Convocation Lecture: Prof. Falola recommends steps to decolonize higher education for devt.

CHINYERE IKEANYI

A Professor of History, Toyin Falola, has recommended some practical steps and approaches for the implementation of the decolonizing African Higher Education for Transformational Development.

Falola, who is a Professor of History from The University of Texas At Austin, gave the recommendations while delivering the convocation lecture for the 54^th convocation ceremonies on Monday, at J.F. Ajayi auditorium, University of Lagos.

Among the recommendations are: Expansion of the General Courses and Programmes on Cultural Properties, African Epistemologies, and Ingenuities; Promotion of African Languages as Academic Courses; Creation of African Vocabulary Development and Enlightenment Bank; and proliferation of African Concepts and Scholarship.

Others are: Socio-Cultural Initiatives; Combined Honours Award in African Culture, Science, and Economies; Proposal for the Creation of a Centre of Creative Economies; and Proposal for the Creation of the Department of Lagoon and Sea Economies.

According to Prof, Falola, education at the University of Lagos must involve research and understudies that will foster the country’s infrastructural and economic development.

He stated that a recommended project for the institution would be the creation of the Department of Lagoon and sea Economies, possibly under the Faculty of Maritime and Marine Engineering Economies. “This proposal is now labelled as the Blue Economy”, she added.

Pointing out pecuniary and fiscal shortage pose significant threat to these recommendations, he said undertaking such projects would require extensive funding.

“The University education system in Nigeria has the potential to generate a lot of income from donations to investments and a large pool of Internally-Generated Revenue”, Falola said.

He, however, said the previous demand by the federal Government for 40 percent of the IGR is unnecessary, stating that the high percentage demand of IGR from public Universities will ultimately lead to an “increment in tuition fees, creating a situation like the recent protests by the students at the University of Lagos against the increase in their tuition, a situation exacerbated by the country’s nose-diving economy.”

Falola, who stated that the decision to rescind the 40 per cent IGR is a positive development, said Universities should carefully define what IGR means “as some of them are operational costs.”

He said: “The objectives must be clear so that tuition can be reduced and a chunk of the revenue can be left for the school to carry our academic and infrastructural programmes that will facilitate learning in excellence for students.”

Earlier in her speech, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, OON, FAS, had said at the University of Lagos, “we recognize that our role is to develop minds so that people can be the best version of themselves with the capacity to develop their nation and be fit-for purpose for the 4th industrial revolution.

“As part of our contributions towards promoting discussions that would enable a paradigm shift in the way we think it is important that we examine our tertiary education system in Africa because it is where we shape minds for national development.

Africa has lagged behind in development in the comity of Nations. Our current educational system modelled on colonial constructs has not been able to drive the all-round development, revolutionary ideas, and industries that we need despite our population, heterogeneity and other positive demographic factors.

“Facts have also shown that our deficit in these critical areas isn’t due to a lack of intellect or human capacities. What we know is that we constantly seek validation from our colonial past. There is clearly still a lack of confidence in who we are! It does not appear that being African is enough. How do we become enough?

“There is already a change, we are beginning to ask the relevant questions and recognize that if we are to fully develop and be unique not copycats, we must embrace who we are so we can make the right choices on what parts of other cultures we will adopt. We must rediscover our purpose, trace our heritage, reorientate our minds and develop new policies that embrace our peculiarities and unique flavour”.

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