First class and first rate

This piece is inspired by a report that 16 Nigerian universities have awarded 3,499 first class degrees in five years. The report said the trend is not peculiar to Nigeria as it has assumed near alarming proportions in some African countries. An outstanding example is the Makarere University, Uganda, which produced 260 first class graduates in 2017 and even a higher number the previous year when it had 286. The University of Legon, Ghana, gave out 417 first class in the 2010/2011 set. According to the research-based report by Daily Trust on Monday, May 15, 2017, the first-generation universities graduated 1,661 students with first class degrees within the five-year period. The universities include University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Ibadan and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Within the same period, seven private universities established less than two decades ago have produced a total of 1,161 first class graduates. Coming at a time when some universities outside our shores now put question marks on degrees from here when the holders apply for postgraduate degrees, the debate now rages on the large number of first class graduates in the United Kingdom with concerned parties speaking of “grade inflation” in the universities. The Independent of the UK, in a 2017 article titled ‘The Proportion of Students Graduating with First Class Degrees” states that the numbers have soared. The comparison goes to show that the trend is not peculiar to Nigeria, but the snag is that degrees from Nigeria are being discriminated against in a manner that makes it look as though something is amiss. It may well be that something is, indeed, amiss, given that a senior Lecturer from Ahmadu Bello University who did not want his name in print said Nigeria is now a factory for the massive production of first class graduates. He said most of them are not employable. Also Professor Adamu Baike, two-time Vice Chancellor of the University of Lesotho, described some Nigerian universities as “miracle centres of sorts, giving out first class degrees like sausage rolls…in one year, to have 100 first class can be quite embarrassing .” He, however, says the private universities are more competitive than the public ones.
The crux of the matter is the quality of these graduates, not the quantity. There is always this tendency for older graduates like the seasoned scholar, Baike, to say that their days were better. The feeling is natural but commentators like me must recognise the sheer number of universities existing now in comparison to what obtained in the past. At the last count, Nigeria has 153 universities, 84 of of them belonging to state and federal government, while the private sector has 69. Expectedly, the number of graduates is bound to be on the upward swing. That is as much as the argument can go given that some of the new age first class graduates have not measured up to expectations in the output expected of people of their ilk, which is the matter in contention. I have no quarrel with the number and it is indeed illogical to make a fuss of the number in the face of the number of universities now juxtaposed with the past. There would be issues of criteria, quality of lecturers, diligence of students and several other factors. It hardly matters what the criteria the awarding institutions apply, what matters most is the quality of the product.
Vice Chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Rt. Rev. (Prof.) Dapo Asaju, in a recent remark, said that a graduate anywhere ought to be equated with his counterparts across the globe, insisting that universities ought to produce graduates that should stand their ground anywhere in the world. That may look like a tall order but such determination makes the difference. That ought to be the resolve of any hard-working vice chancellor who knows his onions. Asaju falls in the league of such vice chancellors, going by how he has transformed that school and positioned it for greater academic heights. His take on the matter is right given that such determination ought to stem the tide of rejection of certificates from our clime when people go for postgraduate studies outside our shores. In line with his take on the matter, the vice chancellor has come up with a novel idea for students who graduated with low grades to return and remedy their degrees through intensive work and a retake of courses that brought them to their knees academically in order for them not only to be better in their chosen field but to also stand their ground anywhere. That way, the university could vouch for its products.
At a time when Nigerian universities need to improve on their rating, going by the Times Higher Education World University rankings, there is need for vice chancellors to device means of improving their students. The Times ranking gave Oxford University the top position across the globe but Prof. Asaju says universities in Nigeria ought to have products that can stand their own irrespective of the ranking.
For me, the ranking should be a wake-up call for Nigerian universities. The proliferation of first class degrees should not be the source of worry as much as the quality of its holders should. The challenge is for those who hold those degrees to stand their ground when the need arises.
Logically, first class degrees are bound to go up with the increasing number of universities and students, far more than yester years when universities could be counted on the fingertips of one’s hands, but the challenge is for first class graduates to also be first rate.

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