Should we hail Unilag and its students?

I am sure if you are a student or an alumnus of University of Lagos (UNILAG), you must have heard of one of the best news from the institution. UNILAG just produced a student who had a cumulative GPA of 5.0. This student, who never had a B in any of his courses, has stirred a lot of reaction in the social media. I doff my hat for Ayodele Daniel Dada. However, I am confused whether to hail or criticize UNILAG (sorry, I meant Nigerian Universities)? Are you surprised by this remark?

In this article, I am going to ask two questions. First, is it easier, these days, to get a First Class or a Second Class Upper degree? Simply put in another away, is it correct to say someone who had a Second Class Lower (2-2) in 1988 could have a Second Class Upper (2-1) if such a person graduated today? Second, are the degrees we are parading, these days, mere piece of papers – especially postgraduate degrees from Nigerian Universities? Please note that my intention in this article is not to bore you with things you already know about our Universities.

Before I get into my main thesis, I would like to share with you a conversion I had with some of my friends in London while I was doing my PhD. We usually assembled at Pubs every Saturday to discuss issues ranging from Politics, Philosophy to Business. It was a good way to take our minds off our rigorous research programmes.  My small ‘think tank’ agreed, one day at Canary Wharf, that the kind of research and discoveries researchers  are making, these days, is nothing compared to the kind that were made many years ago – in the days of Albert Einstein. Are you surprised with is conclusion? Never mind recent breakthroughs in technology and science, most of the fundamental principles that form the foundation of these recent breakthroughs were postulated many years ago. Einstein’s equations are the bedrock of the atomic bombs making World Powers proud today. Simply put, we proudly concluded that the modern day scientist is lazy. This is funny, isn’t it? But, there is some merit in this because it is more difficult to establish a fundament principle like E = mc² than to apply the equation in making a bomb. My group also concluded that most PhDs do not really contribute to knowledge. Note we were criticizing PhDs done in good universities. Since my friends were mainly Americans and Europeans, I was happy they hadn’t seen some PhDs from Nigeria.

Now, back to my argument. Do you know that in the 80s you needed to score above 80% to make an A in some Nigerian Universities? Those days where 3 .75/4 gave you a First Class is different from today where 4.5/5 gives you a First Class. Now, you just have to score above 70% to make an A. Would we still have many First Class students if the old grading system was still being implemented? Should my uncle who got a 2-2 in 1988 feel intimidated by someone who has just graduated with a 2-1? Should UNILAG be rejoicing or should they be weeping for the falling standards?

Someone told me that in some private Universities scores are padded to please parents. Just the way our budgets were padded. Did I hear you laughing? Since this is an allegation that you might argue that I might not be able to prove, even though some of us might know the truth, I will let this one pass. Do you know that, these days, we have what is called ‘upgrading’ in Nigerian Universities? This happens when a whole class fails woefully and the University might decide to add marks, say 20 marks, above board. Don’t be surprised that a class can fail terribly even though they have been well taught. Sociologists have argued that social media like Facebook reduces time spent in studying. I hope some of our First Class students are not beneficiaries of ‘upgrading’. Since this is almost a norm in Nigerian Universities, should we still be rejoicing with UNILAG for producing 178 First Class students?

I have noticed an upsurge in the number of students wanting to do postgraduate programmes. Could it be that they are doing Masters Courses because there are no jobs?  I strongly believe that anybody who is doing a Masters just to buy time cannot be a good postgraduate student. The quality of our postgraduate studies is a topic for another day. The point to take away here is that we should stop fooling ourselves that if you have Bachelors in Nigeria, you might be a shining star if you go abroad for your postgraduate studies. We mention names of some minute number of people who have done this. The truth is this: if you have a degree in say Chemistry from Nigeria and go to an ivy league for postgraduate studies, you might be lost in your first two months in the University’s laboratory. However, because you have some fundamentals, you might catch up if you are hardworking. Should we be proud that we are producing so many postgraduate students in Nigeria?

Should we be proud we are producing a relatively large number of PhDs in Nigeria? Haven’t you noticed that the reason a lot of folks do PhDs is because of the title? As a scientist, I know this is a ‘bad’ reason to want to do a PhD.

I must state that Nigerian Universities have produced some exceptional postgraduate students, but they are in the minority.

Well, I congratulate UNILAG for its academic feats. But, while they are rejoicing, they should also be weeping for the state of our ivory towers. For Ayodele Daniel Dada, please go straight for your Masters and PhD. If you were a scientist or an engineer, I would have advised you to go to my Alma Mater – Imperial College of Science and Technology, London. Well done Daniel!

Dr Nwankwo lives in Benin City