Macroeconomics and the Nigerian academic

 Nigerian academics are not immune from the effects of macroenomic policies of the country.  We live and work in this country, hence, there is the direct and indirect effect of any economic policy on us.  Considering the role of education in the economic development of any country, pertinent issues affecting the efficiency should not be overlooked.  Let me highlight the impact of three economic factors on academics.

GDP

How does the national GDP affect academics?  The perception of Nigerian researchers internationally is tied to the wealth of the country.  Foreigners see Nigerian academics as being rich based on our oil income.  However, this is not the reality on ground.  It is difficult to explain that we still embark on industrial actions to get the attention of the national government.   The size of our GDP, after the last rebasing, disqualified us from many international initiatives.  Currently, our GDP places us in Group B , according to the World Bank.  Thus, we are only eligible for 50% article processing charge waiver.  The remaining 50% is elusive to many researchers with many resorting to taking loans.  Some conferences and organizations such as TWAS also use this to award scholarships and funding.  

Inflation

Inflation does not discriminate.  Apart from the impact of rising inflation academics face in their daily lives, there is also the effect on our professional lives.  The cost of reagents, laboratory materials, and books are rising.  Considering that most of these are usually obtained from personal funds, it puts further strain on our finances.   The rising inflation constantly pitches us against funders.  How do you explain that the cost of reagents have increased from what you budgeted a few months ago? 

Exchange rate

Nigerian academics have international interactions regularly.  We travel for conferences, attend workshops, and even organize international conferences here in Nigeria.  International conferences are not expensive, it is our exchange rate that makes it prohibitive for us.  Registration fee of $250, which will be paid by most international institutions, is equivalent to the one month salary of an Assistant Lecturer in the University (at an exchange rate of $1=N500).  How many conferences can such a young researcher attend in three years? We buy books too.  The exchange rate makes buying academic books a luxury we cannot afford.   Even our libraries are affected too.  Academics are members of international organizations where membership fees are paid.  Our exchange rate is driving the cost of membership in these organizations are higher.

Way forward

The government at all stages should stop paying lip service to the education sector.  Macroeconomic policies have a ripple effect on the educational sector, as it does to other sectors of the economy.  Inflation is driving the cost of education at all levels beyond the reach of a largely poor population.  The rising exchange rate is not the only problem but getting it also a problem.  Government needs to stop the hide and seek game, and come to the table with the academic community.  

Executive Order 5: Implication for Nigerian Academic Institutions

In recent times, the Nigerian academic landscape has been witnessing increased agitation for better funding.  This was necessitated by obsolete research facilities, increasing number of students amidst inadequate teaching and learning resources and poor funding of institutions.  It is no longer news that the current model of educational funding in Nigeria must be discussed with the participation of all stakeholders.  

President Muhammadu Buhari

On 5th February 5, 2018, President Muhammad Buhari signed into law "Executive Order 5".  This executive order, though not as popular as Executive Order 1 which addresses the ease of doing business in Nigeria, has significant implications for higher institutions in Nigeria.  Although it addresses the planning and execution of projects, promotion of Nigerian content in contracts, science, engineering and technology, it can bolster the quality of education in Nigerian Universities if they can look beyond the free money. 

Minister of Education: Mr. Adamu Adamu

The vision of the executive order to "promote the application of science, technology and innovation in all sectors of the Nigerian economy" positions Nigerian institutions of higher learning for significant gains.   The executive order "gives preference to Nigerian companies and firms in the award of contracts" (Section 1(1)), firms with verifiable plan for indigenous capacity development (Section 1(2)), "adopt local technology" (Section 1(6)), and "preference granted to domestic manufacturers, contractors and suppliers (Section 3(1))".   

In my own opinion, it is high time academics started creating spin-off companies from their researchers and Universities go beyond producing "pure" water and bread to competitive bidding for building and construction contracts, national security projects and national training programmes.   Just as institutions came together to form the Joint University Preliminary Examination Body, they can come together to build large scale industries.   Academics need to look up from their chalkboards and manuscript to see opportunities such as the funding proposed in Section 5(5) of Executive Order 5, incentives for building and infrastructural development material (Section 9(1c)), and tax incentives in Section 10(2).  With the disqualification from contract based on year of incorporation frowned at in Section 6, university-driven industries can compete favourably with established organization in bidding for contracts.

Executive order 5, like other Nigerian laws, have its obvious lacuna.   Section 5(4) encouraged the inclusion of public procurement process in the Secondary School curriculum!  Does our University curriculum cover the public procurement process?  This executive order has been in existence for over nine (9) months, do we know the secretariat of the Council at the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (Section 12(1a))?   Section 12(6) listed members of the Presidential Monitoring and Evaluation Council with representatives of the academic community missing.  Nigerian academic are central to this executive order and deserve a place in the decision (or monitoring and evaluation) committee.

What is your favourite number?

We all have favourites.  From places to meals, having favourite is an unconscious part of our existence.  Can we ask ourselves, why do i like the things that i like?  Our seemingly innocuous actions such as choosing a random number have a huge significance that we might not be aware of.  For instance, it is used in psychology and psychiatry for a number of diagnosis. If you are asked to choose a number between 1 and 10, what will be your choice?  What does this choice say about you?  What factors will likely affect your choice - religion, age, gender, intelligence, or mood?  

If a group of randomly selected individuals are asked to pick a random number between 1 and 10, what do you think will be the favourite number?  Why do you think it will be 7?  What factors will determine the favourite number?

Ogunjo et al (2018) examined this research questions in their new publication (read here) .  They asked over 2000 undergraduate students to pick a favourite number between 1 and 10.  The favourite number was found to be 1!  

Statistics of chosen numbers

What factors could be responsible for this?  They found that gender (either male or female), age (young or old), intelligence (performance in a quick test) did not contribute statistically to this choice of number.  However, the faculty they belong to was found to be a significant contributor.

There is still very much more to be done.  Researchers need to broaden the scope of contributing factors to include tribe, religion, political affiliation, and  mood.  Can we use the favourite numbers among a group of individuals to predict group dynamics? 

References

Ogunjo, Samuel T, Emmanuel J Dansu, Oluwagbenga Fakanye, and Ibiyinka A Fuwape. 2018. “The Possibility of Uniform Pseudo-Random Number Generation by a Group of Humans.” OSF. October 6. osf.io/ms9y3. 

 

Where is my thesis?

For those who have gone through one or two stages of the Nigerian higher educational system, this question will not be strange.  After four or five years of study as an undergraduate, a student is expected to carry out an independent study in his/her field of study.  It is a rigorous, mentally tasking, time consuming and financially demanding task for every student.   Every student is expected to make four copies of the completed thesis - one for the student, one for the supervisor, one for the Department and the last for the University library (this might vary in some institutions).  The researches reported in this theses are supposedly carried out to solve or address specific societal problems.  It is a requirement for graduation from any higher institution in the country.

Let us put this into context. Assuming there are 20 universities in Nigeria.  Also assuming a total of 20 departments each with 50 students are in all the 20 universities.  Based on this assumptions, there are 20,000 thesis being submitted by undergraduates every year.   This implies that there exists 20,000 reports generated annually that directly (or indirectly) addresses various problems in our society.  Where are these theses?  To access any of these theses, you either know the student or the supervisor or apply to the Department or University library.  Yes, currently you cannot sit in your house and access any thesis within the country (except a few universities).

Why is it like this?  Let me give an unofficial explanation.  All thesis (undergraduate and postgraduate) are proprietary materials for the University.  I do not know of any other reason why theses are not online (if you know, kindly provide and i will update this article).  Well, if Federal and State institutions are funded by tax payers money, are the tax payers not entitled to the reports?  Do the institutions refund the students for the expenses incurred during the research work?  Did the student graduate without paying any school fees?  Is the claim to thesis as proprietary works actually valid? 

In my own opinion, academic theses should be readily available online in a variety of format.  One, it will reduce the rate of plagiarism among students as previous theses will be captured online.  Two, the availability of theses online will afford access by policy makers, industry experts and the general public for implementation.  Three, it is in line with best and emerging global trend in education.  Four, it serves as a means of preservation when hard copies of the theses are disposed or recycled (do we recycle?).  Five, it can generate income for the institution (http://ethos.bl.uk/Home.do). Six, will supervisors allow students go away with shoddy research work if their names will be appended to the online work? Methinks it will improve quality of research at all stages.

Where is your thesis?

 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Is there an heightened radioactive risk in Kogi State?

You have heard of the "atomic bomb" and its powers.  It is the general believe that at inauguration, every president of the United State is given access to the nuclear codes that can "destroy" any country.  Well, that is not the only way we are exposed to radionuclides as humans .  We are also exposed to cosmic radiation and terrestrial radiation.  Terrestrial radiation have been reported to vary according to location, soil type and activities carried out at a particular location. 

What is this "nuclear" or "atomic" bomb?  There is this "football" we make as kids.  Our toy involves pieces of balloons together.  We always have a solid "ball" at the beginning but our "ball" begins to fall apart as it gets larger.    Elements with relatively number of small electrons are stable but as the number of electrons get larger, the elements become unstable.  There are elements that are naturally unstable such that they disintegrate on their own or when "stimulated".  These elements are called radioactive elements.  Radioactive elements are useful in several areas such as treatment of cancer, etc.   Exposure to radionuclides above recommended values can pose great danger to people living in that area.

Dr(Mrs) Usikalu and her collaborators, with support from the Centre for Atmospheric Research, CAR, National Space Research and Development Agency, undertook to study the radioactive risks in Kogi State, Nigeria.  They studied three (3) radionuclides ²³²Th, ²³⁸U and ⁴⁰K because they have long half lives.  Two hundred (200) soil samples were taken from different areas of the State, processed using international best standards and analyzed using an Hyper Pure Germanium detector. From their results, the authors reported that

The radiological parameters estimated for most of the locations compared well with world average values, except for Odogba-okaba, Salem University, Forest, Nepa, Gerugu, Niger Bridge, Igaliwu, Ijeke-ogane, Bagana, and Abegikolo villages, whose values exceeded the recommended limit.

To get an overview of the health implication of the results obtained, the effect of radiation on the sensitive body cells such as bone marrow, gonads, skin i.e. gonadal equivalent dose was computed.  It was observed that "nearly all the villages have AG values higher than the recommended limit, with highest value obtained in Igaliwu Omala area. The high concentration may be as a result of the presence of monazite in the area and exploitation of coal and limestone in the area. This could pose a threat to sensitive cells like gonads and bone marrow in the dwellers and workers in these areas."

Spatial maps of radiological parameters for Ajaokuta LGA

There is the urgent need for the Kogi State government, if the interest and well-being of the citizen is important to them, to check the mining activities in the area.  There is also the urgent need to investigate the radionuclide risks in food and water consumed by indigenes of the state. 

References

M. R. Usikalu, I. A. Fuwape, S. S. Jatto, O. F. Awe, A. B. Rabiu & J. A. Achuka (2017) Assessment of radiological parameters of soil in Kogi State, Nigeria. Environmental Forensics, 18:1, 1-14 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15275922.2016.1263898

Open Science in Nigeria

 There cannot be meaningful  industrial and national development without access to research data and results from the academia.    The academia acts as incubators of ideas and technology, providing solutions to industrial problems and training of manpower for development.    Technological and national development (or the lack thereof) can be linked to the relationship between the academia and the industry.     Many research data and results are being generated in our academic institutions yearly that can solve pressing and urgent industrial and national problems but the appropriate end users do not know about it or have access to it.     Embracing open science can reduce the gap between the academia and the industry.

Wikipedia defined open science as the movement to make scientific research, data and dissemination accessible to all levels of an inquiring society, amateur or professional.   I will say it the capacity for EVERYONE to see your research, access your data, methods and result and reuse it with appropriate credit.    There are several arguments for and against open science but in my own opinion, open science is the future of publishing.  Open science reduces fraud because it allows for verification of reported results.   Africa and African researchers will benefit as they will have access to research results freely.   I can also say that free things spread very fast.   Noteworthy in the drive for quick and prompt access to quality and reliable government data is the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics led by Dr. Yemi Kale.

Why is open access elusive in developing countries?

There are two publishing models:  (i) author (or sponsor) pays, audience read freely (ii) author does not pay, audience pay to read.  Most publishing houses within the country have no online presence, are not abstracted or indexed anywhere and are profit (not quality) driven.  This is not in favour of researchers who are mandated to publish both locally and internationally.   Basically, authors paying to publish in a journal without online presence are paying for obscurity. In a fast growing technological world such journals are not accessible beyond the local library.   Most local journals adopt the first publishing models.   Recently, international journals are adopting the two publishing models giving the author a choice to choose.   Nigerian authors generally choose the second model when confronted with this choice.  The reason is very clear:  there is no financial support for publishing articles.  The cost of open access is prohibitive, even for the highest cadre in the academics. 

What is the way forward?

Institutions (backed by government policy) should mandate that all published articles by academics within the country be open access or have an open access version.    Thesis (undergraduate and postgraduate) from all academic institutions (monotechnics, polytechnics, and universities) should be archived in a central repository managed by the Nigerian University Commission.      Local journals that can meet international standard with well written ethics and guidelines should be supported financially to embrace open access.  This should be continually monitored for compliance.  The NUC should take on the responsibility of assessing publishing houses where academic researches are published.