This was as he also described the policies by the Federal Government, especially on education, as anti-intellectual.
Dr Busari, a Development Sociologist at the Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan, stated this while presenting the 27th Faculty Lecture of the Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Ibadan.
He also declared that the development of the country cannot grow beyond the level of its educational development.
Dr Buhari asked President Tinubu not to allow education to degenerate further under his watch, if he cannot improve on what he met on ground.
Dr Busari spoke on the topic, “How Much Is Enough? A Random Walk In The Marketplace Of Social Research”.
He said it was surprising that a government that has not increased funding of public universities will ever thought of getting 40 per cent from whatever the underfunded universities generate before withdrawing the directive.
The university don said if President Tinubu is interested in developing Nigeria, he must invest in and fund public education, noting that the deliberate attack and pauperisation of lecturers by government will not augur well for the country.
Dr Busari said: “Today, there is the habit of anti-intellectualism that permeates the policies of the government and directed at the public universities [which] has assumed a pitiable reality.
“One of the most distinct marks of this descent into philistinism is the deliberate pauperisation of the universities to the detriment of quality education. The infrastructural decays in Nigeria public universities is appalling.
The staff are not motivated. The public and even the students whom the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have often protected from draconian policies are now the major antagonistic party against our union.
“If this government cannot improve on the standard it met on ground and it should at least strive to maintain the status quo.
“We have imagined that this government will tackle the inherent challenges confronting the public universities head-on but the signals we are getting is indicative of a measured attempt to further put the university education in jeopardy.”
He made an analogy to Yoruba as a language that is rich in poetry saying it is a beautiful language that is pregnant with inexhaustible wisdom and lessons.
“For example, in Yorubaland, Òrìsàs are believed to be the intermediaries between Olodumare and man.
“Their importance includes their heroic deeds, tribulations surmounted, and the metaphysical powers they wielded, which distinguished them from ordinary humans.
“Òrìṣà bí o le gbè mí, se mí bi o se ba mí. Literarily translated to mean ‘Deity, if you cannot improve my material condition, please do not worsen my plight’ or, more appropriately, ‘Please, leave me as you met me’,” he said.
Dr Busari called for system thinking arguing that the deficit of systems thinking has caused repeated failure and frustration of Nigerians.
“The primary problem with Nigeria is the deficit in systems thinking. Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the world’s complexity by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it into parts.
“It has been used to explore and develop effective action in complex contexts, enabling systems change.
“Our approach to leadership and issues in Nigeria lacks the capacity to think in systems. What we have is a highly sub-optimised system.
“Until people acquire systems literacy in leadership, their greatest efforts will not achieve sustainable ends.
“The absence of systems thinking leads to strategic fixation, blind optimism, repeated failure and frustration,” he added.
