Our right to reject deprivation (2)

Aliyu Musa

Nigerians are generally easy-going, easy-to-make happy people. All they need is a set of good, honorable leaders that will provide their basic needs and they won’t bother asking too many questions about government or governance.

If for instance there were water, electricity, good roads and well or even moderately equipped hospitals most people would not care if the same people continued to rule till eternity. Of course there are ethnic/tribal and religious chauvinists who would always fan the embers of hate using petty sentiments. But they would largely fail to succeed if there were no excuses to exploit.

When, just like the students of Nasarawa State University did last week, we went into the streets protesting against the poor, unimaginative and corrupt leadership at our university we hoped someone would listen and restore sanity in the system. Ours was a well-funded university, because then there was more money for education, which should have been used to develop the institution. But we lived no better than high school pupils because it suited the ‘rulers’ of the university. On the few occasions that we had promises our anger was assuaged. But often they were empty promises that were always accompanied by worse right violations – like witch-hunting a selection.

Religion and ethnicity were vainly used to divide our ranks but the most frustrating part of the struggle was all our court victories were never obeyed. Plenty of money was thrown around to bribe anyone that posed any threat to the authorities, including top police and military officers, but the courts were in spite of their emasculation our last recourse and truly many of the decisions were phenomenal.

The trouble with many of those in the position of leadership in our country is they fail to realize that there is more peace of mind if they do the right thing. For instance if the money allotted to developing an institution had been appropriately utilized there would be no need to invite the police or soldiers to quell student protests because no one would go out protesting or causing trouble unless they were unnecessarily unruly. But someone is always clever by half.

This shortsightedness has also immensely caused the decay in our institutions of learning. But the situation can be changed if universities begin to generate revenue for themselves and wisely use it. And this requires sincere creativity.

A few years ago there were lots of cries about funding cuts in UK higher institutions. There were fears that many of them would shut down within a year or two. There were student protests against tuition fee increases. But the universities have so far survived because they have devised survival strategies.

One way to survive is to raise fund through research. In doing this there are two main approaches: apply for funding from funding agencies, local and international, and/or collaborate with businesses. Both ways lump sums of money are raised to fund research, pay wages of researchers and/or tuition fees of research students involved in the research. If the funding comes from businesses the research is tailored towards enhancing their business. So, it is a win-win deal for both.

Another way is through corporate funding for courses specifically designed for big companies. The aim here is to attract professional students that big companies sponsor to update their credentials and improve their skills. Over the years many UK institutions have employed professionals who are re-trained to deliver professional courses in their fields of expertise. This is a major source of funding.

There is also an approach whereby institutions use their expertise to internally generate funding by cutting their expenditures. For example they could use their engineering school to generate energy for internal use or water through recycling used one. One strategy we have adopted in our department is to make sure by the time students are in their final year they have acquired enough entrepreneurial skills to begin their own business immediately they graduate.

Many of these strategies have substantially helped to cut cost and enabled universities survive with little hassles. That is why universities in developed countries are hardly fertile grounds for cultists or even unruly characters. And that is why there are never protests over funding or shortage of basic amenities. But again, this is because they system works.

Postscript:

Today I join billions of lovers of humanity and social justice worldwide to somberly mourn the death of President Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. He was a just and ideal leader every country would wish for. His revolution, which some claim to be incomplete, has brought general and total change to the lives of the downtrodden of Venezuela. In the last 14 years that he led the country education and health care have seen substantial funding increases while the quality of life of the ordinary Venezuelan has significantly appreciated. We will deeply miss him. Adieu.