Nigeria, June 19 -- Not long ago, the social media in Nigeria was filled with appeals to crowdfund for the medical care of a professor in a public university. The professor eventually passed on. The situation was heartbreaking because of both the loss of a human life and the deeper institutional failure that it symbolises. In any well-functioning society, people should not have to beg for health care and certainly not for those who have dedicated their lives to educating others. And even more recently, another incident circulated online, showing a professor in a public university selling tomatoes and other vegetables in a local market. There is nothing dishonourable about trade or farming, but the issue raised eyebrows because it underlin...