Dialogue on the Future of Africa!

University Unwanted?

A Discourse facilitated by the Center for Alternative Development Strategies (CADS) Sierra Leone

Capitalizing on the positive stance of the national Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) to recognize and accept the imperative urgency raising the level and quality of educational standards of the people of Sierra Leone so as to create a sound foundation for the resuscitation of the socio-economic life of its citizens; its recognition of the problems and weaknesses pervading the structures, finance and quality of education in Sierra Leone that have resulted in a series of strike action by students, administration
and academic staff, and a marked decline in the quality of university education and; its resolve to institute an investigative inquiry (the Professor Kwami Investigating Committee) into the university system, the Center for Alternative Development Strategies (CADS) Sierra Leone, through its journalistic program (the Sierra Leone Digest) now endeavors to encourage erudite scholars to come up with concrete recommendations to help restore the integrity of a once respectable institution of higher learning on the West Coast of Africa. In this article, Elvis Gbanabom Hallowell presents a critical diagnosis of the University of Sierra Leone.

There is no greater a truism that the University of Sierra Leone which has cost the nation millions of leones to run all through these years and which in turn has chested its society for the greater part two decades collapsed following the all round regression the nation is experiencing.

Who did not know the university was not only corrupt, but it aided the central government to pervert the state. Even in parochial terms the truly poor illiterate Sierra Leonean has always complained that the nation has suffered under "Phd. Men" more than any other people. Whether this statement is true or false, shallow or broad, is not of serious concern to the author. However, the statement as it is hel;ps us to determine two things: (a) how expansive the University has been; (b) where do we place the University in Society.

The University of Sierra Leone, like other western universities in Africa did not grow as an offshoot of the culture and tradition of the nation. It is the most prominent vestige of colonialism. This is not to say that there were no similar institutions in Africa before the advent of the European. Today however, when we talk about university, we mean western university. All over Africa, governments and educationists are trying to reform their universities to suit their cultural requirements.

Perhaps, the complaint in this country is that the university of Sierra Leone has never tried to identify with the problems, requirements and the depressing situation of the nation. Much as this may sound true, the
university of Sierra Leone is not unique in that.

It has been argued for instance that the judiciary of Sierra Leone is still fully enriched by old English laws which even the English people themselves have forgotten about.

On the surface what appears to convince everyone that the university of Sierra Leone is in a poor state are dilapidated building, the absence of effective electricity and poor water supplies. In this also the university is not unique. Visit all the Teacher training Colleges, the stories are the same; go to Government Departments, the stories are the same. The malarial sickness of Sierra Leone is the lack of maintenance culture. Over the years the University has organized flowery convocations underlined the
dilapidation most of which was uncovered recently in the Professor Kwami Investigating Commission of Inquiry.

Although the University of Sierra Leone has existed for over a century yet it has always been an alien institution to the majority of Sierra Leoneans. No less a person than the former Vice chancellor, Professor Kosonike Koso-Thomas admitted in 1998 as follows: "And Mr. Chancellor, being at this congregation without the many of our countrymen who hardly know of our university and what it does, and who even have no means of listening to the broadcast of these proceedings, I should feel inconsequential. For I know that this ceremony touches not even the fringe of their existence and represent nothing compatible with the quality and style.

The question is, how expansive has the university been over the years? In the true sense of the word, a university is supposed be, as Professor Koso-Thomas rightly said: a defiant breed, who are accustomed to pursuing our investigations in any direction in which our intellect leads, and make public our findings, irrespective of political and other interests". Did the university at any time in history achieve this simple ambitious stride which was a missile thrown at the very face of the chancellor who was also President of the Republic of Sierra Leone? It should be noted that although the majority of Sierra Leoneans have always cried in favor of democracy, yet since colonialism we cannot at any time boast of having practiced democracy in this country. Perhaps, the most important reason for this has been the absence of formidable opposition parties.

Should we then inquire about the pursuances of such studies and investigation done by the university which purported to stand firm in this direction? This is not to metamorphose the university into a political body, but it is rather to examine its usefulness in the lives of the people of this country.

It is very quick to know why Professor Koso-Thomas' challenge did not hold water. By and large, the university depends for its continuance on funds debated and agreed upon by Government, like the defunct All Peoples Congress (APC) which was never hunted by opposition, only needed to remind the university that since their palm kernels were cracked by benevolent spirits, they were not to forget to be humble. Therefore, Olayinka's collection of her husband's brilliant speeches mostly about the university aggressively titled 'NOT WORDS ALONE' are mere words alone.

The University of Sierra Leone was not too smart to understand how little its importance was to the community, although in a frantic effort to save its image the authorities as early as the eighties embarked on a meet-the-people-tour during which time they thought they would be able to justify the inevitable existence of such an institution in the community.

Should we then inquire about the pursuance of such studies and investigation done by the University which purported to stand firm in this direction? This is not though in a frantic effort to save its image the authorities as early as the eighties embarked on a meet-the-people-tour during which time they thought they would be able to justify the inevitable existence of such an institution in the community. But the University merely ended in meeting its junior colleagues in the field-all teacher training colleges in the country. At each occasion the university officials made elaborate and grandiose speeches noting the University's role and duties in a society like Sierra Leone. But the outcome of that tour has never bore ripe fruits. It did not better to collate or co-opt the training colleges to its working alone become of any importance to the ordinary Sierra Leonean. One had expected that after such a big tour, the University authorities would try to understand the working of the teacher training colleges and a way worked out by which for example we would not have "drop outs". Over the years, it had been both a financial and manpower loss for the nation that the University, after perhaps having trained some of its students as far as to qualifying year, would drastically rusticate at any of their inability to complete the course as far as academia is concerned, only to have that number labeled as "drop-outs" thus having to start the whole process all over again. One would have thought that to alleviate the problems of the society, such students be reduced from their original height before they qualify. That could have been our challenge - our Sierra Leone challenge to improve the Sierra Leonean society.

If the University has made any attempt to grow, it has merely been in erecting two or more departments where there was one, and have duplicated offices and positions from the secretariat to the constituent colleges. Is this growth? One would have expected that over the years those courses offered at teacher training levels which are not done at degree level could have been upgraded. Course like Arts and crafts, may not sound elitist but are surely nearer to community needs where professionals like gara dyeing, pot making and sewing are the popular ones. Perhaps others might say that Fourah Bay College for instance has carved out a course called African Studies that is expected to concentarte on those aspects. But it would seem that the African Studies department has been doing more teaching of History more than any discipline even though there is also the History department.

So far, given the historical and sociological studies of Sierra Leone, the university has always remain alien. Being British stereotype, it has provided a good percentage of the colonial administration as authorities have been very slow to adopt radical changes over the years. The university administration which is richly made up of the Durham breed are ever on their guard to maintain the status quo.

Maintaining the status quo in the case of the university has made that institution elitist and "touches not even the fringe of existence of Sierra Leoneans". The fabric of the University has therefore been undermined by two sets of people : The Government of Sierra Leone which is the benefactor of the university; and those whose lives the University has played no part in.

The question therefore is where do we place the University? There has never seemed to be any physcial relationship or confrontation between the University and the Sierra Leonean society. It is like each has always been independent of the other. But in reality the University is more aware of the community than the community is aware of the university. Never does it so easily dawn on the illiterate Sierra Leonean that a university exists to help him grow.

On the other hand, rather than the University seeing itself as a partner in progress, it has always assumed a superior status. It considers itself the light of the nation. On the contrary many University partisans have condemned the University breed with cynical remarks like "nar sense make buk, nor to book make sense".

Perhaps, if the University has ever agreed wit this statement, it could have tried to study the community and see how it could help to better the status of the people who otherwise thinks that it makes no difference if there is no University in Sierra Leone. But what the University could have done has been what foreign Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have tried to do over the years . They made education a grass root. When Sierra Leone gained independence in 1961, the university refused to gain independence. Although one would not castigate the university for that but it helps to explain at
what distance each was running. So that when the nation is busy in developing the true Sierra Leonean value, the University remain foreign in structure. It is not surprising therefore that the University of Sierra
Leone is still not able to catch up with the society for which it was established.

Balancing the Budget or Unbalancing Human Lives: Structural Adjustment in Africa - An Analysis
An article on IMF and World Bank structural adjustment programs in Africa. It gives a theoretical and historical background to stuctural adjustment in Africa -- Joe A.D. Alie, Phd. Department of History, Fourah Bay College (USL) was commissioned by CADS Sierra Leone to write this article for the Sierra Leone Digest: Published, August 1994.

An Interview With Dr. James Jonah -- Chairman, Interim National Electoral Commission (INEC)
As the date scheduled by the NPRC regime to return Sierra Leone to democratic civilian rule drew closer, increased attention was being focused on INEC, the body on which so much depended to transform that objective to reality. Read what the head of INEC then, Dr. James Jonah, told the Sierra Leone Digest -- August 1994.

The Land Tenure System in the Provinces
... An Anachronism
Among the many factors ear-marked as being responsible for Sierra Leone's inability to achieve sustainable agricultural development and food production, is the land tenure system in the provinces where incidentally ninety eight per cent of the land suitable for agriculture can be found. Mr. Koroma has therefore taken up this issue of land tenure in the provinces, helping to help us understand its implications and what needs to be done to improve the situation. -- By Amadu Koroma: [Mr. Koroma is CADS General Coordinator/Legal and Administrative Affairs. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fourah Bay College (1986) and a LLB. from the Sierra Leone Law School (1994). He had also recently completed a 4-month course on Human Rights and related Issues at Columbia University in the United States (April 2001). He also runs his private law practice in Freetown - Sierra Leone.]

A Luta Continua! A Victoria E Certa!

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