Whether by design or by default a two-tier system is emerging in Nigeria’s education sector. It has in fact already emerged. There is one for the children of the rich, the powerful and those with access to state resources; and there is another for the children of the poor, the financially – disempowered and the downtrodden. Already this is the picture in the lower arms of education at both primary and secondary levels and the same picture is now emerging in the tertiary level.
In the first category are largely private schools made up of private primary, secondary and university and in the second-tier lower compartment are largely public schools comprising primary, – that are now so badly run that no one wants his child there – secondary,
schools and public state-run universities.
Then even among these there is further categorisation. The private schools are in degrees and classes and there are some that are for the exquisitely and stinkingly rich, very rich and the rich. A primary school in Lekki charges forty two million naira per session; obviously only the very rich can afford that. One British school in Abuja collects hundreds of thousands of dollars as fees. These are for the very rich, and those with access to state resources.
The second category of private schools are for the rich and these collect few millions per session as fees. Then the third category of private schools charges in hundreds of thousands and thousands; and here you will have the children of the middle class, senior civil servants, bankers and public servants who decided to sacrifice to give their children a better edge.
I also reliably gathered that even in these schools there are classes and the schools still operate by separating the children of the rich from the middle class.
How?
They have three types of transportation systems. The first uses new fully air- conditioned buses which is made for the children of the rich; the second category of buses are also executive buses but not new and not air- conditioned and the third category are ordinary buses.
Then at the tertiary levels we have the private universities and these also are in categories for the very rich, and senior civil servants and private sector workers. A private university used to run advertisement on CNN and charges in dollars or as much as 25 million naira as tuition. In Nigeria.
Let us now come to public schools.
These are in three categories mainly. There are the elitist schools like the Federal Government colleges, “unity” schools, the command schools like Army, Navy and Air Force primary and secondary schools that are well-run and heavily financed with public funds. The second category are the well- built, quality public schools at strategic road junction, the so- called Millennium schools built at exorbitant rates and the third are the physically and aesthetically – challenged, unkempt, poultry shed-like schools, usually hidden in inner city areas, rural areas and mostly riverine communities where people are not likely to see and where our lazy, corrupt and illiterate press would never bother to go for investigation, largely for the children of the poor and the powerless. The Millennium schools are newly built and properly staffed and here you will have some children of civil servants and middle class. The inner city schools are eyesores and largely abandoned, these are for the poor, very poor and miserably poor. There is a trending video currently on social media showing the terrible conditions of Lagos inner schools under the hashtag of #TinubuLagosSchoolsSeries and it would bring tears to many eyes the state of our schools. Here you have schools like Ladipo Primary School, Ikotun Senior High School and Oshodi Nursery and Primary School with failing infrastructure, falling roofs, dilapidated walls etc. This is the state of most of our inner city schools at the “centre of excellence” that is growing at the top but rotting at the peripheries. I understand it is the same situation largely in other states especially Ogun State – a state that is not only bedevilled with infrastructural challenges but also leadership challenge.
Then we have the public universities and here we also have three classes made up of the Federal universities and State universities. The Federal universities are further divided into two: the Public Universities and the special universities by security agencies – the army, navy, police etc. You can now see signs of neglect and decay in these universities but the neglect is worse for the state – owned universities, especially those States with no access to oil money or higher internally – generated revenue. The sad news reaching me now is that even children of professors and senior academic staff are now moving to private universities where their fathers also teach on part- time. As you all know, when a ship is about to sink the sailors are the last to abandon ship till others on board have escaped. Today our university sailors are already jumping the out of the ship meaning to say that the Public universities are now in serious trouble and may sink. If the staff do not have faith in the public system where they teach it is a sign and a portent to all of us.
This is the present state of education in Nigeria. What does this mean in reality? It means Nigeria has only created classes, introduced social stratification, segmentation and driven wedges into the body of society and through the education system, which, of all things, should be the instrument to unify and forge a common national identity and ideological focus especially among children. Nigeria is not one nation, it is two, three, four or five nations in one. This nation is fast becoming like India with different clans, social classes, strata and levels.
A deputy Vice- Chancellor of a first generation university painted a vivid picture of the decay in our universities today using his own university as case study and why some departments may have to be shut down if things did not improve. In a particular department several of the lecturers resigned and moved abroad during the last strike when government refused to pay. The only two professors remaining refused to leave because they would retire this year anyway. Thus a once thriving department is now left with junior cadre academic staff who lack the wherewithal to man a department in a first generation university.
Meanwhile the universities are also deceiving themselves and the public. At the same time when the university is going through this existential crisis and challenges also coincides with the period when the number of First Class degrees has burgeoned to unprecedented heights. The competition these days between universities seems to be which can award the highest number of First Class degrees than the other. The private universities that are built and run on profit motive are leading this charge.
It is sad.
In the 70’s and up to early 1980’s Public schools were well managed and properly maintained. Most of our senior public servants, politicians, professors today attended public primary schools and secondary schools. It was in the Second Republic that neglect for primary education began and it was when primary school teachers began to be owed several months by politicians of that era. It is curious that under another set of politicians and now in the Fourth Republic the decay has not only deepened it has metastasized to other tiers of education like the secondary and universities.
According to data from #statisense the shift is now towards private schools and abandonment of Public schools at least at the primary level has commenced:
*Southwest:*
Lagos : 66%
Ogun : 49%
*Southeast*
Enugu : 51%
Anambra : 48%
*South South*
Rivers:49%
Cross River :48%
[ Source: Statsense UBEC]
Even in the North the shift has started.
The situation at the secondary school level is not likely to be far different from this. The ‘japa’ syndrome has already started in the education sector.
Private universities now outnumber collectively both federal and state universities put together. There are now 147 private universities in competition with 52 federal and 63 state universities. That this humongous number of universities have been registered for private owners shows that it is profitable and a high demand exists for the peculiar services they offer. This could also only mean that spaces in public universities and facilities have shrunk to abysmal levels. The private universities thrive because the public universities are being neglected.
Most of these are owned by Faith – based organizations but not run on charitable basis but on market place philosophy and principles. Thus many members of the Faith – based organizations themselves cannot afford the same education run by their own organizations for their children.
The strange fact is the presence of large number of universities and private schools have not favourably impacted on either the quality of education or on the accessibility of education to the greater masses of people. Ogun State that has the highest number of private universities – 20 in all – also has the highest percentage of out- of – school children in the Southwest. Yet it has the highest volume of internally – generated revenue after Lagos in the Southwest. Something is fundamentally wrong with this State.
The sharp practices that we see now during qualifying examinations like JAMB and WAEC are often caused by the private schools because they have students whose parents could afford to buy even private invigilators and inspectors to pave way for their children. It is the reason today that many of those students with high scores in JAMB and distinctions in WAEC could not defend their high distinction when they got to universities.
What this means is that Nigeria has allowed serious complications in the education sector that will ring for all eternity. We have permanently created divisions and driven social wedges to the fabric of society that will cry against this generation throughout eternity and will attract dire consequences at the appropriate time. You do not run society by creating deliberate divisions and excluding the majority from the common benefits of life. That is not the social and ideological purposes of education. Why did the Reformation survive against the almighty Roman Church? One major reason that is now forgotten by scholars is that the Reformers educated everyone. Perhaps we have forgotten that it was the Reformation that first introduced compulsory Universal Basic Education as weapon of defense against Romanism. And history records it that they won.
Today everyone is running to the West for better life. But how was the foundation laid?
Southeasterners are moving to the Southwest in droves because of insecurity in their own region. Northerners are moving in droves to the same Southwest because of insecurity and difficulties. But what laid the foundation of stability and progress in the West? It was Education, free and compulsory education for all without discrimination. If the founding fathers in the East and North too had prioritised education for all children of both poor and rich may be their zones won’t be beds of terror and violence today and their children won’t be running to a stable region to create insecurity there. So education matters. Neglect and discrimination that we are creating today will speak in the future and will speak for all eternity
*Conclusion*
In the first part of this series of essay I established the thesis that Nigeria runs a two- tier system, one for the poor and one for the rich. In the first essay I examined how this works in the judicial sector. In this second series I am examining the education sector and to show from even statistics from government agencies that our education system is tending towards two-tier mainly for the rich and very rich on one side, and the poor and very poor on the other.
In the third series of Essay I will examine Nigerian Religions and I will also show that it is two- tier beginning with Christianity, then Islam and Traditional Religion.
This is the root of injustice and what people should fight. Nigerians have brought their peculiar genius for deconstruction into the education sector but not to improve it but to bring it down. University degrees are now essentially cash – and – carry. I have been told by lecturers of some private universities some of the sharp practices that go on there and which no one must disagree with because of the hefty sum paid by the parents. No standard again anywhere though some first generation and even second generation universities are still trying to maintain some control against great odds. In Nigeria education sector today we now have the upper and lower case compartments, the public schools tending towards the poor left and the private schools towards the economically mobile right, with a centre that is too weak to provide stability. And since in Physics the Centre of Gravity and Centre of Mass usually acts around the centre it is certain that education in Nigeria has no future under the present two- tier system.
This is the situation of education today in Nigeria.
Happy new month to all my readers.
Follow me:
Facebook: Moses Oludele Idowu
WhatsApp: 08034697670
© Moses Oludele Idowu
May 1, 2024
All Rights Reserved
Share your story or advertise with us: Whatsapp: +2347068606071 Email: info@newspotng.com
