Post-Graduate Programmes: Many Nigerian graduates are rushing to get postgraduate education nowadays mostly due to the lack of jobs. It is believed that a Masters degree will better the chances of getting a good job. A few others undertake PG programmes in order to enter into the academic path as it is known that the minimum requirement for employment into many tertiary institutions in the country is a Masters degree. Because of this, many Nigerian universities have witnessed a surge in the number of applicants for PG programmes.
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Youths are rushing to various schools for PG programmes and it becomes necessary to inform the students of what they are to expect in the various schools in the country. I have already covered the list of best universities for PG programmes in Nigeria before. I think it is right to inform prospective PG students of the schools to be “cautious” of if they want to graduate on time. Not everyone can go to the “ivy-league” institutions for PG study in Nigeria due to various factors.
I am not trying to spoil the reputation of any school here because, as we all know, many of these schools have internal issues and policy issues that affect the students. So if your school or alma mater is mentioned, don’t take it the wrong way but try to evaluate the cause so that suggestions can be made to make things better. In compiling this list, I considered a few factors such as duration of study and graduation, infrastructure, library resources, staff-student ratio, among others. I relied heavily on personal research and opinions. I also interviewed with some persons studying in these schools in order to get their experiences. I have also been to some of the universities on my list at a point or another before now. The aim of compiling this list is basically to draw attention to the issues that they have so that the universities can seat up and make the plight of students better. We should also proffer working solutions to the problems identified in this list. I can’t take all the universities since there are so many with issues so I focused more on regional varsities with many applicants. Below is the list:
1. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State
This school was established in 1961 as a regional university for the South West of Nigeria. It is considered by many as one of the best universities in the country for undergraduate studies. This first generation university has a wide variety of alumni members and has played important roles in training some of Nigeria’s academic, scientists, writers, and aristocrats. However, its postgraduate programme is quite the opposite of what obtains at the undergraduate level. Let us look at some of the issues this university faces:
i. Incessant strike actions by staff and students: The university is regarded as the centre of “aluta” in Nigeria. Staff and students know their rights and don’t hesitate to close down the entire school to assert it. At its worst, there are more than 3 strikes a year and whenever they occur, students go home and any form of research halts. This extends the duration of the programme from 18 months to at least 24 months in the best case scenario and 36+ in the worst.
ii. Self-centred nature of staff: The staff of this university are quite antagonistic towards students. Most take pride in the school’s notoriety for delaying and stressing students. Many can’t help students in basic things and even supervisors are not concerned with the student’s academic progress.
iii. Lack of uniformity by the PG school: In OAU, every department runs its PG programmes however and whenever it sees fit. The PG school only “advises” but never “implements” strict uniformity. This has created situations where some departments are faster than some. Any school where departments are allowed to run programmes however they like usually face delays in PG programmes.
iv. Too many bureaucracies: The PG school has too many protocols for registration, thesis/dissertation writing, defence, graduation, etc. These protocols can take months to accomplish sometimes.
There are many other reasons why the PG programme in OAU is bad but the above are the major ones. If the school can implement a strict adherence to PG calendar by the departments, simplify many of their bureaucracies, monitor staff activities, among others, the PG programme will move faster. The facilities are there and the school has a fairly good library. If every other thing falls in place, OAU will be a school to reckon with in terms of PG programmes in Nigeria.
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