Nigeria, Sept. 9 -- For decades, Nigerian universities have been trapped in a cycle of recurring strikes. Students lose months and sometimes years of their academic lives to these stoppages, while lecturers complain about poor salaries and a lack of support. At the heart of this problem is the refusal of our universities and their academic unions to embrace genuine independence. Many academics in Nigeria want the government to shoulder one hundred per cent of the burden of running universities, while resisting the idea that universities should be free to operate as autonomous institutions. This has left us with institutions that are neither competitive nor sustainable, and has reduced the once-proud profession of teaching and research to ...