Want PG sponsorship? Are you a Nigerlite?
But first, let me give you a background. Our state university, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University Lapai (IBBUL) has a neat recruitment model which I think other universities may want to copy. Due to some restrictions by NUC, I understand, they can’t recruit academic staff without them first having a postgraduate degree. Thus, they fashioned a […]
But first, let me give you a background. Our state university, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University Lapai (IBBUL) has a neat recruitment model which I think other universities may want to copy. Due to some restrictions by NUC, I understand, they can’t recruit academic staff without them first having a postgraduate degree. Thus, they fashioned a bang-up workaround.
They recruit their best graduates; usually those with first class and second class upper degrees. But instead of employing them outright, they sponsor them for their masters and Ph.D. degrees, some in Nigeria and some of them abroad.
Whenever they finish their degrees, they return to be employed by the university. This means they’re bonded. However, I choose to look at the bond more positively. You could say, the students have a job waiting for them when they finish their degrees; and in Nigeria where it’s difficult to land a job, that’s a huge relief.
Using this arrangement, the university has sent out close to thirty students abroad, some to the UK, and many to Malaysia.
But to me this wasn’t enough. I wanted the numbers to be in hundreds, especially now that the university is expanding; and particularly, Niger State is a place of educated people. This is what is expected of us. And that’s what I told the VC.
All these years I’ve known him, I find Professor Ibrahim AdamuKolo to be a progressive academic who wants great things for his university – sometimes, too quickly. So he was receptive to the idea, but had one major question. “Where do I get the right candidates?” He asked.
“You know I wouldn’t sponsor undereducated dullards,” he continued.
I volunteered to get the word out. On my virtual desk alone, I could produce ten qualified candidates. “You also know,” the VC had not finished, “that we’re going to sponsor only Nigerlites. We don’t have the resources to underwrite the postgraduate education of others.”
I promised that requirement too could be accommodated. Therefore, the VC settled on a number, which is 100. The VC agreed that this is what the governor would have liked, himself being a Ph.D. who cherishes education of Nigerilites.
So if you have a son, a daughter, a friend, a brother or sister who is a Nigerlite with a first class or a 2.1, please shoot me an email. I’ll compile the list and forward it to the VC. Also include the basics, such as your name, local government, your degree and class. Additionally, in order not to waste each other’s time, show some proof of your qualification – a copy of certificate or transcript would do. But don’t kill yourself over this – since there’s no guarantee that you will get it.
Finally, I’m only a messenger. I’ve no power or even the influence to give you the sponsorship. This is as open as it gets – at least from my end. Accordingly, don’t call me over this matter. This is not saying you shouldn’t email me important questions and concerns.
…and now this!
The question may be asked, “What happens to these candidates when they come back? The university may not be able to assimilate them all.”
I agree that this is possible. Even so, I don’t think that should prevent us from investing in human capital – which is what laying out money in education is.
If we look at the big picture, through the lenses of the economics of human capital, there’s no way we can lose. Actually, I’ve argued this point before, in a column titled: What happens to Dangote when stripped of his wealth?
I wrote:
I’m drawn to recall a conversation I had with a deputy vice chancellor of a Nigerian university. He balked at the plans of his state governor who has some designs to send students abroad for postgraduate studies. “If they come back,” he argued, “where would they work?” This entirely misses the point, because having a community laden with human capital improves the economy of that society for everybody.
Let’s go back to Malaysia again for a case study. I once interviewed a vice chancellor in Malaysia who told me that in 70s and 80s, the government deliberately sent Malaysians abroad for university degrees. At a point, Malaysia had the largest foreign student population in America. This is to say nothing of those in Canada, Australia, UK and New Zealand. “When we came back,” the VC recalled, “the capacity of our educational system expanded.” Now everybody goes there to study.
Here’s a thought experiment I learnt from Charles Wheelan, author of Naked Economics:
Imagine 100,000 secondary school dropouts are released into Kano city. What would happen to the teenagers and how would they affect the society? Because of lack or limited human capital, many wouldn’t find jobs. Public services would be stretched. Frustration would nudge them to abuse drugs, crimes would increase, and they would generally give everybody a big headache until Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso begs that they be taken away from his city.
Now imagine that the same people are graduates of the world’s top universities with PhDs, masters and excellent bachelor degrees. What would happen? There would be an economic boon. “Many of these individuals,” Mr. Wheelan argues, “would find jobs immediately. (Remember, human capital embodies not only classroom training but also perseverance, honesty, creativity – virtues that lend themselves to finding work.) Some of these highly skilled graduates would start their own businesses; entrepreneurial flair is certainly an important component of human capital.”
Nothing raises human capital like education. To talk about human capital is to examine the impact of education. For example, why does India have many poor people? It is because the literacy level is not high enough. According to CIA Factbook, only 62.8% of the population is literate. This is slightly better than the situation in Nigeria where the literacy level, according to the same source, is 61.3%. It’s not surprising therefore that about 80% of Nigerians according to DFID live in poverty.
Compare that to a single digit of 3.8% of people below poverty line in Malaysia where literacy level is 93.1%. At this moment, there’s no unemployment in Malaysia. A country is said to have eliminated unemployment when the rate is less than 4%; 2013 estimate of Malaysia’s unemployment is 3.1%.
Even the Qur’an asks us: are you going to compare those who know with those who do not?