Nigerian universities and digital skills

Nigerian universities’ graduates lack digital skills to make them employable globally. That was the verdict of the Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Mr Sonny Echono, last Tuesday.

He was guest speaker at the 26th Convocation ceremonies of the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo. He spoke on “Higher Education in the Digital Age.” Echono may not have meant all Nigerian universities’ graduates, but from his tone he meant a majority of the graduates. He’s right.

University education in the 21^st century has gone beyond theories, theorems and verbal analysis of issues, modules and methodologies. These days and these times, there is a deliberate infusion of digital skills into curriculums. At the twilight of the 20^th century and the dawn of the 21^st, nations of the world have consciously transited to a higher realm of learning. Hence, in some countries, 13-year-old gifted children are already admitted into top universities and are faring well. No longer do they have to wait until they are 16 years old before gaining admission into the university or any other higher institution. In Nigeria, it’s mandatory for a candidate to attain the age of 16 before he or she can be admitted into the university. Wrong. Nigeria government must as a necessity rework university curriculum to suit the fast-evolving paradigms of this age. You cannot shut out a genius from learning simply on account of age.

The Nigerian standard 16 years of age requirement for university admission should be jettisoned. Different people function at different frequencies of learning and absorption. We dim the zeal and constrict the knowledge bandwidth of our whizzes when we lump them together with moderately slow and normal pace learners. India, an Asian country, has the highest pool of young digital geeks because she has long discovered that innovation and digital knowhow do not come with age. Young folks, persons we refer to as infants in Nigeria, are already university graduates.

In 2019, a child prodigy, Laurent Simons, from Belgium obtained a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at the tender age of 9 from Eindhoven University of Technology (TUE). In the whole spectrum of engineering studies, electrical engineering is considered one of the toughest courses. But a 9-year-old crested the curve to pick his first degree.

Though described by staff as “simply extraordinary,” Laurent is just one among such gifted hands all around the world including Nigeria.

Just this year, at age 6, Joshua Beckford, born to Nigerian parents, became the youngest person ever accepted into Oxford University in the United Kingdom to study Philosophy and History. Before gaining admission, Joshua was said to have a rare mastery of digital skills. There are thousands of other smarties who accomplished outstanding academic and research feat before age 16, the almighty age a candidate must attain before knocking on the door of a Nigerian university for admission.

This may appear a little digression from the real issue of Nigerian graduates not having requisite digital skills. But it speaks to the real problem of Nigeria education curriculum. It’s outdated and requires an urgent overhaul. Why would any prospective candidate need to attain age 16 to get into the university when his or her counterparts in Europe, Asia, and the Americas are already pursuing their post-graduate degrees. In some cases, they are already holders of patents for their inventions and innovations in research.

I concur with Echono that 21st Century economy “requires that graduates possess relevant digital skills to thrive and contribute significantly through their respective disciplines be it industries, education, health, engineering, infrastructure or any other sector.”

But how can Nigerian graduates acquire such digital skills in an analogue environment. Nigerian universities are under-equipped, under-funded and under-staffed. The teachers are largely analogue. Learning is largely theoretical, not hands-on. Nigerians who have had the dual privilege of studying both at home and in the western world would easily attest to the fact that our university education is not suited to produce nerds and geeks that fit into the 21^st century workplace in any discipline.

In November 2009 while attending the 16^th World Editors Forum in Hyderabad, India, this writer encountered the heart and soul of India education. Young Indians, some undergraduates, some fresh graduates, who were employed by the local organizing committee as chaperons, guides and ushers showed to the world the deeper essence of Indian education curriculum. They were all smart, displayed ICT dexterity, good communications skill (with unmistakable Indian brogue) and typical Asia work ethic of punctuality and professionalism. In all their various skills set, the one that struck most visiting editors was their deep understanding of the computer and allied gadgets at the various media centres.

The reporter in me probed further. I wanted to find out how all the ushers were so digitally-savvy. One of them told me it was the norm rather than the exception. She said no matter your discipline in a India university, you cannot graduate without proven ICT skills. Linguistics, history and philosophy graduates are as digitally literate as engineering graduates. She points to India’s highly numerate education curriculum as reason for the high turnover of digitally skilled graduates in India. To achieve this, it’s unimaginable for an undergraduate student in India, no matter the course of study, not to have a functional laptop, she said. That was in 2009. Fast forward to 2023. There are thousands of Nigerians who graduate from the university without owning their personal laptop. They make do with computers in their university’s ICT hubs which are never enough; in some cases, non-functional. They become graduates without hands-on; propounders of theories, not implementers of same. This is the worry of Echono. He deserves commendation for his audacious forthrightness. Not many within the corridors of power have the courage to speak the truth on matters they are active stakeholders. Echono as head of TETFund is a major stakeholder in tertiary education. He and his agency have a huge role to play to change the sour story of tertiary education in the country.

One major pathway to making tertiary education in Nigeria digitally enabled is funding. TETFund holds the funds to define a new path to digital nirvana for the universities. Visit any public university, you will find TETFund projects. But the question is, at what cost are those projects; how much was deployed to train and upskill university lecturers? Has TETFund addressed issues of over-invoicing of contracts it awarded to certain entities in tertiary institutions? Do funds budgeted by TETFund for capacity-building of teachers and students really get to the recipients?

Nigeria is not doing enough in education funding. No debate on this. However, who audits, supervises or superintends over the little funds budgeted and released for the various tertiary institutions’ projects? It’s on this premise that the President Bola Tinubu government must walk a different path from his predecessors. His government should probe TETFund, National Universities Commission (NUC), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and any other body allied to the development of tertiary education in Nigeria. Nigerians deserve to know how the comparatively huge funds expended in the education sector were spent. This will help us understand why digitally-deficient graduates are still being produced by our higher institutions.