to the flourishing of a university. They also help to confer order and discipline in the university.
Given the above, it is clear that our universities in Nigeria are a caricature of what a university should be. It wasn’t always like that, but the glory years are long gone and what is left is just a carcass whose miasma pollutes and threatens the health of society. At a time when progressive universities are outlawing any form of sexual or romantic relationships between students and teachers, our universities are centres of sexual harassment, rapes and transactional sex. Pray, how can any meaningful knowledge be learnt and transmitted in such an environment? Is it surprising then that degrees from the universities have lost their values?
We have been deceived all along by the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) to think that the major problem of our universities is that of government neglect or insufficient funding. A former Executive Secretary of the NUC captured it more bluntly when he averred that the ranking of Nigerian Universities on the global index will remain poor unless the issue of academic integrity is seriously tackled. It is time Nigerian academics take a hard look at themselves and tell themselves some bitter truths.