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Being paper delivered Maiden EDITION OF KWASU Advancement centre Public Lecture
1. Introduction
I have been tasked with the responsibility of delivering a paper on the topic, “The
Town and Gown Dichotomy, Blending Learning with Practice amidst Job Scarcity”. I
thank the organisers of this event for deeming me worthy to deliver this paper and
picking a very germane topic.
1.1 Imagine Nigeria as the technology capital of the world, where the innovative ideas
coming out of Yaba or any other part of the country are giving Silicon Valley a run for
its money.Imagine sons and daughters of petty traders in Itakure or in Aiyegun
compound of Oko, blazing the trail in literature, researching and writing what will
shape Nigeria’s future and gets the credit for it. No nation can truly develop without a
strong academic culture. From the bowels of the universities and other institutions of
learning lies the means of production and the necessary technology for the upliftment
of the society. Across the world, especially in Europe and America, it will be observed
that nations rely on a very strong academic culture for immediate and long term
planning, cum other developmental indices. In fact, when Covid 19 pandemic
paralysed the word in the year 2020, America, Europe and even Asia, fell back on
their researchers who subsequently saved the day by developing and producing the
much needed vaccines . Despite the foregoing, it is however, sad to note that Africa, 1
and particularly Nigeria, has not been able to translate its huge academic presence
into development. What is the problem? Do we have a learning problem? Why has the
numerous academic institutions across Nigeria not been able to produce recognisable
research outcomes? Why do we have so many jobless and seemingly unemployable
graduates? The answers to these questions lie in the applicability of knowledge. While
we largely appear to learn, we are, however, reluctant or unable to commit ourselves
Council of Foreign Relations, A Guide to Global Covid-19 Vaccine, < https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/guide- 1
global-covid-19-vaccine-efforts > accessed June 27, 2022.
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to practice what we have learnt. As will be seen hereunder, the thrust of this issue is
partly attributed to learning mechanisms adopted across most Nigerian schools. In this
paper, I will attempt to do justice to this topic and draw a direct line between the
practice of knowledge and a reduction in unemployment.
1.2 In the very recent America’s history, the election of Barack Obama, America’s first
African-American president, continues to lend Black History Month a special
significance. President Obama acknowledged the historical importance of a moment
in which “a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a
local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.”This is because
a man like Woodson dared not only to dream, he wrote and kept writing until a wider
audience got the message and acted on it.Great things can truly start in small places.
The academic environment has always been the home of solutions, Nigeria cannot be
an exception to how this plays out.Have you heard of Larry page? He co-founded
Google. That web page we all run to seek new knowledge or enrich an old one. I did a
bit of research using google for this paper myself (with a chuckle) Who doesn’t?
Larry page and his fellow Ph.D. student at Harvard authored a research paper titled
“The Anatomy of a Large-scale hypertextual Web Search Engine which became one
of the most downloaded scientific documents in the history of the Internet at the
time.Today, Google is the most popular search engine and controls 90% of the global
search engine marke. On Google, there are almost 227 million searches an hour and
about 5.4 billion Google searches per day. Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook with
his roommates at the University as well in 2004. Back here in Nigeria, as we speak,
the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is still on strike. The powerhouse
of strategic nation-building and transformational change and the bedrock of
innovation is under lock and key. That speaks a volume.
2.0 KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE
2.1 In the early days, there were constant conflict between the university and the host
community, sometimes resulting in physical violence. During this period, the
university was regarded as the true citadel of learning, where one was almost always
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guaranteed a better live after graduation. The realisation that the university led to a
better life, almost often led to some resentment from the host community. Hence, the
phrase, the town and gown dichotomy. But today is not about the century held 2
conflict between the university and the host community. It is a about the huge gap
between learning and the applicability of knowledge or, if you like, the practice of
learning, in Nigeria, and the resultant unemployment.
2.2 In Nigeria, efforts to deepen knowledge and the innovation-driven economy is lacking
either with the shortage of fund, appropriate policy, or even the will to drive it.
In preparing this paper, one question kept niggling in my mind, what is the reason for
the large unemployment statistics in Nigeria? Let’s talk about data, another key
element of research. Nigeria still lacks a strong data culture. We import data like we
import rice. But thankfully, I got this next data I’ll be speaking to, off the Nigerian
Bureau of statistics. By the recent figures released by the National Bureau of
Statistics, Nigeria’s unemployment stands out 33 percent while youth unemployment
stands out 42.5 percent. The implication of these figures is that one out of every two 3
Nigerian youths is unemployed. Now, compare this to the American unemployment
rate of 3.6 percent , and the British Unemployment rate of 3.8 percent . The large gap 4 5
in unemployment rate between Nigeria and its America/British counterpart lies in the
topic under consideration in this paper. While America and Britain have been able to
form a common ground between their learning and practice, Nigeria has,
unfortunately failed to embrace the academic culture towards advancing its society.
Without sounding like a broken record, Can you fathom this staggering statistics of
Ian T Foley, Town and gown relations: finding equitable prosperity for neighborhood resident stateholders, 2
page 1, < https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2729&context=etd > accessed June 28, 2022.
National Bureau of Statistics, Unemployment Statistics, < https://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/ > accessed June 3
28, 2022.
Trading Economics, United States Unemployment Rate, < https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/ 4
unemployment-rate > accessed June 28, 2022.
Office for National Statistics, Employment in the U.K: April 2022, < https://www.ons.gov.uk/ 5
employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/employmentintheuk/
april2022 > accessed June, 2022.
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youth unemployment at 42.5 percent in a country where in each academic year,
universities and polytechnics admit close to 2 million students and produce about
600,000 graduates.
2.3 It must be observed that this has not always been the case. In the period shortly before
independence and at least a decade after independence, Nigeria had a strong academic
culture where the likes of University of Ibadan and Nigerian University, Nsukka, and
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, produced graduates that almost always returned to
the class room and carried out actual research or other developmental indices. It is,
therefore, not surprising that this period if often touted as Nigerian golden years when
we could find home grown solutions to our problems. Solutions researched by our
own academics. At the time, we had town planners who taught town planning in the
universities and actually practiced what they learnt, resulting in societies that were
properly laid out. We had judges who alternated between the bench and the classroom
and whose judgements served as precedents across Africa and even the common
wealth!. What changed? Nigeria abandoned its strong academic culture. Nigeria
drifted to classroom knowledge and no practical knowledge. The resultant effect was
a nation propelled by military boots and guns instead of research and knowledge. 6
There are more than sixty research institutes in Nigeria many of which are glorified
museums where you can only go to see the oldest equipment ever made.Here are
some pertinent questions: Where are the laboratories, where are the workshops, and
who is building the research facilities to help transform Content taught in classrooms
to real product, that will be for public use? I assume those who can provide answers to
these questions are not in this room.
2.4 While the gap between learning and practice grew bigger and bigger in Nigeria, the
Western climes increasingly closed the gaps by embracing an academic culture. For
Between 1966 and 1999, Nigeria had a series of military interventions that changed the nation’s trajectory 6
forever.
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example, almost everything that is done in the United Kingdom is backed by research.
From the hospitals, to the military, to budget planning and even preparation for
hostilities, the country relies on its academia to show the way. The United Kingdom
universities are, therefore, known for their brilliant discoveries which subsequently
help shapes the country. Today, major discoveries and innovations like penicillin, the 7
law of motion, hydrogen, theory of evolution, laws of gravity, etc, can be traced to the
British Academia who have actually been able to blend learning with practice, thereby
reducing unemployment. What about America? Some of the greatest military
machineries and interventions ever created can be traced to America and its
academia. The resultant effect of the West’s gravitation towards a balance of learning 8
and practice is the very low unemployment rates earlier referenced in the course of
this paper.
2.5 In Nigeria, we are largely unable to produce anything or be responsible for any novel
or major innovation because we do not practice what we have learnt. Do not get me
wrong. We have institutions like the National Institute for Policy and Strategic
Studies, Kuru, Public Service Institute, Abuja, and other similar institutes that
purports to promote research and learning. But we have sadly been unable to put the
products of these institutes to task. In recent times, many people only attend these
institutes as an ego trip or in quest for unending titles and academic records on their
curriculum vitae. We do not see their research outcomes and we definitely cannot see
their effect on the nation’s economy and other social indices. What we do know is
that, our national problems have remained unabated, and out graduates have remained
unemployable. This is a bitter pill, yes, but we must swallow it and begin to ask
ourselves the tough questions. Why do we have 170 accredited universities and yet 9
Study UK, Accessing World Leading Research, < https://study-uk.britishcouncil.org/why-study/access-world- 7
leading-research > accessed June 28, 2022.
University of Pennsylvania Scholarly Commons, U.S Military Intervention in the 21st Century: The era of the 8
spin on”, < https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1197&context=wharton_research_scholars > accessed June 28, 2022.
Doris Dokua Sasu, Universities in Nigeria, Statistics and Facts, (Statista), < https://www.statista.com/topics/ 9
8 5 2 0 / u n i v e r s i t y - i n n i g e r i a /
#:~:text=Nigeria%20counts%20170%20universities.,and%20the%20University%20of%20Lagos. > accessed June
28, 2022.
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cannot produce pencils or proffer solutions to our long standing societal issues? Why
do we produce up to 600,000 graduates across universities and polytechnics and
mobilise up to 66,000 for the National Youth Service Corps every year, but we are
unable to solve a single national problem? 10
2.6 What is even more worrisome is the fact that this problem does not look like it will
abate anytime soon, because Nigeria continues to experience brain drain as the few
graduates who would have returned to the class room and actually put their
knowledge to practice, are leaving for Canada and the United Kingdom in droves.
Adult in their late 30s and early 40s who should be settling down and thinking of how
to contribute their quota to the nation’s development, are rather applying for
undergraduate and post graduate degrees in Canada and United Kingdom, in a bid to
escape Nigeria by any means possible. In 2021, Nigeria’s migration rate stood at -029
percent at every one thousand people. This means that more people leave Nigeria
every year than those coming in. The effect of this statistics and the consequential 11
brain drain on the nation’s economy will be truly felt in the coming years.
2.7 So, why are we unable to blend learning and practice? Aside the government’s little or
no support for the academia (as can be seen in the ASUU’s current four months old
strike), our universities produce learning outcomes that are no longer suitable for
practical approach. Our syllabuses are mostly outdated and when the students
somehow find their way out of the systems, there is little or no desire to put their
knowledge into practice. In May this year, The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of
Nigerian Universities revealed that Nigerian universities’ curriculum has not been
reviewed for 25 years. How can we train students who will be ready and fit for
today’s evolving labour market with an archaic curriculum? Are lecturers updating
their knowledge bank? Are students striving to excel beyond their grades? Yet, we
Ijeoma Ukazu, Unemployment: Too many graduates fighting for too few jobs, (University World News), < 10
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?
story=20211113143735211#:~:text=Each%20academic%20year%2C%20universities%20and,the%20country%2
C%20Vanguard%20Media%20reported. > accessed June 28, 2022.
Doris Dokua Sasu, Net migration rate in Nigeria from 2000 to 2021 (per 1,000 population), < https:// 11
www.statista.com/statistics/1233163/net-migration-rate-in-nigeria/ > accessed June 28, 2022.
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have lecturers who have become principalities in their respective institutions and
teach the same thing year in year out. As the world moves towards a student centred
learning mechanism, we continue to retain a lecturer centred learning approach where
the lecture pass on the same notes from generations to generations of students without
little or no amendments. What then will the students practice when they leave the
institution? The same old knowledge that has not led us anywhere. Yet, in other
climes, students are exposed to the most advanced technological knowledge. At this
point, I am sure you now know the reasons why we have a large unemployment rate.
3.0 Conclusion
3.1 How then do we blend academia and practice? What are the solutions to all that I have
mentioned above? As a preliminary point, we must invest in our academia. Our
academics must be able to attend proper seminars and trainings where they will be
exposed to the best knowledge available in the world. We must train the trainer. We
must incentivise those in the academia and draw up a plan to keep our graduates back
in the country to practice what they have learnt. Up to the early 1980s, Nigerian
graduates were given car and housing loans to remain in the system. First class
graduates were given automatic employments in the universities they graduated from.
These policies did not only reduce unemployment, but there also created the much
needed interest in the academia. Furthermore, the government must find a permanent
solution to the incessant issue of ASUU strike that has made out institutions
unattractive to both citizens and foreign nationals alike. A nation without a strong
academic culture is a disaster waiting to happen.
3.2 The bleakness and inherent uncertainties that these challenges present explains the
increased human flight of middle-class and highly skilled Nigerians- I am sure you all
have friends or family members who have japa-ed. This trend is worrisome, you may
say, but it is just one of the many setbacks we are facing because we have neglected
the key solution-building institutions – Academia. There are plethora of problems,
now how can we turn the tide to connect the town and the gown?
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3.3 Let’s start with the big elephant in the room, there’s an obvious need for the
Nigerian government to prioritise research, set appropriate
funding apart solely for research purposes.The academia should
be accorded the respect it deserves.The careful, detailed, and systematic
collection of data is what we need to help us navigate our way out of
the problems we face in the areas of medicine, engineering,
agriculture, economy, education, and culture. We need academia, they need
us.There is an urgent need to resuscitate the dying research institutes. It is not
enough to fund research work and let them gather dust on the
bookshelves, the work must be taken beyond the written text. We
need to recalibrate and build a new research culture where our research
works will solve real-life problems.
3.4 To the academic community, there is an urgent need to blend the realities outside
the four walls of the classrooms with your teachings. The changes
are happening at a dizzying pace, we need to move, and the only way
is fast.Research institutes and researchers should as a matter of priority
make their research as evidence-based as possible. The quality,
integrity, and depth of research will set us apart.
3.5 To you, students, be daring in your pursuit of knowledge. Break
boundaries, and question the status quo. When you are faced
with the cliché: “we’ve always done it this way.” Respond with “what if
we try it this way?” See beyond your immediate environment.
Innovation has no age barrier, a student can be a teacher, a
teacher can be a student – all thanks to the disruption caused
by technology.
