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Prof. Job Akpodiete is the Rector of Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro in Isoko North Local Government Area. A very versatile and well-read egg-head, Prof. Akpodiete is a professor of Agric Biochemistry and Animal Nutrition. In this exclusive interview, he took a critical look at the state of education in Nigeria as the nation celebrates its 59th Independence, among other issues.
Excerpts:
Prof, as Nigerians celebrate 59th birthday as a nation, what are your thoughts on the state of the nation as it affects education, its infrastructure, intellectualism and academics generally. Have we progressed over these past five decades plus?
Well, education itself is a training of the mind and it’s what we believe, what we think it is that it becomes for us. What is our vision about what we want education to be? What are the pursuits of the stakeholders? What do they want? So, if education is for us to make our children to understand the language, then we will rate it based on their level. But globally, it is a way of lifting up the mindset of people; liberating people from ideologies that are not globally accepted; to make people have the focus on what life issues are and how they can affect the lives and standard of living of the people. That is the way we look at it. I was looking at a picture taken in 1951 of the first set of medical doctors in the University College, Ibadan and they were just ten students in that class. And out of the ten, there was a white man who was also a student, and some other persons including Nigerians; just ten of them in 1951! In other words, then we could boast of the quality of people that there was cross movement of intellectualism and the involvement of everybody to the point that will determine the standard of education.
For instance, now, when you go to the primary schools and the secondary schools (I went to Government College), and you could see at that time, that you have every sect of this nation represented in those schools. When you go to schools now what do you see? It is just people from the neighbourhood. Yes, it is good to get education close to the people but the influence of interaction is also very important. It is said that if you stay in one place for a hundred years, the one that spent only thirty years but went round the world has more education than you because of knowledge expansion that has come to him which you may not be able to quantify. So, exposure is a way of education, broadening your mind, directing the affairs of life and making you to have a focus and vision of what is there. If you stay in your mother’s house, you may think it is the best place, not until you travel out when you will see that even the glass house which you are staying, there are more modern ones than that. That will give you a perception of life to feel that you have not arrived. Where you are today as the head, that may just be the starting point of some other persons. So, that is the way I tried to view education.
The nation has reduced the capacity of intellectualism by the lack of infrastructure and the standard of education now. When we competed through common entrances, through qualifying examinations, you get the best brains for the schools. We developed Unity schools, but the next thing is to talk about is quota system and that has watered down the standard of education. When in some places you will be thinking about people who scored 350/400 to qualify, because of the quota system, in some places you have to bring in people who even scored less than 100. What will that one help us to do in a country like this that is very big? I watched also a video clip where very young children were leading a big man. It portrays that Nigeria is a very big country but we go to those small countries for assistance. Go to neighbouring Ghana, they don’t have more people with better brains than us here, but if you assess them, you will see the standard which they have put in place. I was in a conference and I spoke with people from Kenya and they tell you what they invest in education from their budget, you can’t compare it with what we are doing. I was in Rwanda just about two months ago on a Technical and Vocational Training Programme, TIVET, and you can see that even at their technical level, what they have been able to achieve and what the government interest is, you will ask yourself are we ready for a transformation in Nigeria? And these are the things we are trying to look at. Nigeria is blessed with potentials and when we leave this country to compete with other people, we excel. But why is it that from what we see now, people who finished from secondary school find it difficult to write a good essay?
While we were in primary three, we started writing essays. And the teachers that were teaching us were people who just finished Standard Six. But that orientation was there. We have missed the link somewhere. People are just looking at paper certificate and not thinking about the quality of the component that is there. And until we begin to look backward and realize what our interest is, we may not get it right. That is why when I started, I talked about what is the interest. What is the stakeholder thinking about what education is? At this time, globally everybody is thinking about computer and ICT, but what is the multiplier effect on the education of our people? How have our people used that system? Have we used it to develop our mindset or we have used it to do dubious things? Every little child can operate the telephone handset, but has that one increased our intelligence or our wisdom on how we can develop with that handset or just use it to do 419? So, these are the kind of things we must look at. I think Nigeria is blessed and we have intellectuals who are capable of revolving the situation if given the right instrument to work.
So, where is the missing link? Where did we get it wrong?
First, the bible says that if you want to build a house you must count the cost. So, what kind of education do we need in this country now? This is an institution and so many persons are coming in here. Different persons have their own visions. But what is the vision of the country? So, we must have a change of mindset of going through the walls of the school and not allowing the school to go through us. That is the first thing because most people who go to higher institutions now just want to get their certificates and get out and you will be surprised that those of them that did not do well will be the ones that will get jobs. The ones that did well will not have the opportunity. So, what have you helped us to achieve by that? Therefore, the country must sit down to look at what we have. Take a look at the kinds of institutions we have now. When we had the system that starts with the primary school, Standard Schools, Modern Schools, Teachers’ Training, NCE and the University, if you look at the people who went through this process, they became matured and their orientation was how to get them established. But these days, we have removed Modern school, we have removed Teachers’ Training, Colleges of Education are also fading out. If you go to the Colleges of Education today, you will find that they have no students because the same qualification that is required for NCE is the same thing that is required for a degree. So, why would you waste your time going through the University and you finished, you don’t have a job. This has now affected our background. The children passing through our primary schools, for instance, who are those handling them? The foundation must be solid for it to make progress. So, first of all, as a country, we must look at the foundation of education. These people who are taking care of our children from the nursery, primary and secondary, what do we do for them? What is their salaries? How is their welfare taken care of? Do they have homes? They have concluded their primary school, secondary school and University; they cannot build a house for themselves. And you expect them to stay there for how many hours. What is the interest? So, if we want to build our education, we must go back to where we started. We must first, start a revolution in our primary and secondary schools, and get the mindset of the people; those old Teachers’ Training teachers, the way they taught their pupils, they put interest in their jobs and in the development of their pupils. I remember when we were in the village, our teacher will come round in the evening to ensure that we were reading. That culture is no longer there. The culture of reading has died. Everything now is either facebook or whatsapp and twitter. And the English they use in facebook, twitter and whatsapp cannot carry us anywhere.
Nobody thinks of structure any longer. You can put anything and everybody understands. This is one way that is affecting the quality of people that we produce. So, first, we must look and revolutionize the foundation of our education. Make facilities available. If you send your child to a public school and he is sitting down on the bare floor, do you expect him to come back home happy that he has learnt something? And the teacher is there standing throughout, no seat for him and no office for him. And you expect him to put in his best? Then we are making a mistake. So, we must start from there if we must move Nigerian education forward.
Let’s talk about education in Delta State now. You have just said something about technical and vocational education. Recently, the Delta State governor, Senator Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa approved the establishment of 14 technical colleges. What do you make of that?
Well, the vision is to create the awareness that paper certification alone is not going to help us. We are talking about entrepreneurship; we are talking about technical and vocational education, TIVET. People should develop skills because the population is expanding and the job front is not prepared, that is because we don’t have a focus. The oil money is supposed to help us expand our industries to be able to absorb the people coming. And definitely we have come to the global understanding that government alone cannot provide the jobs. Then, how would these people get jobs? That is the essence, that is the vision. So, the technical colleges are supposed to enhance people who are going into individual businesses, developing skills with which they can live, and from there, grow. It is good to get the number to reach all the people, but that is not all. We need to have a solid foundation for them to take off. It needs funds in the preparation of the mind of the people that are going to be there to induct or facilitate in those schools. Do we have the hands? Have we prepared for that? These are the things we must check so that we don’t start on a faulty note or a foundation that is shaky. So, we need to really investigate properly what is lacking. Those ones that have been there, how are they faring? What are the problems that are there and how do we solve those problems? Are there facilities? Are we ready to provide facilities? A technical education is not theoretical. Sixty percent of what is done there must be practical. And so, facilities must be put there. For example, you are going to do welding and fabrication, there must be light. How are we prepared for it? The equipment must be there for the students to use so that they don’t just learnt these things but they should be able to use their hands to do it. This is an institution of technology because it is a polytechnic. It is expected that every student that comes through this place should have a technical know-how, putting their hands on the field. So, that it is not just reading and going away. And so, there must be that orientation. Now we are talking about the dichotomy between polytechnics and university. And I keep on preaching that there is no reason for that at all. Make yourself, it is by what you have that you will be assessed. People can come to look for you wherever you are because you have the talent. And that will value who you are.
And so we must think like that. Equip the institutions, make sure that we do not politicize the employment, so that people with good mindsets who are capable are given the opportunity to develop these people that are coming in. By the time we employ people who are not ready, what they are thinking about is just their salary and they go, or do they have a career in that area. I think these are the things we need to look at. So, it is a good foresight, it is a good vision. But we need to make adequate preparation, both financially and human resource-wise to enable it to be effective.
A few days ago you were at the PTI Conference Centre to attend the Urhobo Renaissance Movement’s Inaugural Lecture where a keynote address was delivered by Prof. Abugu on ‘A Renaissance in the Urhobo Nation and the Quest for Leadership’. What did you make of that lecture?
Well, it boils down to what we have been saying. That is why I said we don’t have to politicize everything. Once you become a governor or a president, you are a president for the whole country. Your ideology now should be how to carry everybody along, to bring a developmental mindset on the people. If you listen to Prof. Abugu, he tried to make us understand that as Urhobo nation, it is not PDP or APC. What do we want for our people? When you have made it, how do you use your position to enhance the nation? So, if Bill Gate is establishing all these things and also coming to Nigeria to establish, he is not from here. Those of us who are from here, if we have the opportunity, we should look at it and ask ourselves: what benefit are your people deriving from the blessings God has given to you. I think he has a holistic view of how we can overhaul the system to make sure that we are relevant in the system both in politics and human resource development.
You are the head of such a huge school as the Delta State Polytechnics, Ozoro which has been blazing the trail in some critical areas such as academics and infrastructure. You have a modern stadium for instance. Since you came on board, what has been your challenges?
First, Delta State Polytechnics, Ozoro is one of the three Polytechnics established under the former governor, Chief James Ibori’s administration. So, it is just one of such institutions. We were supposed to be a centre for agriculture. You see, one thing is establishing and the other is to ensure that the drivers pursue the vision. Those are the things we are trying to look at. What is the vision for the Polytechnics? How have we fared in the pursuit of this vision? We were to work with the Westminster University, why was there a break? These are people with a foundation. If they say this is where we are going they expect that all of us should follow that way to get there. The Polytechnics in Delta State are trying when we compare them to some State Polytechnics in the country. But that does not mean that we have done excellently well. Yes, you mentioned a huge school with a stadium. What is the focus? What is the vision? How has that one influenced the purpose of this institution? These are the things we are trying to look at. Like I said before, if I bring a very big cup, it is expected that the cup should have a content. But if I turn the cup upside down and what falls out of it is just a pinch, it means that the cup is big but there is nothing inside. So, we can even build structures and everybody is seeing it, but what is it bringing out? What actually makes us big is the quality of our products. How have we fared in this area? And that led us to think that everyone passing through this institution must have it as an identity because they are going to stand as our ambassadors outside. So, we tried, trying to ensure that the students have what it takes. When you come in here, you should know that you are coming to do academic work, not to show to the people that you in a tertiary institution. You are coming to read engineering. When you finish with your National Diploma, people should see the element of engineering in you.
I have a nephew that came recently to present his project after ND. He is reading electrical engineering. Between that time that he came and now, he was going out with people who are there in the field for every holiday and doing the work. So, he came here and I asked him: do you have any work for this period? This is because he knows that I have tried to make him to understand that whatever you are doing here, you must practice it. So, while you are there, the project that you are going to do must be relevant to your area. And so, we tried as much as possible to provide the facilities to ensure that our accreditation went through. Materials were there for the people coming to visit to see that these things are available. I know that in the country, accreditation can be here and there, but as for me, I believe that if you are coming to assess me (because I go to assess people), I want to see what you have on ground. So, if we are able to do that and we spent so much, starving ourselves to ensure that these facilities are put in place, we must also make the students to understand that those facilities are there for them to use. They are not pictures. They are not there for them to look and go. They have to work with them. So, that is what we are doing.
But the mindset in the young ones we have these day is how to make money and not put their heads down. So, that is part of it. And that also led us to establish the Computer-based Test, CBT exams. What we are trying to do is to ensure that influences which are there in the society – of course, you know this is the last days. The bible says that we are living among a crooked and perverse generation but even in it we should shine out as light. So, for us to do that, we must also look at the areas which we could use to curb all the excesses and vices that are in the system. I’m not saying that Delta State Polytechnic is a saint. There are a lot of things that going on which God is helping us to do some surgical operations to help us correct them. So, as for the CBT, I first of all came in it to put in place the academics ethics and standard, so that at any time we can come and swoop on you and your work to make sure that you are following the standard. Now, we established the CBT so that people will not have influence or contact with lecturers or whatever. Go, write your exams; lecturers, set your questions. The CBT facilities can joggle all your questions and select because we have a pool. So, you let the students be groomed from that point. That is the essence. That is what we are trying to do to ensure that the qualities of our students are strong. But it will take some time. Change does not come easily.
We are aware that the school has established an entrepreneurial centre. What are your products like? And secondly, it is common knowledge that cultism exists in most of the tertiary institutions in the country. Do you have that as a challenge in your school?
Well, as for the entrepreneurial centre, we want to thank the state government because it is interested in that project. We have written proposals to the government on how to establish entrepreneurial village in all the three polytechnics which they are also working on, trying to expand. The interest is there. Students now know that they can develop their skills whilst in school. It does not really matter whether the skill you will acquire at the centre is the same as your area of study in the school. I read agric bio-chemisty and animal nutrition in the University. I’m an agricultural bio-chemist. But that does not limit me. It is what you put your mind to do. And so, the opportunity that is given here is that you can be reading mechanical engineering and you have interest in fashion. Nothing stops you from developing that your interest. There are medical doctors who are actors today; there are lawyers who are actors and actresses. It is your mindset which you are trying to satisfy. With that we now know that there are people who have such interest, and so, we groom them. And when they leave here, they have something to do while waiting for the other part. And that is how it is affecting them.
On the issue of cultism, you are right to say it is prevalent in the tertiary schools, but it is not even limited to the tertiary institutions alone these days. In the secondary schools, it is there. Even in primary schools now, it is there. And so, it is a big issue for everyone. But, by and large, God has been helping us. One, these students are not really allowed to exhibit such in the school. But majority of them stay outside the school. So, there is a level with which we can exert our control. The society has to look at those ones outside. But the ones under our coverage, by the grace of God, we will do our best for them to become good citizens and good ambassadors for the institution. We have spoken to them, we have inducted and we have preached to them too. And as far as I’m concerned, within the school environment, we don’t tolerate that. This is where we stand.
Another disturbing issues common with these institutions these days is the issue of examination malpractice. In some cases, it manifests in the form of ‘sorting of lecturers’, that means paying money for marks. Is this also a challenge in your institution and how can it be curbed?
It is an issue, but I think that parents are part of the problem. Sometimes, we are ignorant. Sometimes, we allow our children to mesmerize us to collect whatever. I have children in the University; no one can come and meet me that I should bring money to sort, because it will not work. And they know it is not possible; and they also know that they cannot come home with ‘anyhow’ result. So, they know that they must read. Just to throw a little light on that, I established the primary and secondary schools here when I came in. For two years, they wrote primary six exams and they wrote JS 3 exams. We did everything to ensure that the pupils got the best preparation. And when it was close to the time for them to write their exams, some parents came to exert some influence, expressing concerns that the school authority said they will not support the children during the exams. And I told them, sorry, I went to primary school and secondary school; people did not support me. And we wrote our exams and we passed. In this school there is not going to be any external influence on our candidates; that is why I established the school so that we can build a foundation for the institution. Just like I was telling us, if we don’t get it right from the foundation, it is difficult over here. If you allow your child to sort teachers in the primary school and in the secondary school, there is no way they will not sort in the tertiary institution.
And so, that is the orientation and the mindset of some people. Some of them withdrew their children from the school. In fact, there was a particular case where a teacher had to vow to pay the exam fees of a child to rewrite if he failed, because he trusted that the child will do well. But the mother who was afraid, threatened to withdraw the child. And the child had 6A without assistance from anybody. In JS3 we had 100 percent pass, nobody assisted them. Our children can do it; all we need to do is to give them confidence. What were we doing? We trained and retained the teachers on how to handle the children.
