Education is nearing abysmal stupidity – varsity don
News Echo had interactive session with the senior lecturer of the faculty of Engineering, Imo state University Owerri. Prof Luke Uzoigwe where he dealt extensively with the issues of education and related matters. He spoke to Grace Ofurum, our reporter.
Excerpts:
Good afternoon sir, please may we meet you formally?
I am Engr. Dr. Luke Okwuchukwu Uzoigwe (FNIEE, MNSE, MNIAE, MNAHS). Am from Ideato South LGA of Imo state, Am an Engineer by proffession. I had my first degree in Agric Engineering, majoring in soil and water Engineering. I had my Masters in Civil Engineering from Federal University of Technology Owerri, also obtained my PhD in Applied Hydrology and Hydrologic modelling from University of Nigeria Nsukka. I was a lecturer in Federal University of Technology Owerri, FUTO and currently a senior lecturer in Imo state University Owerri. I have an extraordinary intention of serving the society and impacting knowledge. I was the immediate past ASUU chairman and the past president of Nigerian Society of Engineers, Imo state chapter.
As an academia, what is actually the problem with the educational system in Nigeria?
It’s not education alone, other sectors are involved too. A nation without a polished and highly standardized education is just like that nation that is nearing abysmal stupidity and the pedestal of knowledge can never be achieved.
Without being told, globally our education system falls below standard based on what applies in international system in knowledge, design and development. We have a benchmark in educational budget everywhere in the world which is 24% but here in Nigeria, we can hardly get anything reasonable, we went down to 20%, no way, went down to 18%, no way, we went down to 14%, no way. Now tell me what you can achieve with 4%. The educational system is on the zero potential.
National Assembly, presidency and others take wardrobe allowances and other benefits but we don’t have such, we are not asking for wardrobe allowances but making our institution a befitting place for our students to go to school. We turn in students and turn out students instead of turning in students and turning out graduates, it’s embarrassing, we have lots of graduates who are not employable.
Therefore the educational system in Nigeria is on zero potential. As time is going, we are on computer age, we are no longer in renaissance age, we have passed rocket stage not in a stone age but don’t know why we have gone back to stone age where we cannot use our implements properly, you are training graduates as Engineers, you don’t even produce a technocrat but produce an illiterate engineer who cannot handle ordinary engineering device and hardwares. There are lots of innovations in engineering proliferation which is in accordance with the standard and conduct of education system, where an Engineer must be trained property not only scientific training, you start with the local training of engineering device, this is the basic engineering infrastructure, you can now go into applied engineering of computer age and other areas.
There are so many things that are involved in education. Hospitals produce doctors, that are experts in treating malaria, Medical practitioners are worse off, they are not paid well, that is why you see lots of brain drain, hospitals are not well equipped, all you have is imagery of hospitals.
We believe in old engineering practice, we are not innovated in present situation. our children can manipulate computer but that is not engineering. I teach my students instrumentation policies, we are busy designing, while the whitemen are busy producing.
Education is close to nothing in African context let alone Nigeria, you don’t design without ideology.
The law of gravity was discovered by the ingenuity of men who are engineers of scientific orientation or scientific discoveries.
In Nigeria, we have people looking for miracles and not knowledge. The institutional framework in the country is nothing but money and because it’s money that is valued, it becomes valueless. The parents want their children to make money without asking the source. According to Francis Bacon, bag certificate first, then enjoyable job later. According to Abraham Lincoln, ‘education kills the blight of disease, ignorance and superstition’.
These were educationists, philosophers and scientists. When the Jews were busy following Christ because of miracles, the Greeks were developing the wisdom. Where’s the wisdom and knowledge, what we have today is miracle not wisdom. The worst and poorest man in this world is the man who has nothing but money. I believe in demand and supply opportunity cost. Within a supply, there will be demand and at the point where demand equates with supply is opportunity cost.
Unfortunately, the institutional framework of our country is money and because it is money that’s being valued, it is valueless. We need to standardize the variance which is education, this is not discussed in the Nigeria context. Look at it, we are generation serving other generations. A generation serving three generations: how can you take care of your child (first generation), that your child gets married still stays in the parents house because there’s no job and gives birth to children (second generation) and those children go to school and you as grandparents go and pick them from school, you are serving your third generation which is wrong instead of retiring because the educational system is bastardized.
Some young people nowadays say education is a scam, what is your view on that?
I was not trained on education as a scam, I had quality education. Would you blame them? Graduates without job, they are looking at the universe, seeing people making it without going to the university, you can be certificated without been educated, Education is not a ride to all, willing horses will only ride it. If you attend school, the input is high but output is low. Time will come, when people like us will be on top, you should be able to defend your certificate. Those who went to school will remain in the system.
Parents are culprits of money syndrome which is a multifaceted and multifarious issues. When a problem is complicated, there is no solution. Education is not a scam, no it is not.
As the immediate past Chairman of ASUU, IMSU chapter, what is your take on Pantami’s proffesorship awarded him by FUTO which has generated lots of controversies?
FUTO is our pride and I know the institution will not allow anybody to destroy the long standing reputation.
NEC and FUTO constituted a committee to look into the issue. Well, so many things have been said and heard about Pantami, in ASUU, we don’t quote anybody, we can only relate with facts. I believe the issue is still in the pipeline yet to be decided, let’s wait for the outcome of the reports.
Some days ago, the Imo state Judicial Panel of Inquiry on land matters published names of people whose lands were recovered by the Imo state government from the past administration of Senator Rochas Okorocha, what can you say about that?
Education makes you polite, reasonable contented with your poverty in life, I treat poverty with the contempt it deserves, poverty makes you poor in spirit. Make a man who is poor in spirit a president or a governor, you will see the difference between a contented poor man and an illiterate poor man. There are people that have all the riches in the world yet they are poor.
Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie led Judicial Panel did a great job. Awuzie is an academic gladiator.
He was the former ASUU National President and the former Vice Chancellor of Imo state University. He has great value. Until you have a square peg in a square hole, you can’t get it right. I believe in his reports because he is man of reputation and capacity. Politicians should be contented with what they have instead of amassing wealth they don’t even need.
The political class are intelligent, they plan how to make their money by contesting and being in political positions all in a bid to make money for themselves and most of them end up sending their children abroad to study. Whereas most professors can’t afford such. This is because they have remained united in their interest.
On ASUU incessant National strike, what can you attribute to as the cause for such?
I blame our predecessors, I know the pains of being in the university, I was a councillor, I handled people based on experience. I tell professors, we can’t be going on strike all the time. As a professor, what have you been doing to help yourself. What is happening to the Ivory tower is appalling.
The entry point as a lecturer should be about 400,000 then professors can earn about 4million naira.
The education system has been strangled because we don’t have good educational policy.
Primary school teachers are hungry looking even the secondary school teachers. They now pollute the university which is turning to be glorified secondary school, then how can you produce sharp brains. We have Ist class graduates who can not define certain functions
What this portrays is that we cannot manage the system.
We are operating a very radical economy and the radical economy has a stupid interpretation which has turned to a rascal economy.