Nigerian education news

A Professor of English at the University of New Orleans, United States, Niyi Osundare, has raised the alarm over what he called the dearth of mentors in Nigerian universities.

Osundare spoke at a luncheon organised in Oyo State by the Chairman of Kakanfo Inn and Conference Centre, Ibadan, Dr. Lekan Are, and his wife, Olabisi, to celebrate the professor’s conferment with the Nigerian National Order of Merit award.

According to Osundare, a renowned poet, the scarcity of mentors has contributed to the collapse of the nation’s educational system and inability to produce quality graduates.

He said, “I consider myself lucky because we had mentors to look up to in my university days. Today, mentors are disappearing from our universities. This is why our education is where it is today. When I graduated from the University of Ibadan, various jobs were waiting for us but some of us decided to be teachers.

“This is because the standard was okay. We liked what we saw in great mentors like Professors Wole Soyinka, Ayo Banjo, Dapo Adelugba, and Oyin Oguba, among others. We wanted to be like them but such urge is lacking today because mentors are disappearing.”