Seeking a halt to carnage on our highways

As torrents of rain, showered by the 'open heavens' continue unabated, transporters nod that they are truly in for grueling times on the nation's collapsed roads, necessitating the call on government to urgently expedite action on road repair works in the interest of the economy, writes ALEXANDER CHIEJINA

There is no gain-saying that provision of good roads is fundamentally important to the economic development of Nigeria, as well as the well-being of its inhabitants. According to a recent analysis, road transportation in Nigeria controls over 95 percent of all surface transportation spread across the geopolitical zones of the country. However, the network of Federal roads in Nigeria is not only limited, but the few available ones are in deplorable state.
During the oil boom, the Yakubu Gowon-led administration increased the number of Federal roads by transferring roads that were state-owned. Some of these roads were gazetted as Federal roads. But as time went on, the oil revenue increased and less attention was given to infrastructural development. In spite of the huge resources which this sector offers, in terms of transfer of goods and services, the sector has been beleaguered with a plethora of other problems.
Naturally, any government functionary from the different tiers of government would always identify "the unhidden hands" of saboteurs in the continued dilapidation of some of the roads, while a transporter would see the persistent ineptitude on the part of the government as the chief reason behind the collapse of roads in the country. Ordinary road users in Nigeria, meanwhile, would blame the two, hinting at the criminal neglect of road development by successive governments, corruption and lack of policy direction as chief slip of the government. Abuse of road schedule or failure to adhere to it by heavy duty vehicle owners or drivers would easily fit in as transporters' contribution to the decay. Indeed, all the sides agree that individual road users contribute to the decay of road infrastructure through various forms of abuses.
This, interestingly, is how far the dispute will go. However, stakeholders and infrastructure experts believe that rather than follow the path of unending recrimination, two main things should be the principal concern of all concerned parties: the carnage and costs inflicted by the poor state of the roads and what should be the possible timely solutions to the decay.
This is because recently, the state of federal roads in the country has become an embarrassing stigma. Insensitivity on federal roads, perpetuated by road engineers, professionals, users, and politicians both at state and national level, has left the roads in a deplorable state. In many parts of the country, normal interaction has been frustrated due to the awful condition of our roads. Vehicle owners and travellers are no doubt in distress as they transverse these roads, which are now death traps of some sort.
Following the failed state of the country's roads, isn't it common for thieves, rapists and other miscreants to root themselves in bad portions of the roads where vehicles would virtually come to a halt? Moreover, these many potholes and diversions translate to the fact that more and more vehicles keep breaking down, leading to the upsurge of the emergence of many emergency road-side mechanics pretending to assist stranded commuters - of course, often leaving in their trail more disastrous consequences.
The Lagos-Benin Expressway, a major road that links the Western part of the country to the East and Niger-Delta region has become so bad that vehicles plying that road, invariably retire to the mechanic workshop at the end of every journey. As it is, transporters say they lack the right words to describe how appalling the road is, particularly around the Benin-Ore axis. Transporters are hurt and bewildered that despite their payment of all road taxes to the Federal Government and the various rates to the state and local governments, little is being done to repair the roads upon which the livelihood of many Nigerians incidentally depend upon. Sometimes, the roads are littered with overturned trailers, tankers and containers. Accidents involving trailers often lead to untold traffic jam. Armed robbers, expectedly take advantage of the situation, constituting themselves as a threat to transporters and commuters at anytime of the day, but particularly, more at night.
Okafor Anthony, while narrating his experience along the Lagos-Benin Expressway said "since the onset of the rains, there had been several diversions made by drivers due to several failed portions on the road. This led to an accident between a trailer and an L-300 bus, carrying passengers going to Ibadan". Commuters are also in trouble whether in the city of Lagos or on interstate highways as bad roads make it virtually impossible to plan a journey or predict arrival time. Commercial activity is suffering as goods and services are now in short supply, leading to price increases in practically all consumer items. These are just but a few of what some travellers experience while on the road.
Aside the Lagos- Benin route, the route from Lagos to Port Harcourt which used to take about seven-and-half hours now takes a whole day or more. Okeke Francisca, while describing her experience last week said the East-West road linking Warri to Port-Harcourt which takes about two hours now takes more than three hours. Reason for this, she noted is deduced to the narrowing of the road that was initially designed to be a dual-carriage way. The Lagos-Ibadan expressway is not left out. Some portions of the road have now become a death trap, despite the concession to private developers that spans 25 years. The Abeokuta road via Sango-Ota is a scene of confusion with unplanned road works, halting flow of traffic. The dualisation of the Onitsha-Owerri road is almost as old as the last administration of Olusegun Obasanjo, yet the road is still to be completed.
For the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, built 33 years ago with little or no major maintenance, it is now a sorry tale. Failed portions of the road from Cele Bus stop to Mile 2, which connects the nation's gateway, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport and the two major seaports- Apapa Wharf and Tin Can Island port have led to people spending long hours in the traffic. Recently, the President Musa Yar'Adua angst was expressed in a meeting with Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, while on his way to commission projects at Ogun State. The meeting with the governor came only few hours after the Governor had also met with Minister of Works, Hassan Lawal.
Fashola had told airport correspondents that the president was very concerned about the bad state of the expressway which he described as the artery of the nation and state's economies. In his words: "It is the major artery to evacuate goods from the ports; it will affect the economy of Lagos for business and transportation. I believe sooner rather than later, very concrete steps in the short, medium or long term will be taken to address the problems. I have also emphasised the need to act very quickly with Mr. President." These tales of woe are replicated on other federal roads in different parts of the country.
The Federal Government at least on paper has voted billions for the rehabilitation of our road network. Previous federal ministers of Works have assured that contracts had been awarded, but nothing concrete ever happens on the ground Provisions were made for other important federal roads such as the East-West Road in the Niger-Delta, the Kano-Maiduguri Road and Abuja-Lokoja Road but little has been done in terms of total transformation of the roads. At present, over-weight vehicles that ply these expressways are regarded as a leading factor in the destruction of the road bed. With time, they create more potholes, failed sections and ultimately, accidents.
This matter, stakeholders insist becomes very timely and urgent, "because our country cannot develop with rickety infrastructure and will not succeed in attracting direct foreign investment or tourism when things are this bad. Federal roads across the country need urgent attentions, considering that an average of 50 people die everyday by road accidents, as claimed by a recent survey.
"With all the foregoing highway reforms, propaganda and\campaign, we have to ensure that we build the ones we want, not the one we could have avoided by unnecessarily adopting collated reforms of other developing country. It is the responsibility for several agencies, such as the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), the Federal Ministry of Works, to construct and maintain roads within the country," noted a source.
To underscore the worrisome concern to this sore thumb, it has been suggested that the EFCC should be persuaded to look into what happened to the billions allocated for road works, in order to bring about transparency.
The lack of maintenance of roads in Nigeria has become a public issue as Nigerians daily continue to lament the abysmal failure of leadership. Good roads are a basic component of good governance. Nigerians are routinely being put at risk everyday as a result of the failure of the states to provide adequate amenities for its citizens. Concerned authorities involved in road construction and maintenance should buckle-up and do something to remove this blot on Nigeria's image.

Ensuring Investment boost in Climate change

Although climate change has always been viewed as portending danger for the earth’s environment, economists and scientists nonetheless insist it holds numerous opportunities for Nigeria’s business environment, writes ALEXANDER CHIEJINA

The story of climate change is gradually shifting from that of perennial gloom to investment boom. Unlike in the past when the term "climate change" only reminds people of adversities such as global warming, desertification, erosion, flooding, and sea-level rise, the term now brings to mind mouth-watering investment opportunities.
This is partly because the theme of climate change has crept into the business terrain, thereby expanding climate change issues beyond the environmental bunker, which is largely characterized by discourses about environmental degradation and the negative impacts of climate change on livelihoods and the environment.
Rather than perpetually viewing climate change as an overpowering dracula that is about to consume the entire world, economists and other experts have begun reshaping our perception of climate change, turning it towards the positive elements inherent in it. In other words, they are helping us to understand the immense opportunities that climate change offers-opportunities that would not only help the world adapt to the menace of climate change, but would also open the world to an array of investment avenues.
In as much as climate change poses threats to humankind, it also presents us with great business opportunities. These opportunities, often referred to as green opportunities, are in the areas of clean renewable energy, carbon market trading, technology transfer, transport management, biofuels and so on.
Just last year, the carbon market grew to Euro 92 billion (US$125 billion), which is more than double its Euro 40 billion value in 2007. Tremendous growth has also been recorded in the area of clean development mechanism which is very much open to developing countries like Nigeria. The total value of the clean development mechanism was Euro 24 billion in 2008, and it is currently growing at a startling rate.
Unfortunately, Nigeria is yet to fully explore the environmental market, which rakes in billions of dollars annually on the global stage. Instead of tapping into these great investment opportunities in the green economy, Nigeria is still relying heavily on its oil reserves as well as oil export.
This type of reliance is detrimental to the nation's economy, warned Ewah Eleri, executive Director, International Centre for Energy, Environment and Development.
"Crude oil prices have declined to about a third of its price 12 months ago. Global financial meltdown and pressure on governments to respond to climate change are curbing the demand for crude oil worldwide. The United States of America- destination for about half of Nigeria's crude oil exports- has recently announced an ambitious plan to invest in clean energy and reduce dependence on foreign oil."
An unstable oil market portends great danger to economic stability and growth in Nigeria, unless we join the rest of the world in moving towards a clean energy economy," expressed Eleri.
While developing countries such as China, India and Brazil have long profited from the carbon market, Nigeria is yet to make headway in the market, despite its huge potentials in the business. In fact, the investment in the carbon market offers Nigeria a potent opportunity to fill existing funding gaps in power projects using clean technologies.
At a time when solar energy and hydropower are gaining prominence in the production of centralized energy for urban and rural livelihoods in other countries, Nigerians are still depending on diesel, fuel and firewood for their main sources of energy.
Many emerging economies are now exploring opportunities in renewable energy, especially biofuels. For instance, China has won the right to grow palm oil for biofuels on 2.8 million hectares of Congo. This promises to be the largest palm oil plantation in the world. The Asian country has also made plans to grow biofuels in Zambia on 2 million hectares. One wonders where Nigeria stands in this whole enterprise. When will it tap into the biofuel business, which also has enormous potentials for alleviating hunger and poverty in the country?
Nigeria occupies the 20th position on the 2006 Global Hunger Index. The report also revealed that 65 percent of Nigerians were under the yoke of food insecurity; about 40 percent of children less than five were stunted, while 25 percent were underweight. This grim data has not become any better since then. It certainly does not speak well of a country which is richly endowed with abundant human and natural resources.
Investment in green opportunities can change this gloomy picture. It would aid the enhancement of the Nigerian economy and improve the livelihoods of the citizenry. In a bid to unveil these fresh opportunities, the International Centre for Energy, Environment and Development and the Nigeria Climate Action Network (Nigeriacan), in collaboration with BusinessDay and the Nigeria Conservation Foundation, recently organized a business forum on climate change in Lagos.
At the forum, Onno Ruhl, World Bank country director, who was represented by Amos Abu, pointed out that "development efforts can no longer ignore the risks of climate change or the local and global benefits of sustainable solutions. New knowledge, technology, and finance are fundamental to increasing the competitive landscape for sustainable innovations."
While stressing that "climate change makes people of every nation, citizens of one planet dependent on the actions of others," Ruhl further revealed that the World Bank Group's mandate is sustainable development and poverty reduction. This implies "bringing power to the people in every meaning of this word: to light their homes, to withstand difficult weather, and to make the right choices that open new opportunities to their families," he stated.
Advising Nigeria, Amos Abu emphasized the need for Nigeria to adopt the four pillars of the bank's strategic framework on climate resilient development. These pillars include making adaptation and climate risk management a core part of development; taking advantage of mitigation opportunities; focusing on knowledge and capacity development; and scaling up financing opportunities.
Undoubtedly, Nigerian businesses stand to gain significantly from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, expressed Felix Dayo, President, Triple E Systems, USA.
"A 2004 survey estimated that for the year 2010, between 869 and 1,098 million tons of CO2 emissions of carbon credits will be traded in the global carbon market. In 2007 and 2008, about 2.7 and 4.9 billion tons of CO2 emissions were traded in the market, respectively. In 2008, the carbon market was about US$ 125 billion worth, of this CDM accounted for over US$ 32 billion, of which 83 percent went to China, India and Brazil," Dayo revealed.
"There is money to be made by the Nigerian private sector from the global carbon market. For this to happen, the Nigerian private sector must emulate their counterparts in China, India and Brazil. The organized private sector's participation is the key factor in achieving CDM benefits and increasing Nigeria's participation."
A total of 17 types of technologies could be developed as CDM projects. These include generation of power from fossil fuels and renewable energy, power transmission and distribution, and production of fuels for industry, vehicles and households. The onus is on the organized private sector to take advantage of these investment opportunities.
In the same vein, Dayo decried the fact that there are only two registered CDM projects in Nigeria (i.e. the recovery of associated gas that would otherwise be flared at Kwale Oil gas Processing Plant and the Ovade Ogharefe Gas Capture and Processing Project), and then urged the government and the private sector to do more in that regard.
There are some bottlenecks facing CDM in Nigeria, asserted Asmerom Gilau, a researcher from Triple E Systems, USA. These include inadequate technical knowledge of the process, lack of awareness among policymakers and political leadership about carbon market and mitigation activities, and the absence of readily usable sustainable development indices. Others are weak management and organization infrastructure, low level of industrialization, heavy dependence on international aids for development activities, and limited funding for expansion in the power sector.
However, he advocated for institutional strengthening, revamping existing institutional settings and regulatory frameworks to promote carbon investment in Nigeria, connecting investment promotion and economic development planning to the opportunities in global carbon market, and promoting awareness of the global carbon market among Nigerian financial sectors stakeholders.
Indeed, there is no doubt that clean energy investment will offer enormous benefits to the Nigerian economy, as it would enable increased flow of green investments thereby providing foreign direct investment to the country, pinpointed Eleri.
He added: "most of what you hear about climate change is gloom and doom-but the truth is that it also presents major investment prospects for Nigerian businesses. The onus is on the private sector to turn the climate challenge into profitable investments in areas such as clean energy, the carbon market, real estate and new insurance products." However, failure to seize these opportunities will leave the Nigerian economy in great danger, he warned.
Clearly, if Nigeria is to make giant strides in seizing green investment opportunities, there needs to be a collaborative effort between the public and private sectors. Inadequate awareness of the vast array of opportunities by the private sector and weak promotional and regulatory performance by relevant agencies has both hampered progress in green investments.
More than ever before, the need for Nigeria to shift from an oil-dependent economy to a more diversified one cannot be overemphasized. The gory threats of climate change, coupled with its alluring opportunities, have brought this need to the front burner. Concerted efforts ought to be made now to address this urgent need.

Ensuring credibility and corporate governance in the banking industry

While revelations on the rot that crept into the banking industry continue to unfold, depositors point the way forward and advocate good corporate governance as a means of correcting the anomalies in the sector, writes ALEXANDER CHIEJINA

Nigerians were bewildered with the sudden sack of the Chief Executive Officers of five banks in the country last Friday. This came as a surprise to a lot of Nigerians within and outside the country. However, the shake up in the banking sector was not expected so soon bearing in mind the recent consolidation that was said to have strengthened the banks. Far reaching as it was, analysts believe that the move by the Central Bank of Nigeria to painstakingly sanitize the sector however shouldn't be the last if Nigeria is on the brink for transformative economic and political advancement.
It could be recalled five years ago in June 2004, when Charles Chukwuma Soludo upon assuming office as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, summoned bank chiefs and broke the news of an impending restructuring in banking business. During the meeting, Soludo warned that by the time his restructuring was over, the confidence in the banking sector would have be restored.
In the face of disbelief and feeling in some quarters that such ambitious consolidation programme was far-fetched, Soludo was able to deliver on his promise. Encomiums were heaped on him for achieving the feat in the industry. Few years later, his effort that was applauded by all Nigerians has now left some unanswered questions in the lips of Nigerians.
The move by the past CBN Governor to consolidate the minimum capital base of the banks to twenty five billion naira, saw the trimming of the number of banks from 89 to 25 by the middle of 2006. This move was carried out to strengthen the financial base of respective institutions. There is no doubt that the banks that survived the consolidation exercise gained immense integrity and global recognition. This saw a tremendous improvement in the economy of the country as there were new investments into banks and increased funding from abroad
The reason, according to Soludo was that the banks needed huge capital base to effectively provide support for the economy. This view generated intense discussion among economic and financial experts in the country.But like some analysts will agree especially going by the cause of the global financial crisis, higher capital base doesn't essentially shield the financial institutions from cyclical correction such as improved risk management or better corporate governance.
The recent global financial meltdown already thinning out in Europe, the United States of America and other industrial nations of the world penetrated into the country more than most people expected. Enormous crisis resounded in the famous Wall Street, and the consequent effect on renowned US banks: Lehman Brothers, Citibank and Merrill Lynch including America largest Insurance Company, AIG, leaving many people in dire situations.
Driving this point home, palpable panic in the banking industry began to manifest when Africa Report in one of its findings indicated that Nigerian banking sector was under pressure. The report of June-July 2009 termed "Nigerian Banks signs of life" read thus: "Most of the Banks have over-leveraged their balance sheets during the boom cycle and are stuck with trillions of Naira worth of bad debts with out disclosing it to investors. Nigeria's minimum reporting standards only demand the quarterly publication of gross earnings, pre-tax profit and net profit, making it difficult for investors to estimate future trends."
This feeling of anxiety in the industry prompted President Umaru Yar'Adua to call the erstwhile CBN governor, Chukuwma Soludo to a meeting. This was coming at the end of the tenure of Chukwuma Soludo as the CBN Governor. Thus, in a move that took some Nigerians by surprise, Umaru Yar'Adua appointed Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, a risk management expert and Group Managing Director, GMD of First Bank Nigeria as the new CBN Governor with a mandate to go and clean up the banking industry.
However, on resumption of duty, Sanusi who was already conversant with the pitfalls in the sent examiners to the banks to ascertain their true state of health.
During the examination, it was discovered that over four banks were sustained by the Expanded Discount Window (EDW) introduced last year September by Chukuwma Soludo. EDW for banks was meant to address their liquidity problems. The current CBN Governor decided to shut the EDW and leave the guaranteed interbank market open as an elixir for the banks. Seeing that some banks needed further assistance, he decided to admit interbank lending. With the interbank lending, depository institutions could buy or sell funds so as to meet reserve requirements. It was this facility that further exposed troubled banks.
Further revelations showed that "the total loan portfolio of the five affected banks amounted to N2, 801.92 trillion; margin loans was N456.2billions; and exposure to oil and gas, N487.02 billion. Aggregate and non-performing loans, he said stood at N1, 43 billion representing 40.81 percent. According to Sanusi, a capital injection of at least N204.94 billion will be required in the five banks to meet the minimum adequacy ratio of 10 percent."
At the end of the day, the bank chiefs as well as the executive directors of the indicted banks were given the matching orders. The affected banks are Oceanic Bank, Union Bank, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Fin Bank and Afribank Plc.
The development has so far attracted mixed reactions, especially in the camp of depositors.
Kehinde Ololade, a radiotherapist with Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) described it as shocking but welcome development.
"The shares at the stock exchange have already been technically suspended which means that if I have shares, I cannot do any transactions on it. However, don't forget that no one would want to buy the shares of the affected banks at the moment. What I can do is to follow the trend of development as it unfolds. The Central Bank has already assured depositors of the safety of their monies so; there's is no need to panic."
Kunle Olagoruwa, managing director, Asset Base Capitals who believed that "the bank crisis happened as a result of the lack of thoroughness in the legal framework of the bank recapitalization exercise in 2006" warned that it was of foremost importance " protect depositors and shareholders investment in the affected banks.
" The Central Bank and the new management in place in the affected banks should do everything possible to assure depositors confidence of their investment. I still believe more banks are victims but have not yet been caught," Olagoruwa concluded.
Meanwhile, Jude Ozokwor, Product Line Manager, Sterling Chemicals and allied products, noted "I represented some shareholders in one of the banks currently under the Central banks heavy hammer. The point is that the bank management betrayed the trust and confidence we reposed in them by trading with our money unprofitably and carelessly. There is no reason for such mistakes. Besides, many who lost money in the failed bank crises sometime ago are yet to recover from the shock," Ozokwor maintained.
Though, none of the sacked bank chiefs and their directors may have been charged with any criminal wrong doing, the ability to effectively complete this task of prosecuting the individuals remains an enormous task before the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC)
Although Joseph Adefulalo, Chairman, Senior Staff Association of Nigerians Universities (SSANU), UNILAG chapter wants depositors to be rest assured that their money is be safe in these five banks, as promised by the central bank, he is however surprised that such things were happening behind the backs of the customers. He however wants credible Nigerians to be put in a position of authority "because it beats my imagination how monies of Nigerians will be placed in the hands of a few Nigerians."
Meanwhile, many Nigerians are concerned that corporate governance has continued to be an issue in the industry. They want the key elements of good corporate governance principles which includes honesty, trust and integrity, openness, performance orientation, responsibility and accountability, mutual respect, and commitment to the organization to rule the hearts of those leading the financial institutions.
Ethical and responsible decision making is not only important for public relations, but it is also a necessary element in risk management and avoiding lawsuits, says Joshua Ojo, a Lagos based financial expert. "Banks should develop a code of conduct for their directors and executives that promotes ethical and responsible decision making. It is important to understand, though, that reliance by a company on the integrity and ethics of individuals is bound to eventual failure."
In addition, banks should ensure shareholder and depositor funds are no longer exposed to unrealistic risks. Arguments that banking may be a fast changing business and board of directors are made to relinquish their oversight roles or simply incapable of performing the roles should no longer tenable.
Many also feel that the audit committees of affected banks should also be investigated for their roles in the near collapse of affected banks. "More importantly, the roles that regulatory agencies, particularly the CBN played should be investigated and erring personalities should be exposed. The CBN must critically examine why these allegations are now coming out when it appeared they existed more than few months ago", he also said.

Reassessing the value of Satelitte campuses in Nigeria

Against the backdrop of the clamour for the re-engineering of the education system, ALEXANDER CHIEJINA who toured some campuses of the Lagos State University (LASU) writes that there is a need to improve the learning environment in the nation's higher institutions

The state of education is one of the crucial indicators of the seriousness of a society in its quest for national development. This is because the quality of education in a society determines the quality of its leaders as well as its pace of social development. Universities (higher institutions) in advanced and well-organised societies are centres of social activities and they provide conducive ambience for research, teaching and learning. However, many believe that the culture of deceit has prevented the country from providing qualitative education to its youth in order to prepare them for the economic and social challenges of the 21st century.

Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria's foremost President, in his remarks to the Eastern House Assembly on May 18, 1995, said: "The immediate aim of African education should be to develop character, initiative, and ability of the youth of the country, so that they may be reliable, useful, and intelligent in the rapidly changing life and circumstances of their own people… Anything narrower than this must lead to a stagnant and menacing flood of unemployed and unemployable youth".

In the light of the above, the nation's educational system has witnessed transition from the indigenous system where mature men instructed youths in personal up keeping and resource management, good citizenship and community responsibilities, to the formal Western education brought by the missionaries in the mid-nineteenth century.

In the 1960s, schools were properly administered and discipline was strictly enforced. The quality of graduates was high and certificates awarded by the schools were equal to those awarded by schools in Europe and America. The demand for higher education in Nigeria increased during the oil boom of the 1970s and the number of students increased without commensurate funding.

However, as time went on, focus on qualitative tertiary education declined. This steadily gave rise to a drop in the quality of graduates coming from our University system thus, affecting every facet of the society.

In spite of this, government each year keeps saying it commits a lot of resources towards improving tertiary education in the country. Before now, the goals and objectives as spelt out by National Universities Commission (NUC) as well as the national policy in education are critically being undermined as there had been no significant improvement in the quality of education in our higher institutions.

Recently, in a bid to revamp tertiary education in the country, the NUC had directed all university satellite campuses to be shut down amid fears of falling standards and the over-commercialization of tertiary education. Peter Okebukola, the then executive secretary of National University Commission, said: "The satellite campuses are merely business centres for economic gain and are profit-oriented instead of providing quality education."

The directive, given in 2001, was enforced with a circular to all vice-chancellors informing them that failure to comply could result in their dismissal and the withdrawal of funds, including staff salaries. While most Universities complied few others didn't heed the directive by NUC. This then led to the immediate past NUC executive Secretary Julius Okojie, to re-affirm the initial directive that all universities in the country running external campuses (satellite campuses) be shut down.

At this point, Lagos State University (LASU) had several satellite campuses still running within Lagos metropolis. The refusal to shut down its satellite campuses led to a recent face-off between authorities of LASU and the National Universities Commission (NUC). This face-off once again opened a new vista in our quest for worthwhile education in the country.
At present, Lagos State University (LASU) remains one of the few institutions in the country that operates satellite campuses with LASU alone having more than 61, 000 students in those campuses.

On the other hand, satellite campus in accordance with the National Universities Commission (NUC) guidelines on which basis illegal satellite campuses were closed down, states: "a satellite campus must not be more than 200 kilometres from the main campus, must not be located in a state outside the state in which the main campus is located, must have staff of the satellite campus directly or indirectly appointed by main campus in line with laid down academic standards."

Business Day learnt that LASU authorities are relying on this caveat in their decision to retain the satellite campuses, especially as they all fall within about 100 kilometres from the main campus in Ojo.

At NUC, the argument seems to be that beyond fulfilling situational requirements, emphasis should also be placed on the environment and quality of learning. While expressing his view on the situation at LASU, Okojie revealed: "The system at LASU is bad, and we have a responsibility to protect the sanctity of certificates being issued to its graduates. Most of the courses offered by the university were not accredited, while consultants were used to run courses from unsuitable locations."

While the clamp down on erring institutions is still yet to be seen, the management of LASU, established in 1983 via the enabling Law of Lagos State University, has maintained that the university ab initio was conceived, and has since been operating, as a multi-campus institution which initially comprised four campuses at Ojo, Epe, Ikeja and Surulere. Other external campuses are at Anthony Village, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lekki, Festac Town, Ikoyi, Isolo and Agege. The situation at these campuses as it relates to the conducive environment to learning has continued to inspire robust debates.

There is no doubt however that some of these centres are in an appalling state. The Abule Egba centre which operates from the premises of the State High School offers part-time programmes in the management sciences, computer science, history and international relations. But a visit to the centre will surely leave no one in doubt about the pressure the students are going through as a result of the squalid learning environment.

Students enrolled in part-time programmes at the centre crowd themselves in all manner of structures including perforated containers which serve as lecture rooms as well as laboratories.
It is fascinating that majority of the students that register for the part time programmes young school leavers who ordinarily have enrolled for the regular full time programmes. Nkechi Alozie, a second year student of Business Administration at Abule Egba campus told Business Day that she chose to study there because the campus is close to where she stays.
"It is just a difference of a year extra for the course you intend studying and at the end of the day; you get your certificate with which you can always obtain a job," she says in defence of her choice.

However, a 200 level student in the department of Computer science who pleaded anonymity noted that he embraced the choice as a last resort.
"I had to enrol for this programme just because I need a University certificate. The learning environment is nothing to write home about because as when the sun begins to shine, the classes (container structure) becomes so hot that you can hardly concentrate. You can also see that roof of the classroom block is leaking. What baffles me is that every year, the school keeps admitting students but do not improve facilities."

Business Day made effort to speak with LASU authorities to no avail. A staff of the university at the main campus in Ojo who pleaded anonymity however maintained that "as far as I know LASU is doing everything within its power to ensure that standards are not comprised in any of its campuses."

There is no doubt that good education guarantees the ability of a nation to grow, develop and compete effectively in the rapidly changing global economy.
As concern mounts on the quality of education in the country, many analysts are of the view that the university system as the highest level of learning should be accorded all the attention it requires.

There is no doubt that good education guarantees the ability of a nation to grow, develop and compete effectively in the rapidly changing global economy.