The Scandal At Legon Stinks

The scandal at the university of Ghana, Legon, stinks to high heaven! The University is at the center of a massive leakage of examination questions, doctoring of academic grades and widespread academic irregularities that have already ensnared a son of the Vice-chancellor, the Pro-Vice chancellor, and two Heads of Department. As an alumnus of the University and a Ghanaian national, I am very worried.

I am worried because of the likely international fallout from the unfolding scandal. The world is watching and listening intently to this shameful drama playing out before our eyes. This scandal will become grist to the mill of the international media which seizes on negative things coming out of Africa, especially, and blows them out of proportion. The Embassies and High Commissions in Accra are all watching.. Before long, the news will trickle outside the country into the institutions and countries which evaluate the academic credentials of Ghanaians for various purposes. It is not far fetched to assume that the current generation of students are not the only ones who would be affected by the negative image that will result from this scandal. Former generations of students with degrees awarded many years ago, and those yet to come, could possibly suffer from the backlash that would be created by this scandal.

I am worried because sweeping generalizations about a country or its systems are all too common in the international arena. As an African living abroad I have had to deal, on a daily basis, with across-the-board generalizations about my country, continent and people that are, more often than not, exaggerations or pure inaccuracies. For instance, I frequently come across Americans who live under the impression that all women from Ghana have experienced female genital mutilation, thanks to the notorious Ghanaian woman from the Central Region, who sought asylum in the United States several years ago alleging that she was running away from the practice. Her case generated a lot of media attention that in turn resulted in a media focus on the practice. Without painstaking investigation, many media outlets misinformed the American public that "all girls in Ghana are made to undergo female genital mutilation". I can almost visualize a scenario in many academic institutions around the world in which certificates from the University of Ghana will be rejected because they may be deemed fraudulent. The institutions and organizations involved in screening applications might not know how far back to go in drawing the line to determine when the fraud began. And let's face it, folks, it would be hard to find an objective criteria to draw the line. If that happens they are going to blacklist every certificate issued by the University of Ghana.

I am worried because Ghana's academic standards are falling. No where is this more evident than when you talk to the younger generation of students, or read things that they have written. Occasional spelling errors can be excused, for every one is guilty of that. But when the problem is with syntax, diction, subject-verb concord, etc., it has to be a systemic problem. Just search the news items on Ghana Web, contributed by the young journalists from the various Newspapers in Ghana, and you would capture just the tip of what I am saying.. While we in Ghana are not Black English people, it must be noted that we are considered near-native speakers; which means that much of our lives are built around the English language. So we had better take the language seriously. What is pitiful about the younger generation of Ghanaians, who are caught in the falling academic standards, is that not only can they not express themselves clearly in English but, what's more, they are not even fluent in the native languages. I have been away from Ghana for almost a decade and half and yet I still speak, read and write Twi much more fluently than most of them. Now, if this is not a pathetic situation I don't know what is! "Mo a monnte brofo; Twi, ne Ga, ne Ewe, ne Dagbani, ne Guan kasa no nso koraa a mo nntumi nnkan na mo atumi akyerew mpo. Enti wonye mo den na aye yiye?" (Of what use can we put a group of people who are neither fluent in English or Akan, Ewe, Ga, Dagbani, Guan, etc?).

To think that it's in the midst of this steady decline in academic standards that we are witnessing the latest scandal at the University of Ghana, is to say the least, a sobering thought. We may not know what has brought Legon to this ignominious end but we do know the caliber of some of the students the university has been turning out recently, thanks to the revelations coming out of the Mfodwo hearings. In days gone by when the university lived up to its name, the issue of begging for grades to be doctored or leaking examination questions was unthinkable. Students passed or failed based solely on how well they had prepared for their examinations. Those were the days when Mr. Mfodwo's name conjured fear in the hearts of many students. In my day, Mr. Mfodwo had retired from the university and Mr. Daniels had succeeded him as Deputy Registrar for Academic Affairs. And yet, "Mfodwo phobia" was the term used to describe the fear and tension that gripped the Legon campus as soon as the Easter holidays ended and the Trinity Term started . The campus took on an eerie atmosphere with the attendant tension turning brawny macho guys into whimpering babies. The fear of failure, with its attendant humiliation, robbed some students even of their sanity, and I mean this literally.

But I suppose all of that does not exist any more as Legon has now descended into the gutter to dole grades out to the highest bidder. It may be easy to imagine how all of this could come about. When you talk to some of the younger crop of students, you get the impression that they want the good and easy life, and they want it now. While the older generation of students understood the concept of delayed gratification and burning the midnight oil, so to speak,　the students of today seem to have no time to wait, nor the discipline to set precious time aside for rigorous studies. They want cell phones now, want to drive nice cars now, want to eat at the best restaurants now, and want to wear the best clothes money can buy. When students in a Third World country, where unemployment rates are shooting through the roof, start craving the luxuries of life even before they graduate, work and earn their first pay, it doesn't take a soothsayer to predict the outcome.

If all of that was just a scandal perpetrated by students it would be easier to do damage control. But it seems the faculty and staff of the university have also joined in the game. Now, that sure complicates issues. I cannot say any more than I have since the matter is still subjudice. But clearly, the Mfodwo committee of enquiry has a difficult job on its hands. What we have heard may only be the tip of the ice berg. I'll bet that by the time the hearings are over, we will have been inundated by a deluge of more shameful revelations regarding how one of Africa's best universities sold its image for a pittance. When all is over and done, I hope our government will muster courage and take action. To tell the truth, a lot of heads have to roll, and the prisons ought to swing their doors open to receive new inmates. But in Ghana, where so much is politicized, I wonder what will become of this scandal. B. K. Obeng-Diawuoh Bardstown, Kentucky USA