Ningbo, P. R. China

April 13, 2006

The Nigerian Government recently shot itself in the foot when it announced to the world that due to the collapse of the nation’s tertiary institutions, Nigerian-trained engineers are unemployable.

The Minister of Science and Technology, Professor Turner Isoun, at the opening of a multi-million dollar Technical Assistance Centre (TAC) and an expanded training center of a local telecoms industry, Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited, a foreign direct investment of the Chinese in Nigeria, said “no fewer than 50,000 of the nation’s engineers were either unemployable or needed additional training to make themselves relevant in today’s emerging technologies” (This Day: Friday, April 7, 2006) (emphasis mine).

One would have thought that a Professor and Minister of Science and Technology would know that learning, as they say, is a continuous process. And that university education, anywhere in the world, at any level, is not and cannot be a once-and-for-all training, for all types of jobs under the sun, let alone for “today’s emerging technologies” as emphasised by Professor Turner Isoun in the above quotation. Mr. Minister must not also create the impression that the Chinese company is or would be training their new employees because they are Nigerian-trained. Induction and probation periods for new recruits by established organisations are standard since time immemorial.

In any case, what does the government hope to achieve from such unguarded utterance? For one, Nigerians are not aware of any employment vacancies that the government desperately needs to fill, and to which it may be forced to hiring from abroad due to a lack of local qualified personnel. So, how did the government come about this huge figure, given that information gathering, as demonstrated by the latest fiasco called Census, is still a huge hurdle to overcome in Nigeria? Secondly, and more seriously, who is to blame for the pathetic state of our universities and their training programs that these “unemployable” engineers underwent? Isn’t it the federal government who is, through its agency, the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), responsible for drawing up the training curriculum of these universities and ensuring that the quality of education in the country meets the employment needs of the 21^st century, and even beyond?

Equally surprising is the government’s naive thinking that it can engineer technology transfer from foreign investors through “appeals.” Professor Turner Isoun, Mr. President’s representative at the said forum was quoted as having “renewed his appeal to the People’s Republic of China to bridge the technological gap between both countries through the participation of more Chinese firms in the Nigerian economy and the training of Nigerian engineers on Chinese technologies in order to domesticate such technologies” (emphasis mine). What a pity, Professor.

The Chinese are not stupid to freely hand over to Nigeria what they laboured heavily and for a long time to achieve. And there is no known history of technology transfer from one nation to another through “begging” or “appeals” by the acquiring nation. The Islamic Republic of Iran’s battle with the West over the country’s quest for nuclear technology – for whatever reason - is a case in point at the moment. Despite offers by Russia to help Iran with uranium enrichment on Russian soil, because of the incalculable damage to its pride and dignity, Iran has declined such offers. Well, if “appeals” and “cheapness” were the only reason that led this Obasanjo’s administration to fling open the floodgate of the Nigerian economy to the Chinese, then the nation is in for a sucker punch of earthquake proportion, one that would measure 9.9 on the Richter scale.

There is no denying the fact that more needs to be done regarding Engineering education and Engineering practice in Nigeria. Suffice to say that, despite decades of Engineering Education in Nigeria - including the existence of Universities of Technologies and the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), the country is yet to have a single wholly-Nigerian-owned-and-managed engineering or construction company that is a household name, or that enjoys the trust and confidence of Nigerians; the likes of the German company, Julius Berger Plc. But this too is leadership failure. Government should help, not condemn, by providing guidance and encouragement through deliberate policies aimed at national self-reliance.

The Government, being the largest and most influential buyer of commercial systems and contract awarding organ, should, as a matter of policy, massively patronize our local engineering firms and their products, to develop the necessary confidence and self-esteem in these idle but brilliant minds. A tightly coupled collaborative engagement between foreign engineering companies and our local firms and government engineering agencies should be incorporated in the nation’s ‘rules of engagement’ with foreign firms operating in the country. The current situation, in which government agencies, for example, the various “Ministry of Works,” watch from afar the construction of roads in their domain by a foreign company, is not acceptable. The “Ministry of Works” should constitute the workforce of these foreign companies to learn a thing or two, instead of getting paid for being idle.

Regular conferences of stake holders (Universities faculty of Engineering, NSE, NUC, local Engineering firms and R&D funding sources) should be held to evaluate achievements, identify problems and proffer possible solutions to engineering practices and performances in the country. This should replace the usual annual membership certificate awards by NSE.

How China is making it

Perhaps, rather than “begging” and “appealing,” Professor Isoun’s more sensible approach should have been to ask the Chinese company, Huawei Technologies, how they do things in China, and what type and scope of help Chinese companies continue to receive from the Chinese government, despite multinational companies’ continued opposition to what they (MNCs) term anticompetitive practices and unfair advantages enjoyed by Chinese national companies. In addition to massive government support and protection, modern education and what many would call ‘by hook or by crook’ strategies are other methods employed by the Chinese.

On education, suffice is to say that the environmental and learning conditions of some of China’s high schools are, by far, better than that obtained in most Nigerian universities. The Chinese government is in constant competition with the West in university education, using the BEST model it can find anywhere in the world as the benchmark for upgrading its universities: all China’s universities are Internet connected – they are now being provided with broadband access; each and every individual staff is provided with a PC in the office and every Professor has a separate computer lab for his/her batch of postgraduate students – a student to a PC; all students have access to landline phones and Internet in their rooms; online learning and teaching resources are available to staff and students alike. And, despite language problems, China’s universities libraries are stocked with the latest English language books, journals and magazines; the types that can only be dreamt of in most English speaking nations of Africa like Nigeria. In addition to well-equipped libraries, foreign textbooks are also reprinted (under special agreement with publishers) and sold to the student/public at incredibly cheap prices.

Indeed, on education, Nigeria (and many other African countries) is highly indebted to China. China is, annually, training at least 10 Nigerian scholars, at postgraduate levels, in various education fields in its universities, totally free-of-charge. It is also currently sponsoring the teaching of Chinese language in some Nigerian key universities, again, at the initiative and expense of the Chinese government. Rather than reciprocate these good gestures, Nigeria is shamelessly asking the Chinese to throw-in, for free, their hard-earned commercial-technologies? Haba!

‘By hook or by crook’ strategy

The second strategy employed by the Chinese, apart from conventional education discussed above, is what many would term ‘by hook or by crook’ strategy. Any technology deemed to be important for national development, and for which the West is unwilling to reduce its cost to that seen as affordable to the generality of the Chinese, the government simply watch, unperturbed, as such technology is being massively copied, distributed and sold at giveaway prices, in total violation of whatever patent or intellectual property rights (IPR) the technology enjoys. Anyone can buy pirated software of all kinds and all versions: Windows XP, AutoCAD, MATLAB, Adobe Photoshop, etc, or DVDs, each for less than RMB10 (about US$1.2) in China. China’s leaders have never minced their words whenever the numerous powerful Western delegations visiting Beijing complain of intellectual property rights (IPR) violations in China. Beijing’s response to these delegates has been consistent: “we are too busy trying to feed our people to be concerned with IPR for now” (China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World: by Ted C. Fishman). The delegations are told to advise their respective companies to reduce the cost of their products to discourage piracy.

I am not suggesting that Nigeria adopt the above ‘by hook or by crook’ strategy. The question, however, is: is Nigeria using her internationally acknowledged status of being a ‘poor third world country’ where people live on less then US$1 a day, to the advantage of Nigerians? Does the government simply sign any “restrictive” law (patent/copyrights/IPR, etc) put forward by MNCs without considering the affordability to the ordinary Nigerian and the long term impact to the nation? Price discrimination is allowed even under the WTO, but the government has to show that it cares for its ordinary citizens by “fighting” these MNCs to obtain and enjoy such exceptional benefit.

With proper political leadership and widespread availability and affordability of today’s so-called emerging technologies, Nigerian engineers are capable of leapfrogging into leading positions in the world.