SHAME: WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS 2012! Nigeria not Among Best 400 Varsities in the World …American Institutions Emerge Best 3, South Africa in 103 Position with 52.3 points* Nigerian Certificates are Not honored Abroad * Powered by Thomas Reuters
NIGERIA’S education system is now adjudged classless and of no global rating in the Western
nations and certificates eventually issued by higher institutions of learning have continued
to face quality distrust, inferiority due to the several problems facing the entire educational
sector in the country traceable to corruption and the poor performance of local graduates in the
marketplace. This is the reason white collar job overseas are somewhat difficult for a Nigerian
graudate, except he is taken through the educational examination, mostly in professional career
programmes to be able to apply for monthly-salary work after the ‘work permit’ hurdle may have
been overcome. Locally, employers of labour hardly employ Nigerians because these graduates can
hardly justify their certificates when employed.
Thomas Reuters Report
According to a recent Thomas Reuters report: Nigeria is not rated among the best 400 Univerties in the
world and the country has zero global rating. Rather, United States of America emerges the best
country in the world where there is value, quality and acceptance on education acquired. Naija Standard
discovered that California Institute of Technology occupy 1st position with points 94.8, Stanford University
2nd, points-93.9, Havard University 3rd, points-93.9,University of Oxford 4th (UK) points-93.6; Princeton
University 5th 92.9, University of Cambridge (UK) 6th points-92.4, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
occupied 7th, points-92.3, Imperial College London 8th points-90.7, University of Chicago 9th points-90.2
and University of California points Berkley 10th points-89.8. And South Africa remains the only black
or African country to have occupied the 103 position with 52.3 points, while other African countries like
Kenya, Ghana and rest appeared prominently in the 6oo plus positions, where as Nigeria has no mention
at all.
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings powered by Thomson Reuters are the only global university
performance tables to judge world class universities across all of their core missions – teaching, research,
knowledge transfer and international outlook. The top universities rankings employ 13 carefully calibrated performance
indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons available are trusted by students, academics,
university leaders, industry and governments globally.
Thomas Reuters Analysis 2011-2012
Naija Standard investigation showed that publication of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings has
become one of the key annual events in the international higher education calendar. They are used by undergraduate
and postgraduate students to help select degree courses, by academics to inform career decisions, by research teams
to identify new collaborative partners, and by university managers to benchmark their performance and set strategic
priorities. As nations across the globe focus on the establishment of world-class universities as essential elements
of a dynamic economy, its rankings are increasingly employed as a tool for governments to set national policy.
Methodology: The Global Ranking Change for the better
Phil Baty, Naija Standard leant describes the methodological refinements that have made the 2011-12 rankings even
more accurate and comprehensive. No project that seeks to reduce the amazing variety of university activity into a
single ranked list can ever be perfect, but Times Higher Education can make bullish claims for the sophistication
and utility of its annual World University Rankings.
These rankings:
•Examine all core missions of the modern global university – research, teaching, knowledge transfer
and international activity •Employ the world’s largest reputation survey, drawing on the expert views
•of more than 17,500 experienced academics, collected in 2011 from 137 countries
•Reflect the unique subject mix of every institution across the full range of performance indicators
•Are based on unprecedented levels of partnership with the world’s universities
•Give parity to excellence in the arts and humanities, social sciences, science, technology,
engineering, mathematics and medicine.
Although this is the eighth year THE has published a global ranking, a new approach was developed during
10 months of open consultation in 2010, involving expert input from more than 50 leading figures from 15
countries. Last year’s tables set a new standard, underpinned by a new methodology that quickly earned
widespread acceptance and support.
This year’s tables are based on the same fundamentals. As with last year, the rankings use 13 performance
indicators, grouped into five areas:
•Teaching — the learning environment (worth 30 per cent of the overall ranking score)
•Research — volume, income and reputation (worth 30 per cent)
•Citations — research influence (worth 30 per cent)
•Industry income — innovation (worth 2.5 per cent)
•International outlook — staff, students and research (worth 7.5 per cent).
But 2010-11 was the first year of a highly ambitious project with a wide range of innovations, and we have
had 12 months to reflect on the work and to consult widely with the sector on further refinements.
We have made some methodological improvements this year that we are confident make the tables even more
illustrative, helping them towards long-term stability.
Why Nigerian Certificates are Not honored Abroad
Naija Standard further investigation reveals the following major reasons why Nigerian tertiary certificates
are seen as mere papers abroad with no educational value globally. These problems facing Nigeria’s education
sector includes: poor funding, brain drain due to poor welfare for lecturers, poor students/lecturers ratio,
with institutions admitting more than their carrying capacities, as well as corruption which bedevils the
entire society. It is on record that If you want to pursue a graduate course abroad after your first degree,
they make you go through an internal examination which kind of creates doubt on the quality of the certificate
you have come with and cast inferiority on your country’s educational image. For these reasons, Nigeria educational
certificates are never honored abroad.
Annually, an average of 1.5 million students take the Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination (UTME)
for entrance into Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Universities have the capacity
to absorb less than 40 percent of these test takers. The other 60 percent tend to go to their second and third
choice categories of institutions—polytechnics and colleges of education. Many Nigerian students also apply to
institutions abroad. In 2011, 40 percent of the students who sat for the UTME made the minimum cut-off grade
of 200 (out of 400) for entry into Nigerian universities.
There are currently various government reforms and initiatives aimed at improving the Nigerian educational system.
These include the upgrade of some polytechnics and colleges of education to the status of degree-awarding
institutions, the approval and accreditation of more private universities, and the dissemintaion of better
education-related data, including the recently published Nigerian Educational Statistics (a publication
assisted by USAID among others).
Financial Scandal in Nigeria’s Universal Basic Education-UBEC
Corruption had been the only language that was at play by the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education
Commission (UBEC), Dr. Ahmed Modibbo Mohammed who had further allegedly contributed in soiling the educational
standard of the nation globally as he allegedly shared the sum of N50bn between himself, wife and few political
friends. This was his stewarship after 12 years in saddle. He recently approached a Federal High Court in Abuja
that two New York based online media , Pointblanknews.com and Saharareporters.com have launched a “campaign of
calumny” against him and his House of Representatives member-elect wife, Aishatu Dahiru.
Although he was unable to tell the court why he tagged the news reports of events surrounding him as a campaign
of calumny’, his apparent grudge was a 2009 report on a sex -for -admission drama at the Ahmadu Bello University
(ABU), Zaria, which indicted him. Even though he confirmed the earlier story on the indictment at ABU, he maintained that
the circumstances that surrounded the indictment ‘ were misrepresented ‘ by pointblanknews.com and saharareporters.com.
He however did not explain how.
Modibbo under cross-examination told the court that as UBEC boss, he approved the award of contracts worth N11 Billion to
firms where his wife , Aisha, has considerable interests. The proceeding and revelation was given prominence on
our site. Modibbo also confirmed that, aside UBEC, he awarded several contracts to companies belonging to his
wife when he was the Chief Executive of the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Kaduna, and that the companies
were so “efficient” that they still get contracts from NTI till date.
His words to the jugdge: “My Lord, I know the indictment the counsel to the accused persons is talking about. There
were complaints against me. The university set up a committee to investigate the complaints and the report of the
committee is with the authorities of the Ahmadu Bello University. Shortly after this case commenced, the accused persons
launched a campaign of calumny against me on the internet, using Pointblanknews.com and Saharareporters.com.”
Moddibo’s Alleged N50bn Squandermania
Naija Standard can tell you that Modibbo Mohammed allegedly embezzled over N50 Billion during his 12 Years reign
as head of the Education support Agency is no longer news. The news is the manner he shared the loot. Part of the
N50 Billion, he allegedly shared with the Minister of Education Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i and her junior colleague, Chief Onyesoh Wike with an understanding that his tenure will be renewed for another four years.
It was learnt from sources that apart from being the highest donor to the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Modibbo willingly doles out cash to the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC and sometimes gives out money to General Mohammadu Buhari.
Jonathan angry with Modibbo
After been briefed fully on his alleged financial attrocities, President Goodluck Jonathan refused to renew
Modibbo’s crafty tenure, which compelled him to handover to his deputy Executive Secretary (Technical), Professor Charles
Onocha. Till date, he is seen in political circles as having no love lust with the two Ministers for failing to pressure
Jonathan to elongate his tenure, which ended on August 24, 2012; not knowing all his financial crimes had been given to
Jonathan. Modibbo allegedly lavished expensive gifts, including choice cars and raw cash on both ministers to curry
their favor for his ditched tenure elongation.
Few Jobs after NYSC Service
Naija Standard have realized that in today’s ever competitive labour market,employers want their recruits to be competent
technically, in their chosen fields. They also want them to come well equipped with complementary skills such as
reflective and critical thinking, interpersonal and team skills, as well as effective communication and organisational
skills. With growing unemployment in the country and employment companies finding it difficult to get the right candidates,
as a result of poor quality of graduates from our tertiary institutions, education experts and stakeholders have
been wondering about the worth of Nigeria degrees today, and what those saddled with the responsibility of managing
the educational system are doing to address the problem.
Employers of labour often complain about the poor skills set displayed by so-called graduates from the country’s
institutions of higher learning, while institutions running post graduate programmes have introduced internal
examinations to test the graduates before admission. This, experts say, points to the doubt which exists about
the quality of the degree certificates obtained from tertiary institutions here.
Human resource managers, parents, educationists and policy makers are unanimous in their verdict that the Nigerian
degree has lost it spark, and say that the sooner government and stakeholders address the problem, the better for
the country’s labour force, for employers, and for the reputation of the educational system.
