BACKGROUND:

Motive: I intend to provide in-depth analyses of Sheriff Almuhajir’s (Dr. Sheriff Muhammad Ibrahim) posts against Dr. Isa Ali Pantami’s claim that he earned more as a professor in Saudi Arabia than as a Federal Minister of Communications and Digital Economy. My main motive behind writing this piece is to enlighten my readers about the fallacies presented by Sheriff Almuhajir in his recent posts where he unknowingly displayed his sheer ignorance on the Saudi Arabian academic ranking system and her salary structure for expatriate faculty and yet, was bold enough to use his half-baked knowledge on the above 2 points to discredit and malign the person of Dr. Isa Ali Pantami.

About Sheriff Almuhajir: His full name is Dr. Sheriff Muhammad Ibrahim, a senior lecturer at Yobe State University. He obtained his PhD from the University Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) in Economics & Islamic Finance. I obtained this piece of information from his Facebook page.

 About My Humble Self: My name is Salihu Lukman, an assistant professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Hafr Al Batin (formerly known as Affiliated Colleges at Hafr Al Batin, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals). I have so far spent almost 10 years in Saudi Arabia from 2010 to date, about 3 years as a lecturer and a PhD student at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) and about 6 years as an assistant professor – I have spent about 5 years from these 6 years as a Head of Department (HOD) of Mechanical, Civil and Chemical Engineering.

DISCLAIMER:

Acquaintance with Dr. Isa Ali Pantami: I have no acquaintance whatsoever with Dr. Isa Ali Pantami. However, as someone interested in Nigeria’s development, I have been following his trails as the former Director-General of NITDA and now as the Honorable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy. Based on facts available to be public, he is someone who has a knack for turning things around in the most positive ways by making significant contributions. Based on his performance as a public office holder, I view him as one of the most significant achievements of  Buhari’s Government in addition to the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col Hamid Ali (Rtd.), JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede and NPA Managing-Director, Haj. Hadiza Bala Usman.

 

 

 

 

 

I also don’t have any political affiliations, whatsoever. (APC, PDP, Kwankwasiyya, etc.) I did not set out to please or displease PDP, Kwankwasiyya, APC, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami or Sheriff Almuhajir, I only set out to clear some misrepresented and twisted facts presented by Sheriff Almuhajir in his bid to indirectly or directly settle a score with Dr. Isa Ali Pantami. This singular act has exposed the sheer ignorance of Sheriff Almuhajir on the topics he thought to have known so well. Unlike Sheriff Almuhajir who is an APC member – yet, chose to malign his fellow APC-appointed Federal Minister just because of their religious ideological differences by hiding under the guise of disproving the Minister’s declaration about his greater earnings as a professor in Saudi Arabia than as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (read Sheriff Almuhajir’s recent Facebook posts as a proof) – I don’t belong to any political party. However, based on the performances of some of the political office holders, I am at liberty to choose or prefer anyone from any political party, region, or religion based on a good leadership style and ability to deliver good governance for all. For instance, I secretly pray and hope that one day Mal. Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna State Governor) from APC, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (Nigerian Vice President) from APC or Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (former Kano State Governor) from PDP becomes our president.

DILEMMA OF THE NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

Before I delve into comparing UK & USA systems, I will like to say a few words on the Nigerian university educational system. While in theory, we claim to have abandoned the UK university educational system (Almighty June) since around the early 80s, for the American university educational system (semester system, cumulative grade point average), we are still neither here nor there. We still use the UK academic ranks (lecturer, senior lecturer, reader, professor) as against the American academic ranks (lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor, professor).

Coursework for PhD students – an important characteristic in the American system – has just been recently introduced for all courses in Nigerian universities. This is one core attribute of the American system that makes it far more rigorous and time-consuming than the UK system. Even though some universities are still grappling with how to properly conduct these courses because more often than not, the lecturers who are supposed to teach the courses at this level did not take any course during their PhD studies. Hence, they often resort to asking the students to make term paper presentations only,

Our academic master’s degree coursework and research are purely based on the American system whereby a graduate (postgraduate) student completes at least 2 semesters, the equivalent of 1 year for coursework alone, and writes his thesis in the 2^nd year. In the British system, just 1 year is required to complete a master degree – while they have coursework in form of modules, the 1-year rigorous thesis in the American system is replaced with a mere project that sometimes Nigerians who are studying in the UK come back home after completing their coursework to write and send their master’s project, even in engineering disciplines. You may be shocked to know that some UK master’s degrees were frowned at and almost got rejected in a Nigerian university for the simple fact that such British 1-year master’s degrees are equivalent to our professional master’s degrees in terms of duration, scope and rigors. You cannot proceed to pursue a PhD with a professional master’s degree without doing an MPhil, in Nigeria.

The 5-year compulsory duration of our undergraduate engineering and science (in some universities) programs are adopted from neither the American nor the British educational systems. On average, it takes 3-4 years and 4 years to obtain a bachelor’s degree, under the British and American systems, respectively. Even in the GCC Arab Nations, where students study the English Language during their preparatory (remedial) year program, they spend 4 years for all their engineering and science disciplines and they all follow the American university educational system almost in toto. Our undergraduate engineering educational system needs a complete overhaul to be in line with global best practices in engineering education. Nigerian university’s everyday vocabulary is still British.

Overall, a graduate from a Nigerian university (except the American University of Nigeria) may be deceived into believing that he is familiar with the American educational system while all he knows about it is the use of the cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and a faint idea about the American semester system. With the aforementioned mix up in our university educational system, one can only imagine the confused state of some Nigerian academics when it comes to defining what system of university education do they actually follow, only the National Universities Commission (NUC) can streamline these inconsistencies if it so wishes. A similar thing is also obtainable in our political system where we still have permanent secretaries (deputy ministers) for all ministries from the UK system and yet appoint state ministers (another deputy minister) for some ministries.

PROFESSOR VS LECTURER: AMERICAN AND BRITISH SYSTEMS

First, Nigerians should know that the generic term for describing any university teacher – with or without a PhD – is “professor”. In Saudi Arabia, only those on the professorial cadre (assistant, associate or full professor) are considered and referred to as professors. For this professorial cadre or professoriate, the official occupation on the resident identity cards of either assistant, associate or full professor is “university professor”. For instance, you can say, ‘Salihu Lukman, a professor of civil engineering, teaches at the University of Hafr Al Batin’ without necessarily adding ‘assistant’ before ‘professor’. The equivalent of a professor in the British system is “lecturer”. The following renowned personalities were all referred to as former professors in USA, yet, none of them possess a PhD: Former American presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, Amina Mohammed (United Nations Depute Secretary-General). With just a bachelor’s degree, academics can also attain the professorial rank in the old British system. Do you know that professors Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Yemi Osinbajo (he has an MSc) and JP Clark do not have a PhD?

Second, let us examine the professorial cadres in the two systems. In spite of the generic use of the term professor in the American system, certain American university ranks are exclusively considered to technically belong to the professorial cadre. These ranks are assistant professor, associate professor and full professor. These ranks enjoy similar benefits and privileges contractually in Saudi Arabia and the other GCC nations. In addition to the generic use of the term professor to describe any university teacher in the American system, any rank in the professorial cadre (assistant, associate or full professor) can be addressed as a “professor” without necessarily using the precise rank. For instance, you can say, ‘how are you Prof. Lukman?’ Unlike what obtains in the Nigerian universities whereby it is a ‘crime’ to address a professor as Dr., it is perfectly normal to address a full professor here in Saudi Arabia or in America as Dr. without any offense. In other words, all those on the professorial cadre can also be addressed as just Drs.

A simple analogy to this one is the use of the rank ‘General’ in the military, note that Nigeria uses the American military ranks. The ‘general’ cadre consists of 4 ranks, viz, Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, and General and anyone on any of these ranks can be formally or informally addressed as ‘General’ without any problem. For instance, the following generals Olonisakin (Chief of Defence Staff), Buratai (Chief of Army Staff), Buhari (Nigerian president, GMB) and Marwa (former Military Governor of Lagos State) whom we are all conversant with and are known to be been addressed as generals belong to following specific ranks respectively: General, Lieutenant General, Major General (Rtd), and Brigadier General (Rtd).

In the British system, the professorial cadre includes just 2 ranks, viz, ‘reader’ and ‘professor’. That is why in Nigeria, whoever reaches the professorial cadre before turning 65 years, then his retirement age is 70, otherwise, it is 65. Nowadays, ‘Readers’ in the British system prefer to be addressed as associate professors. In fact, I conveniently address my Nigerian friends who are associate professors as just professors., because, they have joined the professorial cadre irrespective of whether they are addressed and ‘readers’ or associate professors. However, the same cannot be said for senior lecturer rank which is equivalent to the American ‘assistant professor’ but not exact. In the British system one can rise to the ‘senior lecturer’ rank without a PhD, but probably only holders of the JD (Juris Doctor) – which is a 3-year professional doctorate and is a prerequisite for practicing law in America – can be appointed assistant professors without a PhD. In one of my Facebook posts (also available on my blog at salihulukman.com) last year titled, ‘My Unbiased Critical Analysis of Professor Ango Abdullahi International School, 2016 to date’, I called out some of my colleagues back in Nigeria for using ‘assistant professor’ instead of their actual British rank ‘senior lecturer’ as follows:

‘There is a new trend now in town whereby Nigerian Senior Lecturer academics are running away from their true British and official ranks of senior lecturers, instead, they prefer to use the American equivalent of senior lecturer which is assistant professor as their official rank thereby making them appear scammish or fraudulent since they are not lecturing in an institution that follows the American academic ranking system like the American University of Nigeria.’

I frown at such rank interchange because a ‘senior lecturer’ in the British system has not yet joined the professoriate whereas an ‘assistant professor’ in the American system is already part of the professorial cadre. Although Nigerians are beginning to hear ‘assistant professor’ now more than before, their brains always switch ‘assistant’ with ‘associate’ such that I am tired of correcting them that I am an ‘assistant professor’ not yet an ‘associate professor’. This ‘neurological’ confusion may be removed if NUC will impose that all Nigerian universities should use the American academic ranking system. After all, we claim to follow the American educational system in theory.

Please note that even with a PhD, one can be recruited as a lecturer in the American system which is a rank just below that of an ‘assistant professor’. This happens in America as well as in Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, this happens if there is no opening for ‘assistant professor’ but there is for a ‘lecturer’ or if one’s university where he obtained his PhD is unranked or low-ranked. In Saudi Arabia, the minimum promotion interval from one rank to the next on the professoriate is 4 years as against the 3-year interval in the British system. In America, an ‘assistant professor’ is given up to 6-7 years to become an ‘associate professor’ and thereby obtain a tenure-track appointment which ensures life-employment as an academic. Saudi Arabia has no tenure employment for expatriates. All expatriates are on a contract which is renewable every 2 years and now, annually. For a more detailed analysis of the American and British university educational system comparisons, don’t miss the 3-part series written by Prof. Farooq Kperogi titled, ‘Comparing the Vernaculars of American and British Universities’. I have extracted many pieces of information from his articles and combined them with my practical teaching experience at the university level in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia to come up with the above explanations on the American and British university educational systems.

Sheriff Almuhajir made the following claims in his first Facebook post on the matter in the Hausa language (translated into English by me) after he stated that it was not appropriate for an individual to be investigating a political office holder’s source of wealth if one was not officially assigned to do that by the relevant authorities.

(1) Top-notch (ministers, political office holders, politicians, etc.) of the society should always speak truth to the poor and not take them for fools.

(2) Firstly, ‘senior lecturer’ rank does not exist in the Saudi Arabian system, one becomes an ‘assistant professor’ upon completion of a PhD, then, one is promoted to ‘associate professor’ after 3 years and finally to ‘professor’.

(3) If our Minister (referring to Dr. Isa Ali Pantami) has assumed the rank of a ‘professor’ when he knew pretty well that he did not attain the rank of a ‘professor’ in that university (referring to the Islamic University of Madinah), then, he had betrayed knowledge.

(4) Secondly, there is doubt about the Minister’s assertion that he enjoys a better life in Saudi Arabia, he came back to Nigeria to offer his selfless service in addition to his desire to help Nigerians. I am sure it will be difficult for anyone who knows the everyday life of a Nigerian Minister and a Saudi Arabian academic to accept this statement.

I will limit my responses to just (2) and (3) because they are very specific statements that facts can either prove or disprove and skipped (1) and (4) because they are vague allegations and statements. For the records, I choose to reproduce below, a portion of the statement issued by Dr. Isa Ali Pantami’s spokesperson Uwa Suleiman in this regard.

“It is worthy of note that as a serving Minister, Dr. Pantami’s salaries and allowances fall below his earnings as a Professor at the International University Madinah Saudi Arabia, where he still holds the record of being the first Nigerian to lecture at that level. He only returned to Nigeria out of the zeal to contribute his quota to national development.”

“Dr Pantami is one of the few Nigerians who are driven by nothing, but an unequalled sense of patriotism and selfless service as demonstrated in his act of sacrifice, to answer the call to serve his country as a sign of his patriotism and selfless service.”

On Sheriff Almuhajir’s 2^nd statement, I have already highlighted above that it is not always the case that one becomes an ‘assistant professor’ by virtue of just completing a PhD in Saudi Arabia. This is an over-simplification that is highly misleading. I know many people with a PhD in my alma mater KFUPM and my current university (University of Hafr Al Batin) who work as lecturers. In addition, saying that one gets promoted from ‘assistant professor’ to ‘associate professor’ after 3 years is false. I have already mentioned that the minimum promotion interval here in Saudi Arabia is 4 years, not 3 years as claimed by Sheriff Almuhajir. Obviously, he thought that the Saudi Arabian promotion interval is the same as Nigeria’s.

On Sheriff Almuhajir’s 3rd statement, I have extensively discussed how the American system adopted by the Saudi Arabian educational system allows anyone on the professoriate (assistant professor, associate professor, professor) to address himself or be addressed by someone else as a ‘professor’. On our official Iqama (resident identity card), all these 3 ranks are simply referred to as ‘university professor’ without distinction. Hence, Uwa Suleiman (Dr. Isa Ali Pantami’s spokesperson) did not in any way err or falsely ascribe to him a position that he did not have. On Sheriff Almuhajir’s statements (2^nd and 3^rd), it is very clear that he has no clue whatsoever on the Saudi Arabian university educational system, yet, he presented himself as though he were an expert on Saudi Arabian system.

SALARY STRUCTURE OF EXPATRIATE ACADEMICS IN SAUDI ARABIA

All expatriates are recruited on contract as per some general guidelines and terms of reference. Hence, the contract terms, especially the annual salary is subject to negotiation and acceptance by the 2 parties involved in the contract – employer and potential employee. This salary negotiation is more applicable to those on the professorial cadre. While allowances are usually fixed for all, the actual salary is something that one can negotiate. They established a minimum salary based on some considerations that I will not breakdown the details, but there exist some significant variations from one university to another and from one program to another. Factors that affect salary negotiation include how badly the institution needs the individual, one’s nationality, how good one is (ranking of universities attended, possession of excellent research articles and experience), etc. You can find two academics on the same rank, probably from the same university whose salary may differ by 50 – 500 % – this is a very wide range indeed, but not impossible to come across.

Sheriff Almuhajir followed the 1^st Facebook post summarized above with a 2^nd one in which he narrated how he visited Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah at the beginning of 2019. He narrated how he was honored and provided with an office and was given an opportunity to come and teach in the university for 1 year, on contract as ‘assistant professor’ which he declined due to some reasons. He further claimed that the salary structure of all contract staff (implying expatriate academics) is well known to anybody working in Saudi Arabia and there is no way that one’s salary can become higher except if he is recruited for a different job entirely.

In other words, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami’s salary as ‘assistant professor’ is something that is fixed and known to all expatriate academics and cannot be higher at all for the rank. Well, this is another misrepresentation of fact by Sheriff Almuhajir which was meant to indicate that Dr. Isa Ali Pantami’s salary as ‘assistant professor’ was just being exaggerated on, it was in no way close to that of a Minister. Imagine how people can be so mischievous at attempting to tarnish one’s image using falsehood. Just because you have been offered a 1-year contract as ‘assistant professor’ which you did not accept or serve, does that make you an expert on Saudi Arabian expatriate faculty contracts? How could a PhD descend so low as to advertise his sheer ignorance and forcefully try to twist facts for all that have the slightest inkling on the Saudi Arabian educational system to see? His 3^rd Facebook post answered my question – Sheriff Almuhajir is out to tarnish Dr. Isa Ali Pantami’s image just because they have ideological religious differences, no more, no less. It actually begs the question, why can’t Sheriff Almuhajir face Dr. Isa Ali Pantami head-on, in areas where they differ religiously rather than resorting to unjustly maligning him without any basis, except lies and ignorance? If you have issues with his Islamic scholarship and teachings, I challenge you to hit the nail on the head. Reveal yourself as the wolf that you are and stop hiding in sheep’s clothing! Almighty Allah has asked us not to allow our hatred or enmity of other people to stand in our way to being just to them.

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُونُوا۟ قَوَّٰمِينَ لِلَّهِ شُهَدَآءَ بِٱلْقِسْطِ ۖ وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَـَٔانُ قَوْمٍ عَلَىٰٓ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا۟ ۚ ٱعْدِلُوا۟ هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ خَبِيرٌۢ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ
Qur’an, Al-Ma’idah (5:8): O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah and be just witnesses and let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice. Be just: that is nearer to piety, and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Well-Acquainted with what you do.

Translation: Muhammad Taqi-Ud-Din Al-Hilali And Muhammad Muhsin Khan.

I challenge Dr. Sheriff Almuhajir to ask all those Nigerians who were previously working abroad but had to come back to Nigeria to serve as Ministers, Heads of agencies or Directors if they did not earn more abroad than in Nigeria, except of course if they were ‘beggars’ abroad. I am a living witness to this fact, but that is a story for another day.  Find out from Jelani Aliyu, Director-General, National Automotive Design and Development Council (former top GM motors designer), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, former Minister of State, Petroleum Resources (former ExxonMobil Executive Vice Chairman) and Prof. Usman Yusuf, former Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme.