EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a detailed, firsthand response to our recent editorial on academic standards. The author, a distinguished veteran journalist and former Managing Editor at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), argues that the practice of forcing doctoral students to write exams, combined with systemic bribery, is undermining the integrity of Nigerian academic laurels.
I must express my complete agreement with your recent editorial: there is indeed something profoundly wrong with the way academic laurels, even merited ones, are conferred in Nigeria.
I was shocked recently when two members of a professional group I belong to informed me they could not attend our next meeting because they would be busy writing exams. My shock emanated entirely from the fact that these were doctoral students.
I retorted, "Say it again!" When they confirmed they were going to write an exam, I could only think: What a disaster!
Doctoral students writing exams? What for? Is the PhD programme not supposed to be a purely research-based endeavor?
I was further astounded when I was told that Master's Degree students in Nigeria are also subjected to writing exams. I held my breath at this news. Underdevelopment is, indeed, a curse.
A Master's Degree student is a potential scholar. They should be advancing the cause of scholarship by writing research-based essays that prove their readiness to join the class of real scholars. But apparently, this is not the case in Nigeria.
This situation is not enough to describe the rot. I have learned that MA and PhD students are often forced to gather money just to appease their lecturers. I never had to write a single exam for my advanced degree, which was completed outside Nigeria.
To confirm this, and given my experience in Europe, I spoke with a Professor in Nigeria who had studied in the United States. When I asked if this was standard practice, he laughed. He explained that this exam culture for advanced degrees is part of our "disrespectful colonial heritage."
The colonists implemented this practice specifically to humiliate Nigerians, whereas back in their native countries, such practices did not exist.
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He noted that back then, mere attendance at lectures was often considered a pass-mark. Students in the West can bring books into the examination hall, provided they are not the ones recommended by the lecturer at the session's start. This shows, according to him, a "studious student."
Given this context, if someone claims to have a doctorate for which they bribed their lecturers, could we say that was a degree to be proud of?
We all need to help sanitize this rotten university system.
I am aware of doctorates awarded to top-level individuals in the business world and the Nigerian Civil Service. There are former top public servants claiming to have doctorates who were explicitly "helped" by lecturers lacking self-respect. These academics collected money to write essays and even write exams for such people.
Even if I had the money to throw away, I could not engage in that because I believe a person should be able to defend their degree.
Furthermore, I understand that when these individuals, who often have little or no knowledge of what they are presenting, are invited to give lectures based on the experience and degrees they claim, these same lecturers are hired to write the papers for them. You can see them struggling just to read the prepared material.
There is, of course, nothing wrong with Universities honouring distinguished citizens with honourary doctorates. However, turning this honour into the sickening crave for attention, similar to the buying of traditional titles seen all over Nigeria, is entirely out of place.
Even though Nnamdi Azikiwe was identified as "Dr." in his lifetime, he carried that honor with immense dignity; nobody questioned his integrity. Conversely, although he never called himself "Dr.," Chief Obafemi Awolowo held many honourary doctorate awards, which no one questioned.
While the current government ban on certain unverified degrees is a welcome first step, the source of awarding such laurels should also be interrogated for the establishment of sanity. People must question these abuses. Respect must be brought back to the academia.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on a very serious, but embarrassing issue in our country.
Sincerely,
Joe Bankole Former Managing Editor, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
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