There Is Something Wrong With My UNILAG Undergrad Education

I am convinced there is something wrong with my UNILAG undergraduate education.

The very first time I felt this way was in my second year at the Lagos Business School, pursuing my MBA. I was walking down the staircase, and I noticed one of the steps was chipped at a corner. I took little notice of the chip and kept on walking.

The very next day, I was walking on that same staircase and to my utter amazement, I noticed the step with the chipped edge had been replaced!!!

What?? Replaced?? Under 24hours?? In this country?? Impossible!

To understand my bewilderment and perhaps create some perspective, I was coming from an undergraduate background where an entire hall of residence will collapse under disrepair and mismanagement, with not even a wink from the authorities. Hell... I was coming from a country where the roads would be totally impassable, riddled with crater-sized potholes; with goverment officials passing by on a daily basis in air-conditioned SUVs, and with no thought to its maintenance. (Lagos State, for the record seem to be an exception, as potholes are swifly covered up in most instances, but this is an exception, rather than the rule)

So, you see, the chip in the step was not the issue. I expected the chip. What I didn't expect, was the swift corrective action. And herein lay the problem: I had come to expect this mismanagement as the norm. Shocking, and sad, but true.

This is the first issue with my undergrad education.

The second issue is more critical and saddening. I found, by a series of close observation and back-of-the-envelope research, that graduates of some private universities, most especially those of Covenant and Babcock universities were doing far better than graduates of my alma mata in terms of leadership, entrepreneurship, and even governance. I took multiple samples of youths in different sectors: government, education, business, entertainment, PR, agriculture, New Media, etc and a good number (if not most) of the youths leading these sectors (of the sample space) were graduates of these aforementioned private universities!

What are they teaching them there, biko??

No, really, someone should tell me. I'm pretty certain the curriculum is pretty similar, so there has to be something extra-curricular that instills in these graduates the knowledge, the skills, and the grit to be successful leaders and entrepreneurs.

Don't get me wrong...graduates of UNILAG exist that are successful and are leaders in their own chosen fields, no doubt! (Heck! I'm one of them!) But I'm talking numbers here. For every 1 UNILAG graduate leading in one field, say Entertainment, there are, perhaps 2 to 3 to 4 graduates of Covenant or Babcock (this is loosely speaking, but please challenge me here if you have contrary figures). They have to be doing something right. The question is: what?

And sadly, I do not know. I wish I could claim on this piece that I had found the answers; and all UNILAG authorities need do is 1, 2, and 3; and then voila...our graduates would be running for President. LOL! I wish. But I don't have the answers.

But dear UNILAG school authorities, (if you ever get to read this), I know where we can start:

First, we need to acknowledge that the quality of the undergraduate we churn out could be greatly improved. Then we need to vastly and quickly improve the school's infrastructure. Give the students a wholesome sense of belonging! Third, infrastructural maintenance should be top priority for every Department and Faculty. Every chip in the stairs need to be repaired pronto!

Finally, we need to pay these two universities a visit, and perhaps do a small study, to find out why their graduates turn out as they do. Forget the comic nature of this post - this is serious business! Research is the lifeblood of any university, so this final idea should be an executional walk in the park.

Now, this writeup is in no way designed to cast aspersions on The University of First Choice, and The Nation's Pride. Far from it. I've said it before, and i'll say it again: every Nigerian student consciously, subconsciously, or unconsciously, wants/wanted/would love to be a student of  the University of Lagos. This is Fact. Ask your Mummy. Numerous conditions make them choose other universities. LOL! To yourself be true.

Truth is, I'm proud of my Alma Mater. I met great people there and did wonderful things. This is simply a clarion call to make the school much, much better. (Case in point, UNILAG just recently produced the first ever perfect CGPA graduate this year. Beat that Covenant University!)

Now, if you have any insight into my conundrum above, please comment. Share your knowledge/guesses/theories, whatever. Let's talk about it, please. And find a way out.

#nuffsaid

Follow me on twitter: @olatunbode.

Stop Asking When I'm Getting Married! Dammit!

Source: http://goo.gl/BfFu1V

So! My twin brother, Diran, got married last December. It was a beautiful wedding and he married a beautiful bride, Folusayo :) (See pictures below).

And as much as I love weddings, this one had one downside: the funny looks I was getting from 'supposed' friends and family. You see, when your twin gets married, everybody starts to wonder when you too are going to tie the knot. 'Everybody' fell into the following general groups:


Frank Family: These were sincere family members, who honestly believed Jide was getting old.

FF: Jide, you know you're not getting any younger. Ehn? When do you want to settle down? Ehn? When are we meeting her? Ehn? Why is she not here for your brother's wedding? Ehn? Don't you know this is the best time for her to meet the family? Ehn?? You better marry now oh. Ehn?? Do you want to pay school fees when you're 70years old?? Ehn?? Ehn???

Jide: *shoots own head*

Party Planner: These ones were just looking for the next owambe to attend

PP: Jide, when are we coming for your own wedding na? Give us enough time to prepare oo. And we dont want Ankara, we prefer Lace...

Jide: *runs into a speeding truck*

Believable Brutus: On the surface, this group seemed to be empathetic to my plight. I felt they understood my pain about wanting to be free of all the 'conjugal' pressures, and they were pretty much believable...complete with sad faces and all. But behind the scenes, they also had their own agenda

BB:  'Jide, don't mind them jare. Take your time. God's time is the best. Don't put yourself under pressure, okay?'

Jide: 'Thank you Aunty,' I replied with a half sigh of relief

BB: 'It's okay my dear. Pele. But have you met my friend's daughter, Bisola? She is sitting beside me on the table, whenever you are free you can come and ...

Jide: 'Et tu, Aunty?' '*slits wrist*

Match Makers: These shameless ones made no attempt to cloak their motives. They went straight into business:

MM: Jide, wa, see this lady's picture on my phone. Do you like her? She is a very good girl oh. Hmm. A very good homemaker too. Omo dada ni, I'm telling you!. She will take very good care of you gaann. Oya take her number down...zero eight zero...

Jide: *picks up table knife and stabs self repeatedly*

Sophomoric Sage: These ones are the absolute worst! They are newly weds, who suddenly believe that, just because they're already married, they have more marriage or spouse-finding wisdom, than the rest of us brain-dead, socially-stunted, stupid, single folks - even if their marriage is only a week old.

SS1: Hmm, Jide, it's not easy oh...finding the right person to marry. You just have to trust God to make the decision for you. I'll be praying for you, you hear? Don't worry. See, before God showed me my wife ehn, I had a dream...

SS2: Ah ahn, Jide, all these girls that are around you nko? Pick one and marry na. Abi are they not fine enough? Na wa oh. What else are you looking for? You see, when you marry, the fineness will disappear! I'm telling you! When I married my wife ehn...

Jide: *picks gun and shoots both THEIR heads*

All these in one wedding!

LOL

Honestly, I found all these a tad annoying. I believe marriage, (i.e. when to marry, who to marry, how to marry etc) is a very personal something (I said 'I' believe. The word 'I' is also a very personal term. Biko, take note). I mean, it's bad enough that YOU think I'm getting old, and YOU think I don't have gehfriend, and YOU think I should settle down fast, but to come and blurt it right in my face, feigning contrived sympathy or whatnot, and telling me in supposed-to-be-humorous-but-pretty-damn-annoying ways to go get married quickly...c'mon! While we're at it, why don't you go ahead and zip my fly down and check if i'm circumcised? Since we're all about privacy invasion, we can as well go all out, no?

Rubbish and Nonsense.

Don't ask when I'm getting married. Don't hint. Don't haunt. Just pray. And wait for IV. If it comes your way.

C'est fini.

PS: I hear it's even worse for female siblings. If you're in these shoes, you all have my sincere sympathies.

Wedding Pictures:

Diran and I. Yes, they said I ate all the food, but truth be told, he didn't want any food! Whose fault?

There is a reason in Yoruba-land, weddings are called igbe'yawo, which is literally translated as 'The carrying of the wife'. As the legend goes, when young men in the village reach a ripe marriageable age, on a particular market day, they storm into the village square with the intention of finding a young virgin. When such one is sighted, the young man hurries to her, lifts her with his hands and carries her to his father's house, like an antelope caught from the forest. This is where the marriage rites of both families begin. This is why weddings are called igbe'yawo, 'The carrying of the wife'. Soon enough, the tradition was abolished in most villages, because, as it turned out, young men who were not strong enough to lift full-bodied and sometimes voluptuous virgins were growing old without wives; and also, plus-sized virgins were growing old without husbands, as there was nobody strong enough to to lift them! The Confederation of Yoruba Obas (CYO) convened an emergency meeting and unanimously agreed that this tradition should be stopped immediately. But the name of the rite was preserved as a memento for posterity - thus igbe'yawo is called so even until this day . It is rumoured that in some deep corners of the Ijesha kingdom, this 'barbaric' practice still goes on without inhibition.

See how fine Folsayo is. Diran just set the bar unnecessarily high oh, Chai! That's how people will come to my wedding and start whispering that after taking his sweet time he didn't even find fine wife!

This is what happens when the priest threatens to take away the bride if the voice of the groom isn't heard throughout the church: the groom sings with all his might! Hehe...

OK, so this last one isn't about the wedding. it's about the coming elections, and it's courtesy the small billboards at the mall. The message is pretty explicit. Please go and get your PVC and vote. Don't sit on the fence for any reason. Decide. Vote. And let your vote count. After you have cast your vote at the polling booth, wait for the votes to be counted and results announced. That's a sure way to ensure that your votes truly count. May the best man win.

God bless Nigeria!

My Response to Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

I'm largely apolitical. I believe that in a democracy, the people deserve the kind of government they get. I also believe that in an argument, especially one where both sides are largely intellectuals, it would be foolhardy to blindly pitch camp with any side. Truth is, given certain facts, people have a way of viewing it through their own lenses - the half-full/half-empty conundrum.

It is in light of the foregoing that I hardly comment on various opinions flying east and west across cyberspace, especially as regards the fuel subsidy removal. If you stand in the shoes of every debater either pro or against subsidy removal, you will see that a good number of them have solid arguments. I will not bother you here with any of these arguments, but I'm sure you get the point.

But on reading Sanusi Lamido Sanusi's response on subsidy removal, I was amazed by his tone and some of his thoughts on the issue. I decided to address same. You can read it Sanusi's response here. Let me first state categorically that I'm not writing to debunk Sanusi's arguments. I'm certain that deep intellectual thought must have gone into the decision to remove fuel subsidy. Sanusi, in his response, gave reasons why the subsidy removal was the way to go, and his reasons seem very sound. I have no problem with that. My grouse is with the attitude with which this highly placed economist touts while giving his reasons. First, he begins with the faulty premise that PMS is the "fuel used by the middle class and car owners to drive around town and from city to city not to employ workers and produce goods and services." He goes on to say that when the subsidy on diesel was removed, nobody seemed to blink because it only affected the blue-collar workers; and the noise being made in all media now is simply because the rise in PMS price is going to affect the way the middle class fuels their 'smart cars'. The final straw was the plea to stop all ideological pretenses. He says this discourse should be between the elite. In other words, it has nothing to do with the masses.


Shege!

Let's look at those statements closely. Is it really true that PMS does not produce goods and services? What powers the large majority of the road transport system? Diesel? Of course not. Can every business afford the high-powered generators that consume diesel? Of course not. And who says this isn't about the masses? Trust me, when push comes to shove, the middle class will survive, and we would not be having this debate. The brunt of this whole fiasco is borne by our electrician who was booed out of the bus because he protested the fare that had doubled ("Abeg comot for my moto. You no hear say fuel na N145?). The brunt is borne by the factory worker whose lunch of boli and epa has suddenly become pricey. The brunt is borne by the ordinary worker who stays in Festac, works in Ajah and commutes to work via public transport. All these people don't own smart cars, and cannot be said to be middleclass or elite. Yet their lives have been changed dramatically by this very smart economic policy.

This snooty attitude - the belief that the problem boils down to a discussion between the elite - is perhaps one of the reasons why a sound policy like this could be rejected by millions of good thinking individuals. How else would you explain the rationale for announcing the removal of PMS subsidy right in the middle of the New Year festivities? How else could you explain the absence of any palliative measures until the country erupted? Sanusi does not deserve the credit entirely. You see, until we begin to elect ordinary Nigerian citizens into public office, there would always be a disconnect between the policies they develop and the realities of the common man.

And that, my friends, is where the problem lies. Think about it: When these policies were being formed, it would seem that no thought was given to the condition of the masses and how they would be affected by it. Even when every single social medium was overflowing with tales of woe that would befall the masses once the subsidy is removed, my CBN Governor called it ideological pretenses! Amazing! This begs the question: who then do you create economic policies for? The elite? Or the teeming masses? It is this myopic perspective...this seeming inability to look past the economics and see the big picture that has brought us to the impasse we're in now.

I believe we have the intellectual wherewithal to effect considerable change in this country. But I also believe that mind-sets like the one Sanusi portrayed in his statements need to be changed for effective and seamless change to be possible. Nigeria is not just made up of middle-class elite that require an intellectual discourse on the tenets of sound economic policy each time a controversial decision is about to be taken. In fact, the middle class form only an infinitesimal fraction of Nigerians. The majority of Nigerians are people who, on a daily basis, struggle to survive. These people must be made to understand what the future holds for them in light of these policies - communicated to them in a way and manner they understand. Measures should also be put in place to ensure that the brunt is not too blunt that it bruises. I sincerely do not need to say all of these. The simple realization that the masses exist and are affected would create the right atmosphere that would engender the right kind of thinking.

On a final note, compare Sanusi's response to the one given by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. You can read it here. The stark contrast between the two becomes apparent. One could argue that NOI understands the role the masses play in an economy, or that she has interacted with more sophisticated economies, or some other delicate arguments. But I'd leave that discussion for another time.

God bless Nigeria.

I'm on twitter: @olatunbode