Our education system has been under threat for a very long time. Consequently, standards have been going rapidly downhill. The decline was poked into our faces only last week with the just released JAMB results. Some university dons have had cause to draw public attention to gaps in supposed passes in flying colours in the public qualifying examinations and the performance in the lecture rooms. The performance has been shown not to be the touted brilliance of the students. It flowed from irregularities sponsored by unscrupulous parents or commercially-minded proprietors of private schools who want their schools at the top of competing schools’ chart to attract patronage. In the 40s up to 50s, exceptional Standard Six certificate holders were retained in their schools to teach. With the emergence of products of Secondary Modern Schools, those with Standard Six held little attraction. Headmasters were drawn largely from among Teachers’ Grade 11, in some cases, Grade 111 certificate holders. The training ground for secondary school teachers in parts of what is now Oyo State was Baptist College Iwo, then came Ondo College of Education to train Grade 1 Teachers to lead the teaching strength in secondary schools. Bright products of secondary grammar schools were a reservoirs of secondary school teachers in those days as well. This was at a time university products were in short supply. But the point I am getting at is the standard of education of the earlier times. Standards must be high to keep some with only School Certificate to teach in their schools. Is it conceivable that anyone with a primary school leaving certificate will be considered for teaching in any primary school today?

The reasons are not far to seek. The problem is not in the nature and capability of pupils or students but in the system and the values being waved before societal gaze for the society to embrace: It is the unremitted pursuit of power, money and influence, rather than beneficial service that raises the spirit to the longed-for sublimity and the Heights. It is the pursuit of emptiness. It is when a great many pass away and enter the Beyond that they will find all they hold in their hands is sawdust! The obvious decline is not a recent dish of comestibles served to the nation. In several schools in many parts of the country, pupils have no chairs and tables. They sit on the floor and lie on their bellies to write. The universities have long lost their autonomy, a great departure from when the university councils held sway and Vice-Chancellors were held in awe! The decline became sharp when the government had the temerity to shut down universities and asked lecturers to vacate their residencies on the campus. Some were accused of teaching what they were not asked and paid to teach! Perennially, university lecturers have been in long-drawn battles over lack of autonomy for their institutions and poor funding. On a few occasions the universities were closed down for upwards of one year.

Although the National Education Policy 2024 Edition stipulated budget expenditure of 26 per cent, less than 10 per cent of the total budget went to education compared with reported 18 per cent in Ghana. The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, is seeing a silver lining in the mass failure in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) as proof that the anti-malpractices measure now put in place are working; the failures should be regarded as gain. UTME is computer-based standardized examination for prospective undergraduates and is a more focused evaluation by different universities to determine their suitability. Henceforth, the true ability of the candidates will come to the fore as they would see that with the curb in malpractices, to pass their examinations they must read their books.

The suitability of the prospective undergraduates is not the only issue that bedevils our universities. The welfare challenges and attendant frustrations over which the leaderships of the lecturers’ association have intermittently called out their colleagues on strike in the last 30 years remain unresolved. My attention has been drawn to their complaints ventilated by a lecturer bordering on their status and welfare. They are as follows: “Being a university lecturer is no longer sustainable. Every day is a struggle just to eat, pay rent, and survive. Teaching is what I know and love, but the financial strain is making it impossible to do my job effectively. When I started teaching over seven years ago, I could afford to drive to school daily in a family vintage fuel efficient car that I subtly colonized, pick up colleagues from their homes and never asked for fuel money. Today I can barely afford public transport to work. I now go to work twice a week, if I manage.

“Government officials say prices are going down. Yes, I completely agree. But do we have money to buy it? Before while growing up in a middle-income family, my parents stocked food at home: beans, yam, okpa etc. at these times. Now you can’t even afford to buy when prices drop. Survival is day to day. One illness in the family and you plunge into poverty. Rent increases annually. Inflation is destroying us, but the government pretends not to notice. No policies protect ordinary Nigerians. It is hardship upon hardship.

“I once considered sleeping in my office to save transport costs, but senior colleagues warned me. If anything happens, I could find myself explaining things I shouldn’t have to. So, I keep struggling, like many others.

“We are so understaffed that I teach five courses in a semester. But the real tragedy? The students. They are not being taught. Some barely see a lecturer thrice in a semester. Their degrees are losing value because the system is collapsing. I recently supervised an exam for 400-level students. Out of 145, about 60 per cent are on student loans. They are paying, but are they getting their money’s worth? No. They graduate with certificates but without knowledge.

“HODs come to work once a week. Deans, principal officers, same thing or at most thrice. Those who come Monday won’t come Tuesday. Those who come Tuesday won’t come Wednesday. Academic efficiency is dead. But who do you blame? They all have families. After the eight-month strike, owed salaries were paid in bits, spread over months. Inflation wiped out what little we had. Most other service rendering professions adjusted by adjusting their prices. Lecturers can’t. If they take money for text books, handouts or worse grades, it’s a scandal. We are churning out graduates who are, with all due respect, educated illiterates. In 20 years, this country will be in crisis because of it. The government must act now. This is not about lecturers alone; it is about the future of Nigeria. I asked my students how many want to be lecturers. None. They don’t want to be like me. They see no dignity, no reward, no future in teaching. University should attract the best, but now, teaching is a last resort.

“Once, first-class students were happy to be retained. Now, even if you force them at gunpoint, they won’t stay. Those who do are mocked for ‘lacking ambition.’ This is the death of academia in Nigeria. Some lecturers now earn more from side businesses than from teaching. When that happens, even if salaries were to ever increase, they won’t return to full-time teaching and give their best to research. A generation of lecturers is being lost.

“Nigerians are paying the price for necessary reforms, but not everyone is affected equally. Some are shielded. Meanwhile, the government ignores the suffering of its people. Rent hikes (which state governments should tackle), inflation, job losses, no protection… University education is collapsing. If we continue like this, the damage will be irreversible. The time to act is now.”

In all these, however, what role do the eggheads themselves see in bringing about relief? University lecturers are known to be men of ideas. We are all in it together. Me thinks that they can band together in different universities and brainstorm. Position papers can then be forwarded to the government as their contribution to salvaging the onerous problems in the land.

This is the earthly aspect of the challenges confronting the nation. The real and enduring solutions lie only in the Revealed Knowledge. Man has reached the end of its wits. As it is in Nigeria so is it developing in Mr. Trump’s America. Harvard may have a tale to share sooner or later. Last month, Mr. Trump froze $2,2 billion in Federal research grants and contracts to Harvard. According to CNN, the Ivy League university has sued Trump Administration to press for the release of the money. The university says the White House demands “would impose unprecedented and improper control on the university and would have chilling implications for higher education…Harvard will continue to comply with the law, promote and encourage respect for diversity and combat antisemitism in our community. Harvard will also continue to defend against illegal government overreach aimed at stifling research and innovation that make America safer and more secure,” according to a statement by a Harvard spokesman. White House said if its complaints are not remedied Harvard would have to operate as a privately-funded institution, drawing on its colossal endowment, and raising money from its large base of wealthy alumni.”  The government accuses Harvard of dropping standardized testing requirements such as SAT or ACT.

DARE BABARINSA’S BOOK: EAT NOW, PAY LATER

It is always elating running into old colleagues. And what can bring a horde of senior journalists together, abandoning their production timeline and on a Tuesday for that matter, than an event by a leading one from their clan. At such a gathering with back slapping and banters and laughter, you want to fly. Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, former Head of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, was there; so was Prof Jide Osuntokun, a man of many parts: first DG of NUC; a former Ambassador; member Editorial Board and columnist; of course, a university teacher and author. Gbenga Omotosho, editor of several years and Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy was there. Other dignitaries were Stanley Egochukwu, a veteran business and finance ranking editor at BusinessDay; Akinkuotu of TELL; Martins Oloja, until recently Managing Director/Editor-in- Chief of The Guardian, now active in his column writing; Dipo Kehinde, investigative journalist/Publisher of an online publication. Senator Adeyeye formerly of The Punch before he veered into politics and has become a force in Ekiti and at the national level.

Several political leaders drawn mainly from Afenifere were in attendance as well, among whom was Dr. Femi Okunrounmu. He was President Goodluck Jonathan’s point man who went round the country to collate views in preparation for the 2014 National Conference on the Constitution. The Are Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, was conspicuously in attendance with his trademarks of beads over immaculate white flowing gown as well as a white cap. He was ringed by his men, OPC.

It was a double-barrel event—the launching of Dare Babarinsa’s book, ‘Eat Now, Pay Later’ as well as the marking of his 70th birthday. The birthday is in fact today, 09 May, 2025. But we were permitted a fore-taste of what to happen later at Oke Imesi. The book will also be launched in Abuja.

I am skipping commenting on the book for now because I have not read it. What I can say is that Dare Babarinsa is Dare Babarinsa any day in terms of display of the mastery of English language which makes for compelling communication skills in his writings. What with his unusual grasp of issues punctuated with materials drawn effortlessly from his rich knowledge of history. Not only will Babarinsa regale you with history, but will give you dates. Not surprisingly, he took his first degree in History from Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University and took another degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos.

All this prepared him to dare and confront power; it prepared him for life in the trenches during Babangida’s Administration and worse during Abacha’s ruthless Regime. Dare Babarinsa and his colleagues went underground yet they were producing their TELL Magazine from week to week: Abacha was an embarrassment and so he must be wrestled to the ground. That was the conviction of most newspaper houses. Some of the newspapers were shut but the struggle continued. Dare Babarinsa was one of the editors of TELL Magazine and was not one to flee from the battle field. They displayed the dream, the vision and energy usually at the uncorrupted youth’s command to straighten things when they see their land upside down. They steered the nation on the path of justice and equity. The resolve was: Abacha must go.

Babarinsa’s milestone 70th birthday is, therefore, something to celebrate. Ladies and gentlemen, up on your feet and clink your glasses and say Hurrah, hearty congratulations to a brave master on his book and his birthday. Hip! Hip!! Hip, Hurrah!!!