“Higher education and the huge numbers are contradictory to begin with…What is causing the decline of German culture? The fact that higher education is not prerogative anymore — democratism of a cultivation that has become commonplace.” — Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols.

Bowen University, a private university in Nigeria, recently became a victim of social media attacks on Twitter after the private university published on the social media platform a controversial post which was alleged to make mockery of students in the public universities who have been forced to stay at home since February due to the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ (ASUU) strike whereas these students should be in the classrooms or have finished a semester like some of their counterparts in the private universities.

The post which consist of a picture of a group of graduating students of Bowen University with the caption, “this is what finishing four years in a four-calendar-year in Nigerian University looks like…you should be here” was bitterly criticized by Nigerian youths who believed the University was being unnecessarily insensitive to the plight and emotional state of public university students.

However, some other persons believe there is nothing politically incorrect or morally wrong about the post; they argue that the post which is characteristic of competitive marketing communication only showcases the unique selling point of the university and offer alternatives to those who care to listen or can afford the university’s proposed value.

It’s been over six months since the Nigerian public universities have been shutdown due to the ongoing industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and millions of Nigerian students in the public universities have shown their disappointment in the system for depriving them of their rights to learn and be meaningfully engaged when they are expected to be in the classrooms.

The current wave of ASUU strike started on 14 February 2022 barely into the completion of the first academic session that ensued the previous wave of strike in the year 2020 which also lasted more than 6 months. Since 2007, the Nigerian public universities have been shutdown intermittently for more than 146 weeks due to ASUU strike which has become a perennial problem in country.

The issue of ASUU strike is now synonymous to a culture in the Nigerian public universities, and an effect to this is a popular joke that if, for instance, you are doing a-4-year course in a Nigerian public university, you should prepare to graduate in 5 or 6 years or, worse still, if you are studying medicine which is a 7 years program, you should plan to graduate in about 10 years after factoring in ASUU strike and some other internal disruptions that cause deferment of academic calendar.

The recurrence of ASUU strike and its disruptive effect on the academic calendar does not only frustrate the dreams and aspirations of many students who are expected to be in the labour market at a certain age limit in order to stand a good chance to secure quality jobs that befits their qualifications; it also contributes to the pressure and backlog of unemployed graduates in the labour market every year.

The average age of getting an entry level or graduate trainee job in Nigeria is 24 years. And while it is not unusual to hear employers of labour make remarks such as “Nigerian graduates are unemployable”, perhaps it is also relevant to consider the possibility that a quarter or half of these so called unemployable graduates are those who are readily cut out on age due to delayed academic calendar and protracted years of study in the university.

In a highly digital economy which requires fast-paced thinkers and actors that can quickly innovate or improvise to keep up with the current market ordinance, the Nigerian public universities, which are supposed to be places where industry leaders are nurtured and shaped, are characterized by slow academic calendar and highly mechanical models.

Thus, overtime, employers of labour across industries have preferred to base graduates’ employability on the strength of their extra-curricular experiences including community service, internships and volunteering rather than the strength of their academic grades. The problem of town-gown disconnect or industry-academia gap has raised more politically driven quick fixes than long-term management-based solutions which has exacerbated the problem rather than nip it in the bud.

Since the establishment of ASUU in 1978, the Union has been conditioned to see industrial action as the best language or mechanism to pressure the Federal Government to yearn to its demands which often include but are not limited to issues such as wages and welfare conditions of university staff members,  infrastructural facilities in public universities, and university-education centered policies etc.

However, recently, the ASUU has been more agitated than ever, accusing the Government of being dishonest and lacking the political will to position the Nigerian University education to be able to compete globally, especially considering the fact that the Government has yet to make good the memorandum of understanding it reached with the Union since 2009.

The Federal Government on the other hand has accused ASUU of being unrealistic with its demands and insensitive to the current economic realities of the country. Thus, the loggerhead between the Union and the Government has been on a merry-go-round, and efforts to resolve it have resulted in deadlocks after deadlock.

As Nigerians continue to hope for a permanent solution to this incessant strike which not only disrupt academic activities but also indirectly affect the economy of the country, sadly, the best solution available seems to be the worst and most unlikely conceivable option. In a mixed economy such as Nigeria, when the Government’s mechanism fail to achieve its intended objective, the reasonable alternative is to allow the price mechanism to aid or correct the imperfection of the former.

Currently, in Nigeria, the supply of labour far exceeds the demand for labour which implies that the cost of producing graduates increases while there is no corresponding increase in tax payers’ money which is being used to subsidize education in the public universities. Therefore, the most logical thing to do is to cut down on the cost of production which in this case suggests that the federal government needs to reduce the amount of subsidy that goes into funding university education or tertiary education generally.

According to the Secretary General of the Committee of the Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Professor Yakub Aboki Ochefu, during an interview with TVC Break fast show on Friday, 12 August,  the cost of training an average student per year in Science, Social sciences and Arts and Humanities from 100 level to 400 level is between N2million and N3million while a medical student will require between 3million and N5million. In Federal Government owned public universities, the federal government provides 95 percent of the cost while the remaining 5 percent comes from users/maintenance charges which are often incurred by the parents or guardians of the students.

Analysing the numbers, one needs no divine revelation to understand that the current situation is not statically feasible especially in an economy with as much as 33percent unemployment rate and 53.40percent youth unemployment rate. Thus, the Government and ASUU can work together to reexamine and restructure the education subsidy scheme to suit the current realities of the country.

While university education subsidy can be removed or better still tentatively reduced, the social cost of reducing the subsidy must be offset by increasing scholarships, bursaries, assistantships and loan facilities to qualified or deserving students. The federal government in partnership with relevant agencies should work out a sustainable structure towards achieving this. This will not only preempt waste in the public universities, it will promote inclusiveness and enhance merit and efficiency.

Another way the Government can reduce cost while achieving efficiency in the public universities is to encourage investment in these institutions from interested individuals, corporate organisations, non-governmental or non-profits organizations and especially the Universities’ Alumni. This will enhance internal ingenuity and promote the Town-Gown relationship which has long been endangered and now almost extinct in the country.