Between Sept & Dec 2014, over 100 Nigerians graduated with PhDs in various disciplines across the top 6 Malaysian public universities. These are universities which have sound performance record as attested to by their positions within the top 501 in the 2014 QS World University Rankings. However, less than 30% of these Doctorate degree holders returned to Nigeria. A number of reasons are responsible for this ugly trend.
The first and most important is “rank”, in Asia & the Middle East where most of these Nigerians get employed, with a PhD & 5 journal publications your starting position is Assistant Professor/Senior Lecturer. But, if the same person were to be “PATRIOTIC” and come back home, his starting rank will be Lecturer II. That is 6 years & 2 ranks away from what he gets outside the country! Not too long ago, a friend told me that one of the leading universities in Nigeria even requires 3 years POST-PhD experience for Lecturer II!!! For those who decide to stay outside the country, that requirement earns them Associate Professor Positions (3 years post-PhD experience). I felt it was a joke, but my doubts were put to rest yesterday. I was invited for dinner by a friend whose sister, an Associate Professor in Nigeria came to attend a conference. In the course of our dinner, I asked her if her school would accept me with a PhD and 5 journal publications into the Senior Lecturer Cadre. She did not even blink before responding that my qualifications would only get me a Lecturer II Cadre position. This is one reason why some of our best brains remain outside and refuse to come back home.
The second is also tied to the first, “salaries”. In the other two regions (Asia & Middle East) being compared, there is a BASIC starting salary for all degrees. Once you have a PhD, irrespective of whether you teach in the Primary, Secondary or University, there is a MINIMUM starting salary. But, in our situation, a lecturer with a B.Sc or Masters degree might earn more than a PhD holder because of the latter’s fewer years of experience within the academia. That is a “morale” killer for any PhD holder. The government should innovate to correct this salary structure according to the degree earned and Nigeria will see a return of large numbers of PhD holders which the country urgently needs at the moment. Becos na for only Naija person dey fit use PhD shine!
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Thirdly, the “straight JACKET syndrome”. Globally, interdisciplinary environment is being created & adopted where someone with a first degree in biology ends up with a PhD in mechanical engineering or where, like my PhD Supervisor who is not a Civil engineer becomes the head of department of civil engineering. But that is not the case with our system despite our “DESIRE” to progress. For example my first degree was in Quantity surveying, my M.Sc in Project Management & PhD in Civil Engineering with specialization in Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in infrastructure. Within the Nigerian context, I can NEVER be the H.O.D of a QS dept. or a Civil engineering dept. NOR can I ever grow to become a Professor in any of the departments due to my “multidisciplinary” degrees. I think we should embrace ‘multi-disciplinary’ qualifications; there are inherent advantages in doing that.
Fourthly, the “B.Sc-HND” problem is also taking its toll on our education system. A story was told recently of a Nigerian, whose first degree was HND, who out of patriotism went back home after his PhD and applied for a position in a Nigerian University. Despite his PhD degree, he was asked to go and do a B.Sc if he is truly SERIOUS about lecturing in the university!!! Another colleague with a similar condition I know recently resigned from his institution and traveled out of the country to take up a good university job. He has no intention of coming back until he becomes a Professor, a position he can NEVER dream of if he remains in the country. Something urgent should be done to clear this B.Sc-HND problem. However, if the situation is left as it is, there is going to be a decline in polytechnic enrolment because everybody wants to go to the university!
Recently, a friend of mine decided he preferred to go back to Nigeria rather than accept the offer he was given in Malaysia. After about a year of being frustrated by his colleagues over any innovation he tried to introduce into the department, he finally abandoned the job and returned to Malaysia. Even Lecturers who were sponsored using the ETF funds are willing to payback whatever the ETF gave them and remain outside the country (N500k/month no be small thing ooo). In 2010, a PhD student from one of the top Universities in Northern Nigeria came here to do his ‘bench work’ because his university did not have the equipment he required. How much does this equipment cost? A paltry N5million Naira of which just 10% ‘tithe’ from the President’s N1billion eating allowance would purchase one each for 20 Nigerian Universities! Wahala dey ooo! The bitter stories are endless.
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The good news is, MOST Nigerian Diaspora PhDs I have had the privilege of speaking with would happily rush back if the rank and salary issues are streamlined as is done in other climes. I also learnt that a lot of Nigerian lecturers are in South Africa too. We need “them” so that current lecturers without PhDs can go and acquire theirs without creating a “vacuum” within our university system. I hope those close to the government would point these out to the President and his minister of education. Research-based policy making is the major difference between Asia and Africa. Governments in Asia engage university researchers to study the impact any proposed government policy would have on the people before the policy is implemented. If the results are not favourable, the policy is delayed and tweaked to get the desired results. A good example of such research-based policy making is malaysia’s GST tax which will eventually commence on the first of April 2015. But in Africa, we only engage researchers after the damage is done, and the researchers are often not home-grown ones with good local knowledge, we prefer foreign consultants! This is why most of our policies are often NOT people-oriented.
The transcripts issue: Once you graduate, a copy of your transcripts is issued to you along with your results in other countries. I currently have my M.Sc & PhD transcripts with me, but my Naija transcript…Hmmm! It is important that we adopt the same practice here in Nigeria because people have missed their admissions into foreign schools due to delays associated with schools having to send the transcripts rather than hand it to the original “owner”-the student.
Conclusions
There is a direct correlation between the quality of lecturers and the quality of graduates produced. Our education system will not grow except we change our perspective on the above issues. Unfortunately, Nigeria often carries this attitude of ‘exceptionalism’ which makes us believe we can make progress without changing our philosophy or approach! I don’t know how that would be possible though.
I honestly commend the patriotism of my colleagues like Dr Mohammed Aliyu Paiko & Dr Ibraheem Dooba who turned their backs on several offers, preferring to return to Nigeria. I pray they rip the fruit of their patriotism. As for me, I am also trying to be patriotic in my own little way too by not abandoning the 3 years employment contract I signed yesterday. I would not be portraying my country in good light if I abandon it and come back to Nigeria now. That would be a BREACH of contract, and its NOT good for the image of Nigeria! Abi no be soo?
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