ADVERTISEMENT
The Sun Nigeria
  • Home
  • National
  • Columns
    • Broken Tongues
    • Capital Matters
    • Diabetes Corner
    • Duro Onabule
    • Femi Adesina
    • Frank Talk
    • Funke Egbemode
    • Insights
    • Kalu Leadership Series
    • Kunle Solaja
    • Offside Musings
    • PressClips
    • Public Sphere
    • Ralph Egbu
    • Shola Oshunkeye
    • Sideview
    • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
    • Tola Adeniyi
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • The Sun TV
  • Sporting Sun
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • National
  • Columns
    • Broken Tongues
    • Capital Matters
    • Diabetes Corner
    • Duro Onabule
    • Femi Adesina
    • Frank Talk
    • Funke Egbemode
    • Insights
    • Kalu Leadership Series
    • Kunle Solaja
    • Offside Musings
    • PressClips
    • Public Sphere
    • Ralph Egbu
    • Shola Oshunkeye
    • Sideview
    • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
    • Tola Adeniyi
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • The Sun TV
  • Sporting Sun
No Result
View All Result
The Sun Nigeria
No Result
View All Result
Home Education Review

Corruption erodes integrity of tertiary institutions –Prof Akinrinade, ACAN Provost

7th April 2020
in Education Review
0
Corruption erodes integrity of tertiary institutions –Prof Akinrinade, ACAN Provost
0
SHARES
178
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Gabriel Dike

The Provost of Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN), Prof Sola Akinrinade, has opened a can of worms of high-level corruption ravaging the nation’s tertiary institutions.  He dropped the bombshell while delivering the 28th and 29th combined convocation lecture of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State. He was emphatic that corruption thrives at every level of the education ladder.

A Professor of African Diplomatic History and International Relations, Akinrinade spoke on “The Integrity Imperative in Nigerian Higher Education: Towards Creating a New Normal.”

His words: “Creating a new normal presupposes there is an existing undesirable abnormality, that has assumed the status of a normal situation and which should be replaced by something different.  That is the situation with regard to integrity deficits in Nigerian higher education today.’’

The former Vice-Chancellor, Osun State University (OSU), Osogbo, stressed that in recent years, tertiary institutions have hugged the headlines for very wrong reactions as the nation was inundated with reporters of various unwholesome practices emanating from these institutions: “Indeed, it is frustrating and very sad, that the problem of corruption in higher education appears to be intensifying daily instead of abating.  Among the problems being reported to the anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies as well as to the higher education regulatory agencies on fairly regular bases are stories relating to admission racketeering, examination malpractices, sexual harassment, certificate forgery, embezzlement of funds, and several others.

“All these stories make for titillating reading and easily attract audience attention simply because of their nature.  If only 50 percent of the reports are true reflections of happening in our higher institutions, then indeed, we have a major problem on our hands. Apart from undermining the core values of higher education, the integrity deficit is creating creditability problems for our institutions that are being linked with these unwholesome practices and activities.

“While certain crooked individuals connive with pernicious outsiders to confer degrees that have not been earned, tertiary institutions forge their own certificates nothing that it is that outside, who never completed the course of education being claimed that forged the certificates.”

He explained that corruption in the educational sector is even more calamitous in terms of its negative impact on society: “When the system is corrupted, public trust in higher education is greatly undermined, quality is compromised, values are distorted and unqualified young professionals are released into the political and economic life of the society.

“Corruption in admission means that the beat students may not be admitted.  When the promotion process is corrupt, the best minds are not rewarded and are sometimes consciously excluded. When funds are misused, the results are that libraries and laboratories do not have the support they need and infrastructures for adequate learning are not put in place.  Corruption compromises other outputs of the university system, including and importantly, its research.

“If the development of the society is dependants on knowledge produced from its tertiary institutions, it behoves us that such knowledge must pass the integrity test as countries cannot afford to base development policies and programmes on false or faulty foundations.”

Akinrinade said in other climes particularly in North America and Europe, reports that each year, a number of students are caught and disciplined for engaging in academic dishonesty or the others. He revealed that in 2011, over 16,000 cases of cheating where reported in 85 universities in the United Kingdom alone: “This confirms our statement that integrity deficits in the academic are a cross-cultural phenomenon.”

He observed that most times, as in order acts of corruption, students engage in dishonest practices because they are convinced they can get away with it.  He noted that systemic lapses in many institutions encourage such acts on the part of the perpetrators: “Students engage in cheating, and plagiarism occurs because they lack understanding of what constitutes academic dishonesty.  Sometimes, students come under pressure to succeed academically which motivates them into taking short cuts in order to achieve or simply to meet up.”

He said in 2012, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), collaborated with the National Universities Commission (NUC) to conduct a pilot survey of corruption in the Nigerian University System (NUS). The report identified important areas of corruption in NUS to include; admission, enrolment and registration of courses; examination administration and award of degrees; teaching and learning services; facilities and research administration, appointments, promotion and discipline of staff, departmental administration and faculty governance management of funds and contract awards as well as contact management:

‘’There are different dimensions to this problem, the first of which has to do with teacher quality and the unspoken and or unwritten institutional support for inflation of grades in certain institutions.  When poorly staffed in fifth-generation universities churn out first-class honours in number massively larger than those in second class lower, it is clear that there is something wrong somewhere because his phenomenon defies the traditional trajectory of student performance in graded examinations.

“When students who could not make the grade to study in federal and state universities suddenly emerge as geniuses in their large numbers in fifth and sixth generation universities, we need to ask questions.

“Many staff tasked with overseeing the admission process in many tertiary institutions have become overnight millionaires as they actively profit from marketing admission spaces to those less qualified. Corrupt practices of how students are offered admission to courses such as Law and Medicine because their parents were prepared to do anything to get their wards admitted into such programmes.

“That tertiary institutions cheat during accreditation exercise is not a secret.” He listed the sharp practices relating to accreditation to include the recruitment of “accreditation lectures”  manufacturing payrolls to give the impression that such staff has been their staff for the required minimum number of months to be regarded as regular staff: “Some borrow equipment and books, doctoring of statistics relating to the academic programmes being accredited and painting of offices as well as classrooms to create the impression of a good working environment.”

He then asked: “But how do you deal with a university that cheats on accreditations or falsifies its enrolment figures in order to hide part of its revenue? Or who do you punish when the institution pockets the caution deposit paid by students upon being admitted are never refunded when students graduate?  Who should be prosecuted when institutions fail to remit taxes deducted from personnel or in the course of business transactions to the appropriate authorities in order to shore up their finances?”

Akinrinade observed that “there is strong linked between societal corruption and corruption in tertiary institutions. The larger society is to a great extent culpable in many of the sharp practices for which tertiary institutions are daily being blamed.”

On the way forward: “Tertiary institutions must acknowledge that they have the primary responsibility for entrenching integrity in their systems because they have the greatest stake in the process and bear the brunt of the consequences of integrity deficits on their institutional reputation.”

He advised the institutions to implement structural reforms to reduce the opportunity for corruption: “Schools should take steps towards enhancing prevention mechanism by entrenching good governance and transparency in their academic and administrative processes.

“The third leg of internal measures is the application of sanctions and enforcing the rule against infractions.  Sanctions are penalties for professional misconduct that courage from public exposure, naming and shaming to interdiction, suspension or dismissal from employment for staff and expulsion for students.  In some instances, sanctions could be escalated to prosecution in the law courts.”

He lamented that apart from the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), efforts of ACAN and ICPC to work with regulatory agencies to implement the initiative at addressing the problem of corruption in the long term have not met with any robust welcome from them.

He  pleaded with regulatory agencies and the tertiary institutions to collaborate with the anti-corruption agencies to ensure that undergraduates are taken through a general  studies course on anti-corruption: “We already have in place a curriculum that you can adopt and we are prepared to train your staff that you may wish to deploy for the teaching.”

Click Here>>>>>>7 Natural Herbs to Finally End Premature Ejaculation and Weak Erection<<<<<<

Click Here>>>>>>Anti-kidnap and anti-theft device for tracking and listening<<<<<<

Rapheal

Rapheal

Related Posts

FEC approves 65 years retirement age Teachers Bill
Education Review

FEC approves 65 years retirement age Teachers Bill

20th January 2021
Anchor University establishes contact with abducted DVC Prof Fatokun
Education Review

Anchor University establishes contact with abducted DVC Prof Fatokun

20th January 2021
UniAbuja, five others named centres of competence in IT education in Africa
Education Review

UniAbuja, five others named centres of competence in IT education in Africa

20th January 2021
Next Post

Gombe: Between Goje and Kumo

Ravaging Erosion

Ravaging Erosion

How COVID-19 has altered activities at world’s biggest mosques

How COVID-19 has altered activities at world’s biggest mosques

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Highlights

AFF to boost innovation, techpreneurs with 2021 accelerator programme

Ekiti: N7.6bn counterpart UBEC funds has yielded 1,200 school projects – Fayemi

The Sun loses ex-assistant editor, Ashaka

Police parades 20-year man for kidnaping his father and collected N2 ransom

Akeredolu’s quit notice to Fulani unconstitutional, uncharitable – Northern Elders’ Forum

NAF acquires 3 aircraft for maritime operations in Niger Delta

Trending

FG expands access to cooking gas for rural dwellers – Kyari
National

FG expands access to cooking gas for rural dwellers – Kyari

20th January 2021
0

Mr Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, says the Federal Government has set up...

Trading rebound on NSE, index up by 0.66%

Trading rebounds on NSE, up N50bn

20th January 2021
Biden takes oath as 46th President of U.S.

Biden urges Americans to unite in fight against COVID-19

20th January 2021
AFF to boost innovation, techpreneurs with 2021 accelerator programme

AFF to boost innovation, techpreneurs with 2021 accelerator programme

20th January 2021
Gov. Fayemi approves 6 months maternity leave for nursing mothers in Ekiti

Ekiti: N7.6bn counterpart UBEC funds has yielded 1,200 school projects – Fayemi

20th January 2021
ADVERTISEMENT

Follow us on social media:

Categories

  • Abuja Metro
  • Arts
  • Broken Tongues
  • Business
  • Business Week
  • Cartoons
  • Citizen Joe
  • Columns
  • Cover
  • Culture
  • Duro Onabule
  • Editorial
  • Education Review
  • Effect
  • Elections
  • Entertainment
  • Events
  • Features
  • Femi Adesina
  • Food & Drinks
  • Frank Talk
  • Funke Egbemode
  • Gallery
  • Global Square by Kenneth Okonkwo
  • Health
  • Insights
  • Kalu Leadership Series
  • Kunle Solaja
  • Kunle Solaja
  • Letters
  • Lifeline
  • Lifestyle
  • Literary Review
  • Marketing Matters
  • Muiz Banire
  • National
  • News
  • Offside Musings
  • Opinion
  • oriental news
  • Politics
  • Press Release
  • PressClips
  • Public Sphere
  • Ralph Egbu
  • Shola Oshunkeye
  • Sideview
  • South-west Magazine
  • Sponsored Post
  • Sporting Sun
  • Sports
  • Sun Girl
  • Tea Time
  • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
  • The Sun Awards Live
  • The Sun TV
  • Thoughts & Talks
  • Time Out
  • Today's cover
  • Tola Adeniyi
  • Travel
  • Travel & Tourism
  • Trending
  • TSWeekend
  • Turf Game
  • Uncategorized
  • Updates
  • Views from Abroad
  • Voices
  • World
  • World News
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Paper Ad Rate
  • Online Ad Rate
  • The Team
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

© 2019 The Sun Nigeria - Managed by Netsera.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • National
  • Columns
    • Broken Tongues
    • Capital Matters
    • Diabetes Corner
    • Duro Onabule
    • Femi Adesina
    • Frank Talk
    • Funke Egbemode
    • Insights
    • Kalu Leadership Series
    • Kunle Solaja
    • Offside Musings
    • PressClips
    • Public Sphere
    • Ralph Egbu
    • Shola Oshunkeye
    • Sideview
    • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
    • Tola Adeniyi
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • The Sun TV
  • Sporting Sun

© 2019 The Sun Nigeria - Managed by Netsera.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist