The fake comparative history of Ghana and Nigeria by Nwagbara – Part 8

Professor Augustine (Austin) Uzoma Nwagbara, Nigerian Visiting Professor of English and Linguistics at the University of Education Winneba (UEW), continues to prove himself worldwide for the why his sabbatical had been abruptly terminated, that is, after a video clip appeared on social media on which Professor Nwagbara had been captured volubly and unintentionally disparaged the quality Ghana's higher education academies. In what appears to be a front-page article from a newspaper called "Whatsup News," dated Friday, June 21, 2019 and titled "The Ghana" Chop Last "in the World Education Ranking – Despite the "Free education", a Human Capital Index (HCI) from some 150 countries around the world, led or sponsored by the Washington-based Bretton Woods Institution, so-called, the two known twin financial institutions under the name of World Bank or IBRD – The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development – and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – ranks the quality of Ghanaian public schools, strictly speaking, the country's school system from kindergarten to the 12th year, to 149 countries out of 150. We have also learned that Niger, neighboring West Africa, which is also described as the poorest in the world, is among the countries on the list of countries studied whose quality of basic education is slightly lower than that of Ghana.

You see, Niger is a French-speaking country, so I wondered if Ghana's decision, at the beginning of this year, to become a full member of the Francophone Alliance, presided over at the socio-economic and political level by the "father the immediate neighbor of the north, that is, France, deserved to be written so to speak. I also tried to understand Google's cyber search engine, but I was blank about Nigeria in the face of the latest World Bank HCI rankings for Nigeria. However, I was able to get the ranking of the latter country for the year 2018, 152 out of 157 countries. Essentially, Ghana and Nigeria are practically in the same boat or boat socio-economic, cultural and intellectual, if the dear reader likes them. This clearly contradicts Professor Nwagbara's proud claim that, with regard to the quality of Ghana's higher schools, those in Ghana are at least 80 per cent lower than those in Nigeria. Currently, Nigeria's position (152 out of 157 countries in the 2018 world rankings) is statistically slightly lower than Ghana's in 2019 out of 149 countries out of 150. Unfortunately, I have not yet conducted a study. a summary of the quality of Nigeria's universities and colleges compared to that of Ghana. In the meantime, what has become clear to me is that on average, a Ghanaian citizen is more likely to acquire more education, in terms of the number of years spent in clbad, than his Nigerian counterpart.

On average, a Ghanaian will probably have roughly the equivalent of just under 12 years of schooling or a high school diploma, while his Nigerian counterpart should only acquire one. A little over 8 years of basic education. According to the presumed opinion of Professor Nwagbara, it is what this author considers to be the same thing, this statistical discrepancy may not be of much importance, because, after all, the quality of Ghanaian education represents only 20% of that of Nigerian public education. The figures, in terms of literacy, clearly contradict the badessment of the former vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Nigeria. For example, Ghana's literacy rate of 77 per cent is nearly 20 per cent higher than that of Nigeria, which is estimated at 60 per cent. These are the figures given for the year 2015, so it makes sense for the student or the specialist in these numbers, that is, the statistically expected figure, to expect minimal to substantial changes. We must also stress quickly that the editor was unclear whether Nigeria had participated in the latest or most recent survey of the World Bank sponsored human capital index. A qualified statistician should be able to inform the rest of us of the same thing.

What is also clear, at least in appearance, is the fact that even baduming that Professor Nwagbara has a salient element of truth on his side, nevertheless, the fact would remain, even as one of my Des Graduate professors of Ghanaian origin, himself of North-Nigerian origin, have once said with amused contempt that Nigerians do not seem to appropriate the academic opportunities that they have. they could have with their rivals and / or their Ghanaian counterparts. significantly significant means. In fact, this observation may very well reflect the fact that, as a measure of the life expectancy rate, it can be shockingly considered that Nigerians remain stuck in the Paleolithic or Old Stone, the oil boom without previous in this country in the last 40 years. At present, it is estimated that the average life expectancy of the average Nigerian is around 54 years old, men and women; while for the average Ghanaian, he is about 64 years old.

In other words, a Ghanaian citizen is on average much more likely to live at least ten years, or ten years longer, than the average Nigerian, although in terms of per capita income, Nigerian average could be around USD 1,670 (USD). more than his Ghanaian counterpart. We are told that Ghanaians are fast approaching Nigerians. This may be due to the huge oil discoveries recently discovered by Ghana. Nigeria's gross national income (GNI) is currently $ 5,680 (USD) for 2017; it may indeed be a bit higher. In addition, Ghana's GNI is estimated at $ 4,010 in the latest published figures. In the end, what we see here, in terms of the quality of life index, as reflected by the average level of education and the life expectancy rate of Nigerians and Ghanaians, is the apparent fact that the official or political corruption may very well occur. the scourge of socio-economic, cultural and intellectual development in Nigeria. This, of course, does not mean that Ghanaians are relatively more free from the scourge of official corruption. Indeed, no such blood test could be more absurd. Nevertheless, we can all understand why many more Nigerian nationals seem to prefer to settle in Ghana than the other way around. Similarly, despite its inexcusably abusive denigration of the quality of higher education in Ghana, it is also important to emphasize that Professor Nwagbara had always wanted to extend his stay in Ghana by requesting an extension of his sabbatical leave from one year to the next. year. leave before his dismissal by the administrator of the University of Education based in Winneba.

* Visit my blog at the address: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., PhD
Department of English, SUNY-Nbadau
Garden City, New York
June 29, 2019
E-mail: [email protected]