First class, not an all-comers grade – Olukoju

The Vice Chancellor of the Caleb University, Imota, Ogun State, Prof. Ayodeji Olukoju, may have physically left the public university system, he definitely still holds on to his voice. Unlike many of his peers who seem to have lost their voices on crucial national matters, especially those pertaining to education, Olukoju remains outspoken and still calls a spade a spade.

For instance, on the question of what some experts call indiscriminate award of first class in most private universities in Nigeria, Olukoju believes something may truly be fishy somewhere. And whenever such an issue is being discussed, the one-time dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Lagos is a candidate to listen to. Apart from being a VC of a private university, he also bagged a first class from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1980. So, he should know what a first class is worth.

He says on the allegation that the private institutions awards first class to impress fee-paying parents, “I cannot make any general statement. But I will give you some hints. I graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1980 with a first class. My faculty then produced only two first class candidates. From the no fewer than 2, 000 students, there were only about 14 of us that obtained first class in the university that year.

Perhaps one thing that buttresses Olukoju’s argument is that Caleb University has not really been having an orgy of first class. In 2011, of the 92 graduates it produced, two had first class. In 2012, eight of its 231 graduates had first class while three of the 158 graduates produced in 2013 had the choice grade.

He adds, “As a rule of the thumb if you produce 100 graduates and 20 are in first class, there is a problem somewhere. Look, first class is a unique grade. It is like a pinnacle. It is pyramidal. The apex must be narrow. If you are inverting the pyramid, then that is not right. It is not an all comers grade. It does not happen anywhere in the world.”

He is one of the people who believe that things are no more the same in Nigerian universities. According to him, in a nation as huge as this country, with no fewer than 170 million people, and over 100 universities, one simply will expect a mixed grill of actors, institutions and products.

“ I will say as a rule of the thumb that surely our university system is not what it used to be some 20 to 40 years ago when we were undergraduates,” he says.

Noting also with a touch of exasperation that all is no longer the same, he adds that the proliferation of schools, students and academics cutting corners, among other issues have impacted negatively on the sector.

The VC, while calling for a saner academic environment, notes that the tertiary sector is not just the talisman of the education system but also the alter ego of the nation.

He says, “I am focusing on the tertiary sector because that is the mascot of the education system because if you do not get it right there then there will be problems. That sector responds to the dictates of labour market or to global economy. If you have a school certificate result, you are not yet a threat to the nation’s image internationally.

“So I think that at the tertiary education level, the number of universities which has not been matched by the number of the quality of PhD holders, seasoned scholars, and academics are all contributing to the challenges that the sector is facing.”