TETFund Executive Secretary, Suleiman Bogoro, does not like what he sees from most of Nigeria’s 8000 professors. After reading some research proposals coming to TEFFund, he was  moved to crank: “make one to wonder if some of these professors in question are actually the principal investigators in the proposal.” Prof Bogoro has a big point – Nigeria university system needs to advance our knowledge base, but for that to happen, we have to deepen the capabilities of those that teach our students.

The reinstated Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Suleiman Bogoro, has said most Nigerian professors are not capable of getting global grants for research because of poor research proposals.

Despite the growing number of Nigerian professors, said to be about 8000, the TETfund boss is worried that many professors have low capacity to write quality research proposals.

[…]

According to Mr Bogoro, some of the proposals coming to TETFund “make one to wonder if some of these professors in question are actually the principal investigators in the proposal.”

He said about 80 per cent (proposals) are ‘condemned’ because they are poor.

“I have been in some platforms overseas where some Nigerian professors have been invited and they were reluctant to climb the podium because they wanted to get PhD at that stage. It is the title that bothers them not the knowledge,” he said.

Nigerian business and tech communities in Canada are coordinating for me to meet them when I make it in Calgary in coming weeks for Inventure$ (June 5, 2019 – June 7, 2019).  If you want to join, please email my colleague here. Let’s meet and build a Greater Nigeria.

Nigeria < > Canada – commerce, education and progress.

Joe Biden is running for President of the United States. The list is now complete for the Democratic party. He dropped the line few minutes ago: “That’s why I’m announcing my candidacy for President of the United States.” 

Full statement via email below

Nd —

America is an idea. Based on a founding principle that all men are created equal.

It’s an idea that’s stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, and more powerful than any dictator.

It gives hope to the most desperate people on Earth. It instills in every single person in this country the belief that no matter where they start in life, there’s nothing they can’t achieve if they work at it.

Today, that idea is under attack.

We’ve got a president who assigns a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it.

A president who, like most charlatans and demagogues throughout history, seeks only to aggrandize himself, to consolidate his own power — by blaming the “other.”

If we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation.

I cannot stand by and watch that happen.

Our core values, our very standing in the world, our democracy, and everything that makes us who we are is at stake.

That’s why I’m announcing my candidacy for President of the United States.

It’s time to get up and remember who we are.

We’re Americans: tough, resilient, but always full of hope.

It’s time to treat each other with dignity again. Build a middle class that works for everybody. Fight back against the incredible abuses of power we’re seeing. It’s time to dig deep and remember that our best days still lie ahead.

It’s time for respected leadership on the world stage — and dignified leadership at home. It’s time for equal opportunity, equal rights, and equal justice. It’s time for an economy that rewards those who do the work. It’s time for a president who will stand up for all of us.

We haven’t always lived up to our founding ideals. But we have never before walked away from them.

I’m running to help make sure we never do.

Today, I want to know if you’re with me. If you are, chip in below:

www.JoeBiden.com/Donate

Let’s go.

—  Joe

Magically, the minister of labour and productivity, Chris Ngige, has concluded the Nigeria exodus debate on TV: “Who said we don’t have enough doctors? We have more than enough. You can quote me. There is nothing wrong in them travelling out”. The minister does not care if they keep leaving because Nigeria has enough. Though it is hard to argue with a man who has access to better data, he has a point – we always have surplus, in Nigeria, even though we live in scarcity! Go Nigeria.

Meanwhile, Mr Ngige said he is not worried about doctors leaving the country because ”there are enough doctors”.

When asked by the presenter to comment on the brain drain in the country and if the deliberate recruitment of Nigerian doctors by foreign embassies is detrimental to the nation’s health sector, the minister said, “No, I am not worried about doctors leaving the country, we have a surplus.

“If you have a surplus, you export. It happened some years ago here. I was taught chemistry and biology by Indian teachers in my secondary school days. There is a surplus in their country, and we also have a surplus in the medical profession in our country. I can tell you this. In my area, we have excess,” he said.

According to him, ”I know a couple of them who practise abroad but set up medical centres back home. They have a CAT scan, MRI scan which even the government cannot maintain. So, I don’t see any loss.

“Who said we don’t have enough doctors? We have more than enough. You can quote me. There is nothing wrong in them travelling out. When they go abroad, they earn money and send them back home here. Yes, we have foreign exchange earnings from them and not just oil.”

Mr Ngige said brain drain would only be inimical ”when, for instance, neurosurgeons travel and we don’t have neurosurgeons here”.

If you are a student writing any exam, do not make that case: Nigeria does not have excess doctors. We produce less than 1,600 yearly with about 1,000 leaving. By 2025, when most elderly doctors retire, the equilibrium will crash. The only professional people we have excess in Nigeria are Politicians.

Nigerians’ Big Exodus To Canada