HIGHER EDUCATION AND FUTURE LEADERSHIP FOR THE NIGERIAN
YOUTH
By
Dr. Adedayo Yusuf AbdulKareem
Provost, Kwara State College of Education,
Ilorin
and
Dr. (Mrs.) Rhoda Olape Oduwaiye
Department of Educational Management,
University of Ilorin
Abstract
This paper highlights the goals of higher education, as stated in the
Federal Republic of Nigeria National Policy on Education (2004). The
concept of leadership and the opportunities for the youth in higher education
cutting across the Nigerian tertiary institutions like Colleges of Education,
Polytechnics and the Universities are discussed. The challenges facing the
youth are also enumerated. These include non-capability in terms of adequate
knowledge and sound foundation in their careers and inadequate
communication skills. The paper concludes with suggestions for offering
second chances for the youth in higher education among, which are sound
entry qualifications, offering more courses that are technically based,
providing scholarships and other financial assistance to students in preferred
courses in higher educational institutions and preparing the youth for
entrepreneurship, leadership in family and social-political life.
HIGHER EDUCATION AND FUTURE LEADERSHIP FOR THE NIGERIAN
YOUTH
Introduction
Education, as the process of developing an individual towards the
development of the society, is both formal and informal. While informal
education of often acquired unconsciously and through unsystematized
means, formal education is the systematized type of education that is acquired
in the school system.
In Nigeria, formal education is segmented into primary/basic, secondary
and tertiary/higher education. As elucidated in the Federal Republic of Nigeria
National Policy on Education (2004), higher education is the education given
after secondary education in the Universities, Polytechnics, and College of
Education, and this includes correspondence course offered.
The goals of higher education, as stated in the National Policy on
Education, (FRN, 2004, p. 36) are:
i.
contributing to national development through high level relevant
manpower training;
ii.
developing and inculcating proper values for the survival of the
individual and society
iii,
developing the intellectual capability of the individuals to understand
and appreciate their local and external environments;
iv.
acquiring both physical and intellectual skills which will enable
individuals to be self-reliant and useful members of the society;
v.
promoting and encouraging scholarship and community service;
vi.
forging and cementing national unity, and
vii.
promoting national and international understanding and interaction.
These goals focus on the roles and expectations of the recipients to be
prepared as future leaders and developers of the society at large.
A Cursory View of Higher Education in Nigeria
The history of higher education by Western standards has been traced
to the time of the abolition of slavery and the resettlement of freed slaves in
Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1787 (Fafunwa, 1991). The initial lukewarm posture
of the Colonial Administration to the development of education in Nigeria
continued even after lord Fredrick Lugard had left office in 1919.
The
Administration continued to increase interest in the education of the natives
through the enactment of memoranda on education until early 1930s, when
the world economic depression started to affect the development of education.
The depression made it difficult for the Administration to implement the
proposals on education because it brought about financial constraints
(Abdulkareem, 2007).
The need for the Colonial Administration to recruit Nigerians to fill the
vacant positions of the retrenched expatriates as manpower to carry on the
country’s administration after the Second World War led to what has been
described as “Departmental Training Programmes”, which is a type of higher
education in the country. The courses offered, as elucidated by Fafunwa
(1991), were meant to groom the Nigerians for various posts in the
government departments under the leadership of the Europeans.
In
readiness
for
independence,
Professor
Fredrick
Harbison
conceptualized high-level manpower, to be developed by higher educational
institutions, both by function and by educational qualification. He categorized
this manpower into two categories as senior and intermediate. Harbison,
according to Fafunwa (1991), proposed that 31,200 would be needed as
personnel in the senior category while 20,000 of these should have had a
university education or its equivalent.
Harbison estimated that between 1960 and 1970, Nigeria would need to
produce university graduates at the rate of 2,000 a year (Fafunwa, 1991;
Babalola, 2008). But by 1971/72 academic session, enrolment in the Nigerian
Universities was 18,000 as against the recommended figure (7,500) for 1970
(Babalola, 2008). As the need for manpower in the different sectors of the
nation’s economy continued to increase, especially during the oil boom period
(1970 – 1990), more higher educational institutions continued to be
established by the governments.
As revealed by Goldstar Directories (Dec., 2007), by December 2007, in
Nigeria, there were 25 Federal Universities, 27 State Universities and 22
Private Universities. Furthermore, there were 18 Federal, 18 Federal
Polytechnics, 32 State Polytechnics and 11 Private Polytechnics in the
country, while the number of Monotechnics stood at 69. The number of
Federal Colleges of Education was 20, while the number of State Colleges of
Education was 39. This shows a hysterical expansion in higher education in
Nigeria. Enrolment in these institutions keeps increasing too.
Table 1
Undergraduate Students’ Enrolment in Nigeria Universities (2000-2005)
Universities 2000/01
2001/02
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
Total
Federal
Universities
28,227
355,656
471,917
481,484
446,506
2,038,790
74,272
85,941
125,718
213,276
238,526
737,733
1,259
358,758
3,352
444,949
8,469
606,104
32,648
727,408
39,824
724,856
85,552
2,862,075
State
Universities
Private
Universities
Total
Source: National Universities Commission (2005)
Table 1 shows enrolment of undergraduate students in Nigerian
universities between 2000 and 2005. Total for 2004/2005 being the highest is
724,856. This number was less than 10% of the total number of candidates
seeking places in the universities then.
The present state of Nigerian Universities reveals a state of crisis which
includes low level of technology, inadequate skilled human capital, poor
infrastructure and quality of life, haphazard expansion of university education
including low demand from private sector of these poorly trained graduates
(Mohammed, 2008). The situation in other higher institutions is not too
different from that of the universities. Our experience shows that the quality of
life emanating as a result of poor economy generally does not allow for quality
production of graduates. Furthermore, it is generally observed that there is a
lot of indolence among the students as revealed by laziness in academic
work, examination malpractices, as well as more interest in social activities
than academic work. These socio-economic problems are the bane of the
present day Nigerian higher institutions.
Youth and Leadership
Young people, otherwise referred to as youth are between ages 12 and
24 (World Development Report, 2007), while Okpeh (2005) put youth as
people between 18 and 35 years. Youths could be referred to as children,
young men and women, and young adult. The category of these people is
about 59% of the entire population in Nigeria, and 1.3 billion youth living in
developing world (World Development Report, 2007).
There are five
transitional stages in the life of the youth and these are going to school,
staying healthy, finding a job, leaving home and starting a family, and
exercising citizenship.
As a concept, leadership is termed as that behaviour which initiates new
structure in interaction within a social system and an activity at influencing
people to strive willingly for goods (Mullins, 1996; Adesina, 1990; Okorie
2000). Nigerian youths had been found in the past initiating new structures
within their social systems and taking leadership positions.
Historically, youths have rendered valuable contributions for liberation
and national development. They can constitute a reservoir of energy and
dynamism for any national struggle or campaign. For instance, in the Niger
Delta, thousands of the youths are agitating for the “liberation” of the Region.
Youths can play leadership role if they are correctly guided, mobilized and
fully integrated into the social fabrics of the society. They may also constitute
a threat to national survival and stability if they are allowed to drift,
unemployed, ill-disciplined and morally bankrupt (Okpeh, 2005).
In the traditional Nigerian societies and other parts of Africa, youths
were given social and political recognition. They were usually organized and
recognized as a very powerful social group and given specific duties by the
society. Although the elders were the policy makers, the youths did the
execution (Okpeh, 2005). The physical defence of the society in times of war
was the duty of the youths. They were equally most productive in the
economic life of the society. Young men and women were responsible for
difficult tasks like bush clearing, digging, weeding, hunting, livestock grazing,
etc. the elders made sure the youths were properly trained culturally and in
the skill acquisition because the elders knew that when youths are well, the
community is well.
Somehow, colonialism destroyed the traditional bases for youth
leadership in Nigeria. The need to pay colonial taxes, for instance, made the
youth to migrate to urban settings. Nigerian youths were conscripted as
soldiers in the colonial army and even during the Nigerian Civil War. Nigerian
youths offered positive leadership in trade unions and political leadership that
led to the Nigerian Independence. They did this through such organizations as
the West Africa Students Union (formed by the Late Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe), the
Tiv Progressive Union, the Idoma Hope Rising Union, etc.
At Independence, Nigeria inherited a weak socio-political structure, and
an inexperienced and corrupt leadership (Okpeh, 2005). This led to a series of
actions that became problematic to the nation. The Nigerian youths died in
great number during the Nigerian Civil War. Despite the sufferings of the
youth, Nigerian graduates who are youth (under age 30 years) continued to
serve the nation in various capacities under the National Youth Service Corps
(NYSC) since 1973.
The youths had to contend with a lot of problems which prevented them
from making greater contributions to the development of the nation. These
problems have negatively affected their leadership abilities. These problems
are denying them the right to education. .From the mid 1970, the government
has continued to fail in its responsibility in giving the youths the right to useful
life, (despite the oil boom) through the provision of good education and
employment. The Nigerian youth are, therefore, confronted with having no
future. The conditions have been deteriorating because the government and
the society seem to have failed in their obligations to prepare the youths to
inherit the future. Nigerian youths therefore seem not to be sure of themselves
nor their future. This has not allowed them to be able to consolidate their
leadership roles in the society.
Nigerian Higher Education, Opportunities for the Youth
There seems to be a perception among the Nigerian peoples that only
higher education in the Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and ultimately the
University that can promise a good future. By and large, universities and other
higher institutions continue to increase but the issue of access to university
education has become a serious one (Akpan & Undie, 2007). Section 1 (3e),
(4c) and (5c) of the National Policy on Education states that Nigeria’s national
goals and philosophy on education include:
(3e) a land full of bright opportunities for all citizens;
(4c)
every Nigerian child shall have a right to equal educational opportunities
irrespective of any unimagined disabilities each according to his or her
ability;
(5c)
the provision of equal access to educational opportunities for all citizens
of the country at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels both inside
and outside the formal secondary school system. (Federal Republic of
Nigeria, 2004, pp. 6 & 7).
These are also in consonance with the universal declaration of Human Rights,
which asserts that “everyone has a right to education”. This means that every
Nigerian child, qualified seeking admission into higher education should be
given the opportunity. Nigerian higher institutions continue to discriminate
candidates based on religious grounds, sex, indigene/non-indigene, quota
system, exorbitant school fees and poverty (WDR 2007). The government has
tried to give more opportunities by licencing the states and private individuals
to open more universities. Another opportunity for older youth and others is
the establishment of the National Open University (NOUN) to cater for
educational needs of people aspiring for university education. The carrying
capacity principle introduced by the NUC does not allow even the existing
institutions to admit all the qualified candidates because of inadequate
facilities. This has made the admission into the institutions of higher learning
very competitive. Less than 20% of those who applied to the universities are
admitted as shown in Table 2. In fact, an average of about 12% of those who
applied for university admission were admitted during the period.
Table 2: Demand and Supply of Nigerian University Education (1991/92 –
2000/01)
Year
Applications
Admissions
% Admitted
1991/92
373,016
61,212
16.4
1992/93
424,156
78,893
18.6
1993/94
448,573
88,369
19.7
1994/95
487,029
84,743
17.4
1995/96
508,280
32,473
6.4
1996/97
472,362
76,430
16.2
1998/99
537,226
64,176
11.9
1999/2000
501,424
70,532
14.1
2000/2001
550,399
60,718
11.0
Total
4,722,272
690,337
14.6
Source: JAMB (2003, Report).
Nigerian higher institutions enroll a very modest 4% of the relevant age
cohort. This level compares poorly with economic competitors such as South
Africa (17%), India (7%), Indonesia (11%) and Brazil (12%) (Saint, Harnette
and Strassner, 2003). Apart from opportunities in term of access to higher
education, the opportunity to offer desired choice of discipline is not available.
Many students that applied to read medicine or law for instance, were offered
related courses of study because of limited space.
The biggest concern to the youth is getting educated in the universities
and finding a good job (WDR, 2007). The graduate unemployment shown in
Table 3 is alarming.
Table 3: Registration of Unemployed Graduate in Nigeria by State
S/NO
STATE
MALE
FEMALE
TOTAL
1
ABIA
1,743
1,292
3,035
2
ABUJA FCT
394
103
497
3
ADAMAWA
785
131
866
4
AKWA IBOM
2,144
1,348
3,492
5
ANAMBRA
1,242
2,362
3,604
6
BAUCHI
564
63
627
7
BAYEISA
1,739
987
2,718
8
BENUE
4,941
1,323
6,264
9
BORNO
2,677
844
3,521
10
CROSS RIVER
3,362
900
4,262
11
DELTA
3,509
2,246
5,755
12
EBONYI
1,056
622
1,678
13
EDO
3,325
1,247
4,572
14
ENUGU
2,340
2,278
4,618
15
EKITI
2,530
1,754
4,284
16
GOMBE
611
180
791
17
IMO
1,243
1,405
2,648
18
JIGAWA
2,815
140
2,955
19
KADUNA
3,787
1,029
4,816
20
KANO
2,372
1,230
3,962
21
KATSINA
1,322
77
1,399
22
KEBBI
1,515
298
1,812
23
KOGI
3,120
1,645
4,764
24
KWARA
2,771
1,483
4,254
25
LAGOS
52,651
27,377
80,028
26
NASARAWA
2,372
377
2,749
27
NIGER
1,102
130
1,232
28
OGUN
352
517
869
29
ONDO
1,865
1,555
3,420
30
OSUN
3,743
2,161
5,904
31
OYO
4,585
3,552
8,137
32
PLATEAU
1,587
443
2,030
33
RIVERS
6,012
2,793
8,805
34
SOKOTO
2,339
159
2,498
35
TARABA
3,547
458
4,005
36
YOBE
1,060
94
1,154
37
ZAMFARA
648
43
691
134,071
64,646
198,717
TOTAL
Source: National Directorate of Employment (NDE) (2004). Annual Report
In 2004, the National Directorate of Employment in the country
registered the unemployed graduates in every State. The highest registration
came from Lagos State with 80,028, while the lowest came from the FCT,
Abuja with 497 unemployed graduates.
In a situation where the youths in Nigeria cannot gain access to higher
institution, or get a job, how then can they exercise their leadership potentials?
The reason for most unemployment, as enunciated by Dabalen, Oni and
Adekola (2000), is that many university undergraduates are poorly trained and
unproductive on the job. Furthermore, their shortcomings are particularly
severe in oral and written communication as well as in applied skills.
The general observation nowadays is that the labour market for many
categories of the Nigerian graduates is saturated and there are common
complaints that the professional, moral and attitudinal qualities of those who
find jobs are extremely disappointing. As concluded by Nwaka (2000), it is,
therefore, fair to say that the overall contribution of higher education to
national development can no longer be taken for granted.
Given this scenario of higher education in Nigeria, what then is the hope
of the nation’s youth in regaining their lost leadership status? That is, what are
the opportunities for offering second chance to this teeming population in the
country? Possible answer to these questions will be encapsulated as part of
the recommendations in this paper.
Recommendations
The following are recommended to reengineer, reposition and harness
the power of the youth for future leadership, using the opportunities of higher
education in the country.
1.
Higher institutions must improve the internal mechanisms for selfregulation and accountability in order to forestall much of the present
tendency of government to subject them to needless scrutiny and
interference. They must uphold and not compromise the high ideals of
the ivory tower image.
2.
More emphasis should be placed on such issues of current concern as
the need for unity, justice and inter-ethnic harmony, poverty alleviation,
self-reliance and other development objectives enunciated in our
constitution, in the vision 2010, and other more recent policy initiatives
and development programmes of the government.
3.
In order to stamp out insatiable greed, ignorance and corruption in the
polity and affect positive changes in the society, the society should
support only political parties or individuals who value and support
quality education.
4.
States and Federal Governments should devise ways and means of
helping financially handicapped students in higher institutions in ways of
making available financial loans to enable needy students to complete
their education.
5.
The government and the educational institutions must free themselves
from all forms of bias such as tribalism, gender inequality, religious
bigotry.
6.
The government must encourage courses in entrepreneurship in higher
institutions and offer soft loans to the youth to get themselves involved
in productive initiatives and self reliance in areas such as Agriculture,
small and medium scale enterprises.
7.
The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry is the
greatest employer of the teeming youth.
Their regulatory body, the
National Communication Commission (NCC) can work is collaboration
with the youths to cushion the unemployment problem in Nigeria.
8.
Government should revive industries that are moribund and ensure that
they can come back to life through privatization.
9.
There should be constant career counseling and entrepreneurship
training for students in all higher institutions.
10.
All necessary strategies to improve the quality of training of the youth
should be put in place.
11.
Higher institutions should create partnership with private sectors and
employment organizations to review curricula and upgrade equipment
and skills of lecturers. The courses offered should be relevant to the
needs of the job market.
12.
The Nigerian youth themselves must be determined, disciplined,
humble and hardworking. These qualities will make them to achieve
their goals and be future leaders that would be respected.
13.
The youth must involve themselves in the activities of Nongovernmental
organizations
(NGOs)
and
community
based
organizations.
Conclusion
Youths are the bridge between the present and the future, they
represent the dream, the hope and the aspirations of human kind. No nation
aspiring to greatness can ignore its youths.
A great number of the Nigerian youth are disillusioned and are loosing
focus. They are hopeless because it seems to them as a blick future. Many
cannot have opportunity to higher institutions which could give them bright
future and allow them to partake in the nation’s development. A number of
reasons for this have been discussed in this paper. There is no gain saying
the fact that the youth are the leaders of tomorrow. Hence, they must be
encouraged to develop their potentials by having full access to higher
education through regular and part time programmes in the school system.
These should be seriously considered more importantly when, in a few year’s
time the products of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme would
be graduating and be ready for higher education too.
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