" The sad reality is that most of these graduates are becoming experts in negativity and why and how things cannot work..…”
..Isqil Najim
He went to school with intention
of being a change maker. He was told that if he can be the best in his class he
will build the best bridges, great automobiles and railroads. He was shown the
images and works of great engineers and scientists. Albert Einstein is just too
exalted not to be emulated. The discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton brought changes
to science worlds, just as the work of many more distinguished scientists, and
technologists all over.
Then he thought of Bill gates,
Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Louis Pasteur,
Guglielmo Marconi and others and he pictures in his mind a glorified
career path that can also bring him fame, money and respect. Driven by the
inspiration of these great achievers, he went into school with resolve to work
harder and to avoid anything that will or can distract him. He played and watched
fewer sports programmes, he limited his social contacts and befriended his four
figure table, calculator, and workshop suit….
As he devotes himself in his
study, devouring books after books, sweating inside workshops and laboratories,
and grinding metals after metals on different type of machines, to hone and
develop his skills, his colleagues (in non-technical vocations) have extra time
to spend on clubs and other social activities. He has little. Drenched in his
overcoat (most of the time), he learned to cope with heat, oil and dirt while
fabricating one material after the other. He learned to dress lightly and live
simple. He learns the concept of hard work and dedication to duty. His trainings
are all designed with such rigidity and requirement for attention to details.
Mistakes are rarely tolerated-not in technical works. By the time he graduated
from the college, he has sacrificed most of his social life for the profession.
Victorious, he knew that the future holds better promises, and he set out on a
journey to the world…
Out of the college, he began
another four years race, where he is expected to work even harder and translate
his classroom knowledge into reality. The challenge is harder here and the
stake higher. He needed to work for his professional certification and also his
paycheque. With higher responsibility involved, he again fraternized more with
machine tools and drawings (basically his works) while the bulk of his
associates are those in same profession. After all said and done, the typical
Nigerian engineer is rewarded with lesser pay and put in a “dignified kiosk”
called office. He can’t go on strike, and he has to work harder for every level
he attains in his postgraduate career…
More embarrassing is the fact
that in today Nigeria, engineers are gradually being reduced into second class
citizens. Most of their works are handled by foreigners while most of the top management
positions handled by other professionals. Equipment in short supply; current
and updated quality technical books/journals are scarce, just as training
materials are substandard.
The man who has worked his way up
to become an engineer soon discovers that that opportunity to harness the vast amount
of skills acquired in schools are limited. Most ended in factory as operation
engineer, maintenance engineers, supervisors etc; while most working with
foreign firms are performing tasks designated for craftsmen and artisans. In
this situation, the nation gradually kills most of her engineers.
Some divisions of engineering are
more affected and this makes me think there is need to revise our national
curriculum to meet the reality of our national technological demands. Of what
use is sponsoring youths to go through rigorous trainings, and spend the most
productive years of their life in an undertaking, that the nation have no use
of? It is like we are training our youths for the sake of it. We trained them
and then ask them to go out and fend for themselves… Even when they have the
skills we do not provide the environment for them distinguish themselves.
I understand some youths still go
to college to learn automobile engineering (it was my first choice) whereas the
nation has no ambition to develop her auto industry! At most the automobile
engineers in Nigeria will be assembling cars and tricycles already made in
other countries. The rest of the jobs can be handled by the technologists and
technicians. And where some engineers has taken gallant steps toward conceptualizing
their vision for auto-industry, the policy makers have often been found wanting.
What happen to the young man who made helicopter? And what happen to Nigerian
domestic industry?
What about electrical
engineering? How many of these highly skilled are given opportunity to apply
their skills? As the nation reel in darkness and the businesses suffer, what policy
has been put in place to encourage these talented youths to solve the problems?
It will presupposed that we have no qualified engineers to solve our energy
crisis, but when you take inventory of our homegrown professionals going
outside the country only to make great impact in their host countries, you will
understand the extent of the neglect. This is just as example. In telecom
industry, electronics, etc same stories are all recorded.
Civil engineering has been faring
better than others perhaps because of the nature of their works. However, this
doesn’t mean they are better. They have more opportunities than their counterparts
in mechanical and electrical engineering because most of the materials needed
for their works can be sourced locally. And because it seems easier to set up
civil engineering works in Nigeria than building machines and factories to
start electrical or mechanical engineering works. With right application of
knowledge and mobilization of workforce, civil engineers can perform wonder.
Another observation is the fact that since pre-independent Nigeria, civil engineers
has been the forerunners when it comes to technology development. Nigerian civil engineers especially in the
built industry, road construction have no excuse to cry for lack of tools. But
then, government has been overlooking them in many projects in favour of
foreign contractors.
Many (technical) sectors of the
economy remain underdeveloped. Petroleum sector however is doing fairly well
due to the strategic importance to the nation’s economy. Railways sector is in comatose.
Despite its importance to the nation’s development, no single university can boast
of specialization in this sector in Nigeria. If there is any, I have not been
seeing it. It will look as if Nigerian railway sector has been doomed to remain
in the past despite being the pioneer in transport sectors and despite it relevancy
in today Nigeria. Shipping industry is being championed by the Navy and they
are doing quite okay. Aeronautical and space engineers are trained outside the
country. Many new technologies entering the country are not treated in Nigerian
universities and polytechnics; yet, we graduate thousands of engineers in saturated
disciplines and continue to wonder why we are not developing.
As I write this, I am looking at
a publication in which one of the State’s first ladies is promising jobs to
graduates in the state. The jobs to be created are barbing, fashion designing,
shoe making and jewelry! I cringe at the thought that among the participants
will be talented engineers and scientists with strong technical background.
Here is a state with many
minerals and fallow farmland: A state with fertile land for cultivation of
sugarcane. In their cluelessness and lack of idea and innovation, they fail to
see the connection between sugarcane and renewable energy. They fail to
understand that if they can develop a strong programme for sugarcane, they can
build and develop Ethanol industry and even earn foreign exchange. They failed
to see the high earning that is accruable to the state and the number of jobs
that can be created from this alone. Like sugarcane, they can easily look
deeper and challenge these idle young professionals to create and develop the
land. They have failed woefully in identifying potentials and their only escape
is to stick to the duplication of jobs in areas already saturated.
Who does not know how to shave or
have haircut? And how about developing the local textile (Aso Oke/Adire etc)
and challenging the local engineers, technologists and scientists to develop
machines and techniques in this regard? I was even told that in another state,
some of the beneficiary of the new jobs are turned into environmental officers
where they will be busy making sure that road sweepers clean the highways and housewives
wash their hands before cooking! If this is the road to attainment of vision
2020, then it is a sure road to servitude and crisis. It is a joke of a vision.
Those engineers with first class grades
are being gracefully accepted into banking and allied industries. Where they
put all their knowledge into use as cashiers and tellers! What a way to midwife
our nation into technologically developed country!
As I meditate on this, I realize
that we are all guilty. The schools, the individuals and the professional
bodies are as guilty as the government and policy makers. Nations make progress
when all concerned share the vision of the progress. No nation will make progress
when more talks are recorded than their works.
In concluding this, I opine that
we must come back to basics and look inward. The universities, the professional
bodies and regulators must urgently look into our technological need and chart
a way forward for the nation development in the next 20 years. There is surely
need for revision of our schools’ curricula unless we want to continue to
produce sophisticated graduates that we do not need. The sad reality is that most
of these graduates are becoming experts in negativity and why and how things cannot
work. Nigerian engineers cannot continue to fly against the wind. The nation
cannot afford to be spending so much on training of engineers only to deprive
them the opportunity and environment to excel.
As with engineers, so are scientists and technologists affected
Engineering is the bedrock of
development of serious nations, when engineers get it right, the scientists
will have the hope that their inventions and discoveries will be put into good
use and the society will have the hope that all those theories are translated
to useful concepts and techniques that benefit them all. In the end, everyone
will benefit from the final works as community move forward; to greatness, to
better quality of lives and social stability.
We must find a way of harnessing
the talents available to us and ensure they work for the good of all.
Isqil Najim
