(The text of an address given at the Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, Orlando, November 5, 1995. At the time of the ASA Conference, David Gordon was the senior Africa specialist on the Democratic staff of the House International Relations Committee. He is currently Director of U.S. Policy Programs at the Overseas Development Council, a nongovernmental research institute in Washington.)

A recent review of South African universities concluded that higher education institutions have “in place considerable facilities and a substantial capacity to respond to the reshaping of post-apartheid education. However, in general the historically white institutions (and a number of black institutions) have little moral and political legitimacy. In contrast, the majority of black institutions (and a few white institutions) have little or no academic credibility. Overall, the ‘system’ is seen as one that perpetuates inequality, is hugely wasteful and is not serving the human resource needs of the country. These problems have led to numerous demands for reforms in order to redress inequalities, and to ensure greater relevance, accountability and democracy.”

I would argue that history students should understand that the whole body of historical writing consists of interpretations of the past. They should be able to analyse a wide variety of texts and form their own opinions on a historical topic, and should be able to construct a coherent argument, using evidence to support their opinion. In doing so, they should be actively aware that their argument is no more “true” than that offered by any other historian. It is as much a product of their personal biography and the social formation in which they live as of the evidence used in its construction. Even this evidence is the product of other personal biographies and other social forces.

Both quotes point to the importance of a center. A center connotes stability, solidity, balance, equilibrium at the core. At the university level this center should be found in the dynamic interdependence of the five constituencies of a university—students, faculty, administration and staff, the support base, and the public. In this article I will discuss how and if the African university center holds and if it can be identified as exemplifying something near excellence, focusing on two universities.

The first universities were established in ancient Africa in places such as Timbuctoo, Goa and Ethiopia. In contemporary Africa, the Islamic Al-Azar University is the oldest academy.

Africa is experiencing an educational crisis of unprecedented proportions in higher education. Having been hailed in the 1960s as agent of modernization, social mobilization, and economic growth, most African universities are now tumbling down under the pressures of diminishing financial resources. From all indications, Africa is lagging behind other developing regions in terms of public expenditures particularly on education, availability of educational facilities, equal access to education, adequate pools of qualified teachers, and sufficient numbers of professionals and skilled workers. Pertinent data show that most African governments in the 1960s and 1970s made comparable progressive accomplishments in higher education. However, these accomplishments steadily disappeared in the 1980s. What went wrong in the 1980s? Why is higher education now such a convenient target for African leaders/governments, when pressured to trim their overextended public sector? To what extent is the lack of multiparty democracies affecting the deteriorating state of higher education in Africa? Is the declining importance attached to education in sub-Saharan Africa a reflection of the lack of education among Africa’s tyrannical rulers, hence the low appreciation of education? What role did the foreign financial institutions play in the African educational system? How can we turn the educational crisis around? These questions not only address African educational issues but also help us to explain the scope of this crisis. In a comparative analysis, this study describes the main African higher educational problems, identifies the root causes of the problems, and finally examines the implications for the twenty-first century.

The 38th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association (ASA) was held November 3-6 in Orlando, Florida. In a panel made possible by a grant from USIA, discussion centered on the “Problems In African University Administration” in which more than ten participants from African universities examined some of the problems and solutions affecting the African higher education. The opinions expressed here reflect my extemporaneous comments made at the ASA meeting.

PAT 101: Principles of Patronage reviews the structure, operations and results of a voluntary patronage system. It illustrates the theory of patronage by using empirical examples drawn from The University as a formal institutional structure, and from the academic and administrative operation of that institution. Patronage and educational functions are compared to show how the these two aspects of The University interact, and to document the results which follow from this interaction.

The relationship between African universities and their governments tends to be strained, whether these governments are political or military. Those in power often have little experience of higher education or understanding of its needs and there is little consensus about its goals. Political and economic insecurity provides little opportunity for “ivory tower theorizing”; low wages and inadequate resources are a poor basis for the research which needs to be done. Governments provide declining support and want a lot for their money. Universities are expected to become partly self-supporting through research contracts and charges to students, and teaching “relevant” subjects is supposed to prepare students for real jobs (which are often a future hope rather than a present reality). As beneficiaries of government cash, staff and students should not criticize or challenge government interests. Much is said about the benefits of science and engineering courses and of the wastefulness of humanities courses, ignoring the fact that governments are usually run by people with arts rather than science degrees.

The remarkable yet untold story of the straggles to democratize African political systems is that they owe much of their recent success to the pivotal role played by university student groups and faculty associations as animateurs of protest demonstrations, debates about issues deemed taboo by the state, and as organizers of militant campus movements. At a time when most associational groups were banned or rendered politically impotent by being incorporated into existing state structures in order for them to serve state interests, secondary and university student groups and faculties remained virtually the only sources of pressure and protest against authoritarian regimes on the continent. Thus, from Dakar to Nairobi, from Addis Ababa to Harare, student movements and demonstrations, fought pitched battles with state security personnel and stimulated civilian opposition movements.

The persistent, if not chronic crisis in the Nigerian education sector in general, and in the tertiary institutions in particular, has created the impression that unions are largely responsible for creating, rather than managing or regulating conflicts. Unions and their leaders are perceived as the incorrigible trouble makers, hell-bent on causing mischief and in giving perpetual headaches to the administrators of their respective institutions as well as the government, the funder of these institutions. This negative perception has been nurtured and sustained by the Nigerian State, especially under military rule, and then reinforced by intolerant and insecure administrators who see enmity and confrontation in any voice of dissent or critical appraisal. The most cogent and somewhat recent articulation of this perspective, for example, has been advanced by Mr. Ben Nwabueze, then Secretary for Education who, while addressing a gathering of Vice Chancellors and Pro-Chancellors of Nigerian universities, averred that unionism has done nothing but cause senseless distress in, and destruction of, our tertiary institutions.

On October 1, 1960, the British colonialists departed Nigeria, leaving behind one lonely university campus at Ibadan which was established in 1948 as an affiliate of the University of London and a prototype of British educational philosophy for the colonies. Thirty-five years into the post-colonial era, Nigerians established 40 new universities, 69 polytechnics, colleges of technology and of education. Twenty of the universities and 17 polytechnics are owned by the federal government while the state governments control the others. Nigerian universities are largely directed by Nigerian faculty and staff. The student enrollment in the universities is on the increase, reaching an estimated 400,000 Nigerian students and a handful of African and non-African students.