Making a case for STEM Education in Nigeria

By Grace Chimezie
"For an African child to actually dream of building rockets, he/she needs to leave Africa... some places put a cap on the kind of dreams you can dream except you escape for good." Oluyomi Ojo
A few hours ago, I witnessed NASA's launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket as it lifted off at 3:22 p.m. from pad 39A, the historic site from which the crew of Apollo 11 left for the moon. Another historic moment for the American people, as it is the first launch of a crew from the U.S. soil since the space shuttle program ended nearly nine years ago.
The historic mission is the first orbital flight of a new piloted spacecraft in 39 years. I watched with an overjoyed curiosity from my mobile device (a moment that would not have been possible without advances in technology), witnessing such a critical moment in human history as scientist continue to explore ways to maximize space. However, there is a slight pang I feel as I think of Nigeria, triggered by the gradual descent in leadership, poor coordination and lack of government funding for research and development in Science, Technology, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Currently, the private sector funds the bulk of the functioning systems in the country, which extends to STEM-related projects. For example, when it comes to funding STEM research, only three universities in the country can boast of standard resources and structures, Covenant, Babcock and the University of Ibadan. Also, privately owned hubs and companies, like CCHub , TechCabal , Paystack , Cregital , among others, are the latest spaces for thriving technological advancement in the country.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), tasked with providing leadership and vision in the area of research and development for the future of STEM, is often webbed in corruption allegations, sexual scandals, and strikes. University structures for research are dilapidated, abandoned, and unkempt with little government intervention. In the Nigerian 2019 budgetary allocation, science and technology with research and development with 17 agencies got a little over N66 billion out of an N9 trillion budget, a 0.75 per cent allocation- a breakdown showed a chunk of the budget was for salaries and not R&D (NASS budget). Meanwhile, in the same year, the U.S. government approved $118.1 billion for R&D funding, with a 2% increase than the previous year (White House, 2019). Although the private sector contributes majorly to the U.S. R&D, the Federal government plays a role, investing in areas of critical importance to national and economic security, such as seen with the Space project.
I was born and raised in Nigeria, and from a very young age, I was already unsettled about spending the rest of my life there. The country limits how far you can dream, and when you do like Joseph, you are laughed at or scorned. The political climate is toxic, institutions abysmal and the...