The political system in Nigeria is heavily infected by corruption and the educational system is choked by poor funding. But the education suffers from much more.
The University of Ghana and the University of Nigeria have so much in common besides being named after their respective countries. They were both conceived during the colonial era and they have main campuses located on hills, Legon and Nsukka. Both have very large student population of between 35,000 and 38,000. They have regional reputations and have produced high quality graduates who have played great roles in societies.
According to a correspondent of Vanguard, who had a brief stay in each university last year reflected on the two societies through those institutions. In Legon, it was an experience of efficiency, culture and aesthetics. All buildings were painted and all were white and all had red roofs and all windows black.
According to a correspondent of Vanguard, who had a brief stay in each university last year reflected on the two societies through those institutions. In Legon, it was an experience of efficiency, culture and aesthetics. All buildings were painted and all were white and all had red roofs and all windows black.
Flowers and hedges were manicured and trees added beauty to the environment. Order was evident and everything showed agelessness because the new and the old abided by a laid down code. The library was quaint but noiseless, lacked modern books but had good ambience.
The hostels showed they have not lacked care and the newer ones were quite modern. But whether old or new, modern or ancient the color codes were maintained and all the roofs were red. The Guest house was sparsely furnished but functional and had good landscaping. Order and serenity were evident. The internet wifi system was good.
Nsukka was a different experience. A multitude of uncompleted projects littered everywhere, grasses had turned to bushes and hedges were untrammeled, free and wild. Many buildings were pale, washed and battered. Hostels were in shambles. The Enugu campus that houses faculties of Law and Medicine has no pipe borne water. The state of the toilet facilities in Enugu campus can only be imagined. A chat with some female students of that campus revealed that students have buckets for defecating.
They defecate in the open, along the toilet corridor, many at a time, facing themselves, into buckets and hurl the contents afterward into the toilet bowls, leaving trails of feces for the cleaners who come when they wish to effect as much cleaning as they can.
The hostels showed they have not lacked care and the newer ones were quite modern. But whether old or new, modern or ancient the color codes were maintained and all the roofs were red. The Guest house was sparsely furnished but functional and had good landscaping. Order and serenity were evident. The internet wifi system was good.
Nsukka was a different experience. A multitude of uncompleted projects littered everywhere, grasses had turned to bushes and hedges were untrammeled, free and wild. Many buildings were pale, washed and battered. Hostels were in shambles. The Enugu campus that houses faculties of Law and Medicine has no pipe borne water. The state of the toilet facilities in Enugu campus can only be imagined. A chat with some female students of that campus revealed that students have buckets for defecating.
They defecate in the open, along the toilet corridor, many at a time, facing themselves, into buckets and hurl the contents afterward into the toilet bowls, leaving trails of feces for the cleaners who come when they wish to effect as much cleaning as they can.
The buckets are rinsed with scarce water, which they have to buy, and are kept in the rooms until when again needed. Those who cannot stand the bucket idea defecate into polythene bags and fling them onto a heap behind the hostels.
That heap has survived generations. It’s pathetic. An Alumni exists but the atrocity has persisted. The Vice chancellors’ residence is state of the art, new. The vice chancellor has managed to ensconce himself in five-star comforts while students are dehumanized.
The school’s internet network system functions so slowly that it can’t be used. Lecturers and students can hardly do meaningful online researches in that remote location. A senior lecturer said she sends articles to foreign journals using her blackberry phone.
That heap has survived generations. It’s pathetic. An Alumni exists but the atrocity has persisted. The Vice chancellors’ residence is state of the art, new. The vice chancellor has managed to ensconce himself in five-star comforts while students are dehumanized.
The school’s internet network system functions so slowly that it can’t be used. Lecturers and students can hardly do meaningful online researches in that remote location. A senior lecturer said she sends articles to foreign journals using her blackberry phone.
Ironically the school’s motto reads: To restore the dignity of man. Ghana’s 2015 budget is 50 percent donor funded; Nigeria is rich and lives on her own money. Legon is to a great extent insulated from political and local administrative changes because Legon has a tradition, a tradition that must be followed.
That entrenched tradition is the institution. So while projects in Legon are completed before others are started, and buildings are repainted yearly, Nsukka is a picture of lack of concern and plan.
An environment of order and good tradition will culture, nurture and instill order and virtue in young minds but if you sow disorder, you will reap disorder.
Nsukka is not alone, other public universities are perhaps even worse.
That entrenched tradition is the institution. So while projects in Legon are completed before others are started, and buildings are repainted yearly, Nsukka is a picture of lack of concern and plan.
An environment of order and good tradition will culture, nurture and instill order and virtue in young minds but if you sow disorder, you will reap disorder.
Nsukka is not alone, other public universities are perhaps even worse.