From Desmond Mgboh and Abdullahi Hassan, in Zaria
Year after year, Nigerian universities have been rated low in the global ranking of universities. Not even the University of Ibadan, Nigeria’s premier university, nor first generation universities like University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), formerly University of Ife, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and University of Lagos (UNILAG), had, at any time, ever come anywhere within the first 100, in any of those rankings.
For instance, it came as a big shock when only University of Ibadan was featured in the ranking conducted by Times Higher Education (of London) World University Rankings for 2015/2016. And, to make matters worse, it was ranked No. 601 on the list of world’s top 800 universities featured in the survey, an honour it shares with University of Ghana, University of South Africa, University of Marrakech Cadi, Ayyad (Morocco) and three Egyptian universities, Alexandria University, Cairo University, and Suez Canal University.
Of the 13 African universities featured in the survey, the University of Cape Town, South Africa, placed at 120th position, is the highest ranked university in Africa. That is to say, it was 481 steps higher than the University of Ibadan, which, in turn, is 200 steps lower than Makerere University, Uganda, which was ranked 401st. Five other South African universities made the list of top-notch universities in the world, making South Africa the country with the highest number of world-class universities on the African continent.
Nigerian varsities and global ranking
Just imagine University of Ibadan making the 601st position in the ranking of world best 800 universities and you will begin to appreciate the nature of the problem. Those are the concerns you took up with Prof. Ibrahim Garba, Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria (since April 2015), when he hosted The Sun, recently, in his office, even as you wonder where his own university is in the global ranking and why, despite its age, it is far off the expected mark.
“This is a very big field of engagement that you have brought about, but I will summarize it,” he said, during the interactive session. “First of all, we have to realize that universities take the colour and character of the environment in which they exist. If this university (meaning ABU) were to be in United Kingdom or in South Africa, for example, with all the resources we have in terms of human and material resources, we would have been on top of the global ranking. But the mere fact that Ahmadu Bello University and all other universities are sited in Nigeria, where nothing works, which miracle would make our universities be ranked?
“All the ingredients that you require for a university to succeed are practically non-existent in this country. So, when our superiors at higher levels of government or even at lower levels begin to say that our universities are not ranked, I would say to them: ‘you, where do you rank yourself in the world?’ If they were to rank the National Assemblies in the world, where would yours be ranked? You cannot expect something out of nothing.
“In all universities, investment has to follow and then the university would work well, but in a country where there is no investment…. the entire education budget in Nigeria is not up to what Malaysia spends for research in one university. I have had in this University a colleague that was working somewhere outside this country, holding a research grant worth 20 million dollars, research grant only! And he is a foreigner in that country. How much is 20 million dollars? Check it. How much do they give to us? Practically nothing! So it is impossible to really grow… in fact, the country must praise us for continuing to produce graduates that are still competitive because there is no good Nigerian graduate that would earn his degree that would not fit into any higher degree anywhere in the world or would not fit in and work in any part of the world. There are many Nigerians who excel in different fields and disciplines in different parts of the world. They were not trained in those countries. These Nigerians were trained in Nigeria. So, the problem really is that the system around us would not allow us to be ranked.
“It is not because we fail to do the right thing. It is the problem of funding. For example, do you know how much ABU is spending on power generation alone? We spend N86 million a month. In 2016, this university spent N886 million on power generation. But how much did the government give to us as overhead? N106 million! Not even enough to pay for two months of power cost. That is the money government expects me to use in running the university for the whole year. Our students are told that tuition is free. They only pay little charges without which the university will practically collapse. Nigeria is a very poor country. You cannot get a university in a poor country to be ranked among the best. So let us not start debating that.”
ABU as Nigeria’s oldest varsity
Prof. Garba, a geologist who holds Masters degree (Mineral Exploration) and PhD in Geology from the University of London, former Vice Chancellor, Kano State University of Science and Technology, Wudil, former Director-General, Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office, Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Abuja and one-time Special Adviser to the government of the Republic of Guinea where he helped supervise the implementation of the country’s mining sector reforms sees the decrepit physical structures that dot ABU landscape as proof of the problem he is talking about.
“You know we are one of the oldest, if not the oldest university in Nigeria,” he said. “Forget the semantic about the University of Ibadan being the oldest university in Nigeria. In fact, sometime ago at the National Assembly, the University of Lagos said no, that it started ahead of the University of Ibadan, that by the time the University of Lagos started, the University of Ibadan was just a college. ABU started as a college in 1947. Then, it was called Northern College of Science and Technology. And there was an Institute of Agriculture that was established in 1923, to train agriculturists. There was also an Institute of Administration where northern administrators and judicial officers were trained in the 1940s.These colleges and institutes get degree from elsewhere but most of them ran sub-degrees and diplomas, in which after completion you go London and earned a degree. So, naturally we are a very old university and our infrastructure has been remarkably overstretched by age and by use.
“Don’t forget that ABU is the largest university in this country. We have the largest students’ population, we have the largest carrying capacity and ABU has the highest list of admission intakes. Our carrying capacity is the highest. That means we have more staff, more students and a larger campus size and still gets the same amount of funding with all the other universities – though we must appreciate the recent interventions by government through TETFund (Tertiary Education Trust Fund). That has helped us to improve…. we used most of the intervention fund to upgrade and improve on what we have.
“One thing that you have to realize is that it is not the age of these infrastructures that matter; it is the maintenance. Most of these old buildings are better than those constructed today. But what it means is that we have to maintain these structures because of their quality. So, if we want to continue to use them, we have to continue spending to maintain them. Don’t forget that in terms of our outreach, Nigerian universities were established around the British system, which used to be a very conservative system compared with the American system. Later on, we transferred our academic delivery system to the American system, but we retained the conservatism in our ways because it pays us well. We can speak of the benefits.
“Any item of measure that you take in terms of discipline, academic quality and academic output, ABU is always ahead because we have maintained these old values, old ways of doing things and we have refused to just give up some of these things which many universities had given up and I think we are enjoying the benefits of doing that. You may not see a lot of glitter, but you see a lot of quality, well entrenched in the systems here than the structures.”
Solving the problem of inadequate toilet facilities
Talking about the size of students in relation to facilities, sometimes ago, you read in a newspaper report that the University did not have enough toilets, especially in female hostels, you informed him. Could he confirm or debunk the report?
“You know, like I told you earlier, the growth in population of the school has never been matched with the growth of facilities and services for the students and staff”, he observed. “In fact, your question is quite apt. Only recently, we awarded contracts for the construction of 20 toilets blocks, within the campus…..But I don’t want to construct too many toilets just like that, because some students will complain that they did not eat well but the Vice Chancellor is busy constructing toilets (laughter).
“But really, we are mindful about sanitary condition of our community. The problem again is that, if you construct many toilets and your water system is not what it ought to be – it takes money to keep a good water system – you will still have challenges. Luckily here, we have water; but the most important challenge is that because of the large population of students, and because of our kind of mentality and the behaviour of where we come from – homes and society which do not care about maintenance- you put a toilet here today, tomorrow they break it… and the University is not a place where you teach students how to learn manners or how to do these things. So, actually it is our societal behaviour and our attitude that make it worst. But I assure you that we are tackling this challenge and it would soon be a thing of the past.”
What you need to know about admissions at ABU
Admission problem is the latest of the many challenges facing universities. Too many qualified candidates chasing far fewer spaces. How is ABU, the administration of which he heads, coping with this challenge? For answer, he admitted that, “absolutely, this is our current reality. Every year when admission process commences, it is a nightmare for us because you are dealing with situation where multiple number of students want to come to ABU.
“In the past year about 50,000 students aspired to come but about 40,000 students made the minimum cut-off mark, but our carrying capacity, even though the highest among the Nigerian universities, is only 9,500. In fact, last year, because we introduced some new courses, our admission capacity increased to 10,500. So, if you are selecting 10,000 from 40,000 and all the 40,000 are qualified, then you know it is a big challenge.
“And by ABU policy, we spread, we make sure that we capture a wide range of the society in terms of the catchment area, and as you know, our catchment area is the largest. All the 19 Northern states falls within our catchment area. We also look at educational less-advantaged states, ranging from Bayelsa to Jigawa states – all of them, we give them special consideration. At the end of the day, you must ensure that merit is respected. And of course, you know that JAMB gives us the admission formula which we must respect because when we admit students, we must send it to JAMB to inform them that we had complied with their formula.
“But NUC, on the other hand, gives us the carrying capacity which we cannot exceed. So last year, for instance, in medicine, about 9,000 applied to read MBBS, but our carrying capacity was only 120. So, you can subract 120 from 9000 and see the difference. You see, the candidates that are applying for this medicine, you know that they are the best in terms of merit. In fact, even a candidate who scored 250 may not get it because you have to spread it on merit, then you distribute it across the 19 Northern states. Some would get one, two. I tell you, it is very complex.
“But despite all these, we try to have a credible system where, at the end of the day, those that lost out know that they lost out because of the circumstances, and not because we rejected them. Because of that, the University has established a Distance Learning Centre which offers degrees. We have gotten approval from NUC and the first batch of applicants is over 15,000. We are taking some candidates on MBA online. We also have a good number of diploma programmes and we have Schools of Basic and Remedial Studies, which service the entire Northern states.” [to be continued next week].