Education Gone Downhill

Uchechukwu Nnaike

President Muhammadu Buhari was elected into power in 2015, following his precedents in the 80s when he was the military head of state.

Dissatisfied with the performance of the administration of Goodluck Jonathan, Nigerians were hoping that Buhari would improve the country’s education system.

His numerous campaign promises on the education sector, which endeared him to many, included: Establishment of a free-tuition and scholarship scheme for pupils, who have shown exceptional aptitude in science subjects at O/Levels to study ICT-related courses; and building six centres of excellence to address the needs of special education.

He also promised free education at primary, secondary and tertiary levels for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and education.

Buhari also promised to allocate up to 20 per cent of the national budget for the education sector, while also making substantial investments in training quality teachers at all levels.

However, eight years down the line, the sector is said to have been plunged into a more hopeless state.

In the area of funding, the Nigerian education sector has remained under-funded over the years and there is no improvement during the Buhari’s administration.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recommended that developing countries should allocate up to 26 per cent of their annual budget to public education.

Unfortunately, Nigeria’s allocation to the sector is still less than 10 per cent.

Poor funding is the bane of public education in the country at all levels, resulting in decaying infrastructure and facilities, overcrowded classrooms and hostels, poorly equipped laboratories and libraries, among others.

But for the support of intervention agencies like the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and others, public institutions in the country would have been extinct.

Buhari had, at the Global Education summit in 2021, pledged to increase the budgetary allocation to education by as much as 50 per cent over the next two years.

He was quoted as saying: “We commit to progressively increase our annual domestic education expenditure by 50 per cent over the next two years and up to 100 per cent by 2025 beyond the 26 per cent global benchmark.” Few days to the end of his administration, Buhari has not fulfilled this promise.

His administration also witnessed an unprecedented disruption of academic calendar in the country. Apart from the closure of schools to check the spread of COVID-19, his government was accused of insensitivity to the plight of students and teachers; and paying lip service to their welfare.

Buhari’s administration recorded the longest strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). A report by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism stated that ASUU had spent more than 580 days (19 months) on strike since Buhari became Nigeria’s president.

It said since 1999, when the country returned to democratic rule, ASUU had embarked on 16 strike actions, the longest being a 272-day action between March 23, 2020 and December 23, 2020.

Over the years, the causes of the numerous industrial actions have bordered on poor funding. 

The constant disruption of the academic calendar of public universities has brought about a rise in education tourism. Nigerian youths now seek admission not only to renowned universities in Europe and America, but even to those in poor war-prone countries.

The situation has also led to brain drain, as many academics have left the country to other places with better conditions of service.

During the protracted strike last year, the ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, had lamented that lecturers that were dedicated and passionate about the job were being frustrated out of Nigerian universities, while ‘accidental’ academics were frustrating the academic system.

Also, the Chairman of the UNILAG chapter of ASUU, Dele Ashiru, revealed that about 70 per cent of the institution’s best lecturers had resigned from their jobs.

He said the federal government’s disposition towards university professors was disrespectful and insensitive.

“The impact of the government’s insensitivity and deployment of the weapon of hunger might not be immediately known until after the strike. As I speak with you, more than 70per cent of bright and promising young academics retained by the university through mentorship have all left the country for greener pastures due to the poor conditions of service in Nigeria.

“Those that are left are on the verge of leaving. No government in the history of Nigeria has been so insensitive, brash, and disrespectful of the best brains in the country. This is unfortunate and a shame,’’ Ashiru had reportedly said.

Ironically, the children of Nigerian politicians are shielded from the rot and disruption of academic activities because they don’t attend Nigerian universities. Graduation pictures of some of the children of Nigeria’s political leaders, including Buhari’s children, from foreign universities had gone viral on the internet on many occasions. And while the strike lasted, children of governors and other government officials were enjoying an uninterrupted academic calendar in various foreign institutions.

It is therefore not surprising that governments at all levels have paid lip service to education in Nigeria.

Unlike the pre-2015 era when only schools in the North-east were unsafe, many schools across all the geopolitical zones in the North became unsafe under Buhari.

The constant attacks on schools led to the closure of schools in some northern states, and merging of those in the hinterlands with those in towns.

According to reports, since the abduction of about 276 Chibok schoolgirls by Boko Haram in 2014, over 1,500 school children have been kidnapped by armed groups in Nigeria. 

Some of the major school abductions include the April 14, 2014 kidnap of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State; kidnap of 300 pupils from Damasak, Borno State; 110 pupils from Dapchi, Yobe State; 344 pupils from Kankara, Katsina State; 276 pupils from Jangebe, Zamfara State; 140 students from Chikun, Kaduna State; and 102 pupils from Yauri, Kebbi State, among others.

The activities of terrorists increased the number of internally displaced persons, as well as the number of out-of-school children.

The UNESCO report of 2022, which had noted that the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria rose to 20 million from about 12.5 million recorded in 2021 is still a subject of debate because of the huge margin. But it shows the failure of the present administration to make a positive impact on education.

Indeed, the country’s education system deteriorated significantly under the outgoing administration.