Copy and paste intellectualism

In a well-formed society, those who belong to the highly cerebral segment of society are there to act as thinkers who throw up original ideas and strategies to tackle various challenges that confront the society. They are recognized as intellectuals and consulted regularly by the custodians of power. These people are usually found in the various institutions of learning where they are expected to pass their knowledge unto young learners. In some countries, the universities are deliberately sited very close to the government houses so that it will be easy for policymakers to meet with intellectuals whenever the need arises.
In such places, the university functions as a citadel of new findings. When you meet a professor, he excites you with mind-blowing ideas and thoughts. It does not end there. Everyone strives to have his signature on a new discovery, a new approach to solving a nagging problem, a new product or at least a new way of doing old things better.
In whichever area of study one finds himself, he strives to make a mark and advance that study area beyond where he met it. No real intellectual is satisfied to parade a big certificate and earn a big salary without making a remarkable contribution to the body of knowledge. One such professor is responsible for the existence of the brand of chicks called broilers. This is a tangible achievement of a lifetime and qualifies him for honours among intellectuals. Others have made breakthroughs in medicine, engineering, agriculture and so on.
This story changes rapidly as we look into our own society. We have celebrated professors who lived and died without making any meaningful impact or extending the frontiers of knowledge with their works. We have professors who got the title through political connection rather than intellectual accomplishments. I have heard of a professor at the University of Nigeria Nsukka who created the yellow pepper species that is in high demand because of the unique flavour and aroma it possesses. I have also heard of the famous Igbo professor of Physics who has put his name into the list of who-is-who in the world of Physics by propagating resounding theories. I am proud of these men and others like them who have shown themselves worthy of the titles they bear. Unfortunately, majority of our intellectuals are content to earn the fat salaries attached to their portfolios and not in the least interested in proving their mettle. I call them copy and paste intellectuals.
I heard the true life story of a lecturer who took the project works of four of his students who wrote on different topics, removed the cover pages and joined them together and gave them to a publisher. He asked this publisher I know to edit and publish it as one book with his name as author. He did not care about the incoherence that is bound to be a prominent feature of this book. All he wanted was to have his name on a book. Of course, he would present this book as his contribution to the body of knowledge and fraudulent assessors will gloss over the obvious deficiencies in the publications after some cash has changed hands and, pronto, our guy is declared a great scholar and given one title or the other.
The reason why our educational system is in a total mess is not far-fetched once you look into the quality of intellectuals we have today. If most of our lecturers obtain their big certificates fraudulently, how can we expect their students to get theirs in the right way? If our intellectuals are not wired to use their learning and research to find solutions to societal problems, who will inspire students to think less of certificates and more of real learning and solutions?
The few intellectuals who have actually proved their mettle in their various fields have not received adequate recognition and encouragement from the policymakers. A situation where inventions are not supported either by the government or corporate bodies does not make for progress. The political office-holders do not think that intellectuals have anything to offer and so deliberately keep them at arm’s length. Most times, this happens because the policymakers do not want anybody to tell them to do things the right way. This deliberate negligence against people of learning helps to discourage budding intellectuals. If there is no policy shift that seeks to accord respect to intellectuals, they will naturally drift towards money-making, which seems to be the only thing the system recognizes and respects.
It is important for the policymakers to realize that no society can truly develop if it neglects its intellectuals. They are the ideas people that should be paid to think for the society. Our country is richly endowed but very poor because we have not really invested in good thinkers and strategists who will give us good and workable ideas for both the short and long terms.
Knowing that their work is important to the system will make the intellectuals sit up. Students’ research will be taken seriously. As it is today, both teachers and students do not understand why research is part of the university programme. Most students just pay the lecturer, older students or mercenary writers to write their projects and that is that. Some copy the projects of other students just to pass exams and get certificates. Why do our students not know that research work is supposed to help in extending the frontiers of knowledge and solve human problems? I think it is the copy and paste mentality which they have learnt directly and indirectly from their teachers at various levels.
Our educational system needs urgent reforms. This will not be possible until the political system undergoes serious reforms that will get rid of the mentality of being haphazard in everything, and the false belief that we can get oranges from a maize plant.
In the interim, I will suggest that whoever is responsible for awarding professorial titles should stop giving them out as charity or for favours. They should give it to only people who have contributed something original, something tangible and meaningful to the body of knowledge. If education cannot be productive, it is not worth wasting our resources on.
When the status of professor is strictly awarded to only productive scholars, others down the line will learn to work hard in order to earn their own promotion. Students will understand the need to be genuine if they want to grow in the world of academics and gradually, our educational system will be cured. Only then will copy and paste intellectualism be buried for good.

Nnenna Ihebom