Nigerian Professors

NIGERIAN PROFESSORS: PATHWAY TO THE PROMISE-LAND
Frankly speaking, even if I happen to be held at gunpoint by three able-bodied men, I would stick to realism regardless of the consequences it may result to. Yes, realism is a school of thought I will never regret associating myself with because realistic things which remain the sole product of realism are simply divine, or in other words, godly. As a bonafide member of this noble institution, realism or as a realist, I detest mirage with enormous passion because I strongly believe that reality is the direct opposite of the aforementioned phenomenon (mirage).
Let me use this avenue to quickly bring us closer to a fact which most of us is yet to embrace. Life is not arithmetic or any branch of mathematics. When I say “or any branch of mathematics”, I meant that apart from arithmetic, it’s neither algebra nor geometry. For some of us whom are closer to mathematics, you would understand that the subject/discipline comprises of three major branches. Yes, life is not mathematics; in life experience, sometimes when you add one to one, it won’t give you two which is the anticipatory result, rather it may give you a figure which could be above one hundred. This is a reality or a factual fact. People who are far from this logic end-up embracing “mirage” in their everyday lives. So beloved, it’s high time we fully understood the reality of life.
Today’s edition reads “Nigerian professors” which I tagged as the pathway to the promise-land. To commence with; who’s a professor?
From my singular opinion and in a concise definition, a professor is the most learned person in any society. Whatever any definition as regards a professor might read, the fact behinds it remains that he’s the most educated individual in any organization he belongs to. And a Nigerian professor is a professor who hails from or is a citizen of Nigeria.
Few weeks ago, a good friend of mine who knows me as an analyst/activist called from Cross-River State, Calabar to be precise to register one of his grievances in regard to Nigerian educational system. A man who I’ve known for years as a fellow advocate of education expressed his view bitterly. He said that one of his professor friends/mentors who retired two years ago in one of the Nigerian universities after serving the country meritoriously and tirelessly could not boast of a befitting private vehicle/car that can convey him from one locality to another. He wept bitterly on phone having dropped the message. What a world!
Honestly brethren, it beats my psyche each time I see most of the Nigerian professors exhibiting series of cacophonies like a mid-night cockroach as a result of how cruelly they had been treated by the government. As they continually develop this unannounced despair, it’s our duty to let any government suffering from ignorance to know that this set of people remains the threshold of any existing society. Thus, we can’t watch them continue to embrace this disastrous high fever which may likely lead to societal epitaph.
I must tell you this; if surely we will embrace that promise-land we all are eagerly waiting to encounter, then our professors must be placed first. I’ve earlier written on democracy and technocracy which is similar to this edition. Yes any democratic setting that recognizes technocracy must be filled with a good number of professors. And those ones who are found in various classrooms would also be highly pampered. It’s a reality not a mirage. Let’s ride on!
Believe it or leave it; our professors have not been given any vital role to play in respect to the ongoing developmental stride. Even those who had been granted the opportunity to serve were not allowed to fully earn their view. And most pathetically, those found in our classrooms are not being motivated.
How can the councilor of a certain political ward in Nigeria go home at the end of every month with a figure mounting to millions of naira while the professor of a university goes home at the same month end with barely two hundred thousand naira or thereabout, or even less than that; Isn’t it funny? Think about it!

_____________________
COMR. FRED NWAOZOR
Social analyst & activist