Mr. Ubong Marshal Inwang is an advocate for accountability, justice and fair practices, epecially within the Nigerian educational system.
He is currently a member of staff at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), but has been actively involved in student and staff advocacy for several years since his role as Social Director of UNICAL Student Union Government (SUG) in 2011.
In this exclusive interview, Inwang bares his mind on some neauscating issues in Nigeria’s educational system, highlighting the grey areas in dire need of reforms, accountability and strategic infrastructural advancements with public-private partnerships (PPP) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects, among other pertinent educational issues. Excerpts:
Having successfully transmuted from Student Union Government (SUG) into a staff at the prestigious University of Calabar, how would you describe the challenges within the nation’s educational system and what solutions would you proffer?
In the last decade, I have witnessed firsthand several challenges in tertiary education from the standpoint of a student, a student union leader and currently as a member of staff. Some of the critical issues are found in the allocation of resources, inefficient policy implementation, and lack of accountability. In one word, these problems could be summarized as corrruptions. Nonetheless, it is imperative to address these challenges and implement reforms to safeguard the future of education in our country.
Education is the cornerstone of any nation’s development, providing the foundation for innovation, leadership, and societal progress. So, the rights of students and the basic amenities required for an appropriate learning environment shouldn’t be compromised. Similarly, the welfare of the academic and non-academic staff should equally be prioritized to ensure that they effectively carryout their pertinent roles in educating the students in knowledge and in character.
Corruption in education creates a cycle of mediocrity and inequality. When resources are siphoned away, schools and universities cannot provide quality education. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds suffer the most, as they rely on public institutions for affordable education to transform their fortunes. Consequently, these unfortunate individuals fail to get proper education and end up in a medicore stage for life or delve into crimes.
Are there specific solutions you would suggest for tackling inefficiencies and other ills across the nation’s educational sector?
My first recommendation would be equitable utilization of resources for schools. Public funds are usually allocated for infrastructure, scholarships, staff welfare, but the problem is that these funds are often embezzled, diverted or misused. Like several aspects of the nation’s economy, the Nigerian educational system needs transparency. Transparency should guide decision-making processes in the sector such as staff promotions, project bidding, and fund distribution, among other germane issues often disrupted by corruption, favoritism and nepotism.
Meanwhile, there is also a need for proper frameworks that protect activists, unions, and whistleblowers who expose corruption. These categories of individuals should not have to face intimidation, suspensions, or wrongful arrests. Whistleblower protections laws must safeguard activists, staff, and students who expose corruption.
Universities and schools generally should adopt democratic governance structures where staff, students, and stakeholders have a voice in decision-making.
Earlier, you mentioned the menace of inadequate funding for educational infrastructure, but what innovative funding options would you advocate for infrastructural development?
Generally, Nigerian government at federal and state levels have not showed in their budgetary allocations that they prioritize education. Therefore, there is a need to explore innovative approaches for the establishment and maintenance of core educational infrastructure. Some of these approaches could be via joint ventures, public-private partnerships, concessioning, Corporate Social Reponsibility (CSR) projects, alumni association projects, among others. All viable approaches that can lead to infrastructure development that aid educational advancement should be explored to ensure that schools and universities can function effectively and equitably.
The onus, however, rests on the Vice Chancellors and management teams of respective academic institutions to ensure that they fully maximize their networks including former students, companies within the academic institution’s community, organizations with unique interests in related faculties like top medical organizations sponsoring medical laboratories, etc.
E-learning and tech-hubs have become unique selling points of modern academic institutions globally. Is this something Nigerian institutions should prioritize?
Every university should have a university-based innovation hub. In that place, students can learn what they need to do to start a business in any area of their choice. They can actually start their own business because part of it is to promote startups. Whether one is a student, staff member, or outsider who wants to incubate a business, one can actually come there to learn how. Of course, when we say tech-hubs, we mean technology-driven business. People go through boot camps, do hackathons and so on.
In such an environment, every student learns to form a team of two or three people that complement each other. Somebody from computer science can team up with somebody in engineering, and somebody studying accounting or business administration and they form a team and form their startup and begin to do business, or learn what they need to do, as long as everybody is bringing something to the table.
There should also be an opportunity for students to learn some vital skills in the real business world such as pitching their businesses and big ideas. Tech fairs can be organized with top organizations invited to explore these ideas as sponsors even as these big ideas could be explored via competition within the campus or outside the campus for innovation competitions.
All these excellent and exemplary approaches to learning ensure that there is a synergy between town and gown. This means that the educational system is producing graduates that understand the nuances and problems in the actual field and these graduates are coming out as solution providers. This should be the norm across the nation’s varisties if the country will have graduates that are ready for the marketplace as employable workers or entrepreneurs.
