Inadequate funding threatens quality higher education in Nigeria – Majekodunmi

Waheed Majekodunmi is a shrewd professional university administrator and astute chartered manager with over a decade of cognate experience as a thorough-bred professional in administration and management. In this interview with IFEOMA OKEKE, he speaks on his new book and its expected impact on readers. He also suggests ways to achieve quality higher education in Nigeria.

Could you tell us a little about yourself?

I was born and bred in Agege, Lagos, Nigeria where I had my primary and secondary education. But I hail from Abeokuta, Ogun State. I hold a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in Economics from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria in 2007 with Second Class Honours (Upper Division) , and a Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree also in Economics from the University of Lagos, Akoka, Nigeria in 2016. I am a recipient of several academic awards and distinctions include nominee for UAC Higher Education Scholarship, University of Ibadan (2003/2004); winner, Professor Uche Isiugo-Abanihe’s Book Prize for Excellent Performance in Population Studies, University of Ibadan (2004); winner, Coopers and Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers) Prize in the Department of Economics, University of Ibadan (2007); winner, Professor C.S. Ola & Co. Chartered Accountants and Notary Public’s Prize in Management Accounting, University of Ibadan (2007); and winner, the prestigious UBA Prize for Best Final Year Student in Accounting, Banking & Finance and Business Administration (2 Prizes), University of Ibadan (2007). I was employed by the Lagos State University as an Administrative Officer II in 2009 and today I have rose through the ranks to become a Senior Assistant Registrar. I have served the university in several committees and elected positions including but not limited to: Publicity Secretary, Association of Nigerian University Professional Administrators (ANUPA) LASU Chapter, General Secretary Lagos State University Senior Staff Club, Adjunct Secretary, Lagos State University Senior Staff Club Constitutional Amendment Committee, etc. My journey as an author dates back to my university days when I write articles for publication in the departmental and faculty press boards. My writing style usually drew huge followership from among the students and their constant encouragement provided the elixir for me to up my ante in the business of writing.

What inspired the book, ‘Terminologies in Administration and Management – a Compendium of Contemporary Terms and Concepts in Academic Administration, Corporate Governance, & the Public Service’?

I would say the motivation to write a book of this nature not only derives from my rainbow background as a seasoned administrator, a versatile economist, and a shrewd manager with an unquenchable zeal to extend the trajectory of knowledge, but also draws inspiration from my burning desire to partake and pass off to others, some ‘sips of knowledge’ from the purer cups of the doyens and ‘thought leaders’ in the field of administration and management whose intellectual works, made available through paper presentations at conferences, seminars, and training workshops I have access to. Needless to say, the decision to write this book was also spurred by two other factors; namely, my burning passion to improve on my job and to pass off the knowledge I acquire on the job to others so that they too can improve on their jobs too.

What was the experience coming up with the book?

Writing the book is a mixed bag of experience – a feeling of exhilaration as well as several periods of dejection, frustrations, and almost tears. At the ideation stage, I was always getting excited whenever I see the mental picture of my dream book as I always discuss it with colleagues and friends with glee and fervour. The excitement of being an author of a best-selling book always left me spellbound. But when the writing process started I came to realize that writing a book of such nature and texture is not only an herculean task but it is also backbreaking and burdensome. It’s not a tea party as against my earlier thought. It took an uncommon zeal and an insanely burning determination not to carve in to the inner pressure to suspend the book or abandon it altogether. I spent a greater period of the global lockdown in solitary seclusion in order to work on the manuscripts. It was a huge sacrifice to be away from the public glare for a long period. My wife and children sacrificed many late nights and weekend without my usual spousal and fatherly affection and cherish because I was away working to complete the manuscript. I give them a great commendation for their uncommon strength of characters to cope with a two-month deprivation of the usual familial bond occasioned by the self-imposed self-isolation needed to engage in seemingly endless bouts of ‘writing marathon’ for expeditious completion of the work.

Some would say the title is rather too long. Was this deliberate?

The title is succinct for any discerning mind. The subtitle added to the book is to give further clarification on the scope of the book. It is not sufficient to terminology of administration and management. We have to define the scope of the work because administration is an inexhaustible body of knowledge. That is why the subtitle is added to the title of the book to suggest that the terminology of administration and management covered in the book is limited to tertiary education administration, corporate governance, and the public service. And I think the title does justice to the content of the book. The title is aptly in order as it portrays the content of the book to whoever wishes to read it. My message is sublime enough with the title as I tried to delimit the scope of my book.

How long did it take to write the book?

A book of this nature is a product of labour of sweat, frustrations and almost tears of several years. I mooted the idea of writing the book in 2017 and I started the actual writing in October, 2018. However, the global lockdown occasioned by the outbreak of the Covid-19 Pandemic afforded me sufficient time to complete the nucleus of the book due to lesser pressure from official and social exigencies. So, I would say the book is a culmination of four years of painstaking efforts and incalculable financial commitment as a self-publish author.

Included in your book are 60 theories, principles, and models in management and administration. Would you then say this is a scholarly book and if it is, for what purpose in particular?

It is both a scholarly book as well as a professional reference material. That’s why I said earlier that researchers and students in the field of administration and management will find the book as a useful companion to glean more insights on the theories and principles in management and administration to extend the frontier of their knowledge. Proper and in-depth understanding of management theories is also important to the professional manager in the course of leading and directing the workforce. Knowledge of management theories provides theoretical basis for organisations to focus, communicate, and evolve – Managers and leaders focus on their main goals while implementing management theories or styles. As a manager, you are required to know the theory and principles to implement management styles that automatically streamline the top priorities for the organisation. So, the inclusion of contemporary management theories and principles in the book is aimed at improving the managerial and leadership efficiency of the manager in a bid to attain strategic managerial milestones in a record time.

Several authors have written books on Administration and Management. What makes this particular book different from others?

The uniqueness of this book arises from the fact that this is the first book that will attempt a compendium of pivotal concepts and terms in administration and management in an alphabetical order for ease of reference by the reader. The book passes off as a dictionary of administration and management which is intended to help managers and subordinates alike to have a sound grasp of the basic technical jargons used in communication at the work place. The book is also unique in another sense – this is the first time a book will address the needs of both the professionals and the scholars and researchers in the field of administration and management. The book has a rich theoretical and intellectual background for academic research and scholarship as well as useful and up-to-date contents that professionals can use to boost the attainment of their delivery milestones. It is a silver bullet for everyone in the field of management and administration.

You are passionate about making scholastic exploits and writing scholarly articles; how did you find yourself doing this?

There is a popular saying that a good reader would mostly likely turn out to be a good writer because in the process of reading other people’s works you are also honing your own skills to be a better writer because the more you read the more you build up vocabulary bank which will come in handy when you are in the writing process. And that’s essentially my secret pill as an author – I’m an avid and voracious reader of good books in virtually all niches. While growing up, I had precocious talent for writing because prior to formal education I had had the opportunity to attend pre-school home lesson (Yoruba call it je’le o sinmi) where the language of instruction is Yoruba, our mother tongue. Before formal schooling I was able to write in my native language, and this contributed in no small measure to my speedy understanding of English Language and to be able to write with it. Before age 9, I had started writing letter to my friends, cousins, and pen pals. As I grow up, I come to realise that for you to carve a niche for yourself in writing you have to be a ravenous reader and a consistent writer who writes to be better than the previous time. It is like the older the wine, the better it tastes. You tend to acquire better wring skills as you grow older and remain consistent even in the face of daunting difficulties.

Institutions across Nigeria keep depreciating in value and in quality education. In your view, what could be the problem?

Inadequate funding is the most critical challenge that has threatened the attainment of good quality higher education in Nigeria. It has constituted a clog in the wheel of quality education in our ivory towers as most higher institutions in Nigeria (save for a few private ones) are not only unable to build or refurbish basic infrastructure – lecture halls, students’ hostels, laboratories and workshops, but are also found wanting in the area of payment of staff salaries, research grants, allowances and medical bills. Poor funding of education could lead to mass production of half-baked graduates in all areas, which makes them difficult for them to address the nation’s developmental challenges. Qualitative education is not attainable without adequate number of inspiring, well-informed teachers who are fully prepared to meet their responsibilities in our schools. Recruitment into teaching and administrative cadres in our educational institutions is now based on cronyism, nepotism, godfatherism, and ethnic affiliations. Teachers are the foundations of our educational systems. Can we build a solid structure on a shaky and wobbling foundation? Can education appreciates when the quality of the teachers are depreciating? Where there is inadequate teaching staff and poor quality of lecturers, the attainment of good quality in higher education will be difficult. Frequent labour disputes and closure of school is another factor militating against our quest for quality delivery in the education sector. The disruption of academic programmes of institutions of higher learning affects students learning outcomes, since lecturers find it difficult to complete the course work. In most cases a semester’s course work is sandwiched to few weeks during which lectures are rushed to accommodate the time lost to strike. How can the graduates produced through such system be expected to compete with their counterparts from other parts of the world? Poor policy implementation, lack of vibrant staff development programme, brain drain, poor leadership, lack of ICT facilities are some of the perennial problems plaguing the Nigerian education system.

How can this problem be addressed?

Attainment of quality education at all levels in Nigeria is not a rocket science; Government only needs to do the needful by having a strong political will to turn the tides around for better results. Government of Nigeria should place high premium on education by meeting up the recommended 26% educational spending prescribed by UNESCO, to help revitalize the education system and forestall its looming collapse. Educational institutions in Nigeria should set up internal quality assurance and monitoring of lecture units to enhance good quality delivery. The Ministry of Education has a task to come up with an education policy that would birth effective lesson delivery in all sectors of education. Higher premium should be paid on merit than on other factors in the recruitment process of teaching and non-teaching staff so that more dedicated, devoted and committed and effective workforce can be built. Student-teacher ratio should be reviewed to address the lingering issue of high student-teacher ratio. Conducive teaching and learning environment should be created through improved conditions of service, provision of basic infrastructures, virtual libraries and information communication technologies and internet connectivity. Government need to address the problem of brain drain in the education sector by implementing a competitive (even higher than the business world) remuneration and welfare packages for the teachers so as to dis-incentivise them from joining other vocation or profession. The library is at the heart of the academic effort in a college or university. It is high time government intensified efforts to equip the libraries with up-to-date textbook and current journals and to provide modern state-of-the-art equipment and facilities in the laboratories and workshops.

Are there other books you have written in the past? If there are, could you briefly share with us?

No. This is my maiden book. But plans are in the offing to write another book as a follow up to the present one. The new book shall focus on the nitty gritty of preparing official correspondence such as memorandum, communiqué, decision extracts, white paper, minutes, council agenda, formal report, executive summary, business proposal, etc. As I write, the book is at the manuscript drafting date while the tentative date of publication (God willing) is 2023. Other books shall also come on board as future developments may dictate.