SIR: Hon. Terseer Ugbor, a graduate of Sociology and Anthropology from a tuition free University of Abuja was explaining how he has travelled far and near, local and abroad, collecting facts on how best to institute and sustain students loan board and how it will institute discipline in admission process in Nigerian universities where 80% of the students are pursuing courses in the social sciences, like he did, which is not relevant to Nigerian economy.

What is worst, he castigated Federal Government for spending about N1 trillion annually in paying lecturers’ salary, claiming that infrastructure has been taken care of by the TetFund; hence, only the students are left on their own hence his committee advocates 1% of all revenues earned by customs and other revenue generating organisations to populate the students’ loan’s fund so as to help students to be well-off in terms of managing their future. Another policy cul-de-sac like subsidy removal palliative.

I am very sure, a great Akokite like Maupe interviewing him on Channels “Hard Facts” would wonder if the Honourable is truly a representative of the poor masses in Benue who are hounded by people who are lacking in humanistic education; and whose agricultural endowment had been destroyed by lack of the basics – good background knowledge of Arts and Humanities that places human beings and their welfare as the greatest motivation that drives all knowledge and development, science inclusive.

What is more, Honourable Terseer fails to apply his knowledge of anthropology and sociology to detect why almost 80 per cent of the pure science graduates are doing the works of graduates of Humanities; as, structurally, leaders like him fail to map out development plans that can sustain employability of pure science students for almost 30 years period upon which they could earn enough to develop entrepreneurial abilities alongside their science knowledge for further agro-industrial expansion that could make them more valuable for a state like Benue – the food basket of Nigeria.

Again, it has just been announced by Jeune Afrique that over $660 billion Diaspora remittance has been recorded in the world in 2023 and Africa’s share is about 15% with Nigeria taking up 39% of the Africa’s 15%. They are mostly the earnings of Nigerians well educated with subsidised lecturer’s pay in Nigeria, who are found worthy of employment in mostly service industries or hospitality industries in the West or even menial jobs that required well behaved candidates.

Nigerians remain well behaved as a result of the Arts and Humanities’ education qualifications they have acquired and that make them behave well for employers to find them suitable and for them to be so loyal as to remit what all of us in Nigeria cannot put up as Nigeria’s annual budget, just N23 trillion compared to over $30 billion dollars amounting to over N30 trillion Diaspora remittance.

Only United Kingdom recorded over 140,000 Nigerians who migrated since last year. They are mostly graduates of Humanities though some are medical science graduates.

Nigerian lecturers and students are greatly on frustration lane carved by politicians like Hon. Terseer who only believes in what politicians can cart away from Nigeria while Nigerian universities are striving hard to produce both lecturers and graduates poachable by the larger world as mentioned by Martins Oloja above.

They are poached by a better larger world because the economic structure there is well fashioned in capitalist mode – create a larger wealth than what is bequeathed to you. Nigerian politicians and legislators alike create structure and bills that chase away good Nigerians and drive away genuine foreign investors. Like the capitalist world knows, money goes where it is well treated.

The essence of loan to students is that they will find employment or create employment to pay back. That can only happen if the economy is structured to be sustainable for 30 years and above without which, both the lecturers and students could only aim for greener pastures outside Nigeria. This will lead to no loyalty to Nigeria, not to talk of repaying a loan that could amount to pittance and laughable when in a larger world that cherishes their input to their economy and are better rewarded for life than rewarded in a marginal or unstructured economy in which only politicians survive by leaching on the natural wealth of the nation.
Ariole, Ph.D is Professor of French and Francophone Studies,
University of Lagos.