The beautiful game of soccer excites millions of Nigerians, Constitutional Blues, Tertiary education in turmoil, Barack Obama- Peace Laureate?

As the host nation and defending champions of the FIFA 2009 Under-17 World Cup, the buzz around the tournament in Nigeria has been tremendous. Our survey revealed that four in ten Nigerians (40%) were optimistic that the Golden Eaglets will reach the finals of the FIFA 2009 under-17 World Cup competition, although fewer people (14%) thought that the Nigerian team would feature in the quarter finals, 12% said the semi finals, 6% chose the first round while the remaining 6% believe Nigeria’s progress will end at the second round of the tournament.

Constitutional Blues...

The much-anticipated review of the 1999 Constitution has begun, following the submission of six Executive bills by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to the National Assembly. Again, awareness of this momentous event is high among Nigerians. Our snap poll indicates that 72% of the people interviewed are aware of the constitutional review, while a further 76% of respondents agreed that this is the right time for the review.

Tertiary education in turmoil

The four-month deadlock between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government abruptly ended on October 23, with the formal suspension of the nationwide industrial action that was started on June 22 by the ASUU. The Union’s demands included full autonomy for public universities, better pay and benefits for university teachers, and improved learning conditions for students. Our survey reveals a general perception of the parlous state of tertiary education in Nigeria - 56% of respondents said that the Nigerian government is not committed to improving the education sector, and a further 67% said that industrial action by ASUU and other unions in the education sector is justified. However, over three-quarters of respondents (78%) identified dialogue and negotiation as the best strategy to secure the government’s commitment to tackling the educational crisis in Nigeria, while 17% chose the more hard-line strategy of industrial action by the unions.

Barack Obama, Peace Laureate?

On September 9, President Barack Obama of the United States became the surprise recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, for his efforts towards nuclear disarmament. However, the award to President Obama, who is just nine months into his tenure, generated both praise from his allies, especially in Europe, and criticism from domestic critics who opined that the Prize was prematurely awarded. Past surveys by NOI Polls have shown that Nigerians have a favourable view of the Obama presidency, and the reaction to President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize is consistent with this view. 73% of Nigerians interviewed in the recent snap poll were aware of President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize, and a majority of respondents (78%) said it was a well deserved award.

Survey Methods

Respondents for the snap poll were randomly selected from a database of phone-owning Nigerians aged 15 and above, complied by NOI Polls. 726 people took part in the telephone interviews over a four day period from the 23rd to the 27th of October 2009. 85 percent of respondents were male, while 15 percent were female. NOI Polls adopts scientifically robust techniques in conducting opinion surveys. Our snap polls are valid within a statistical margin of error, also known as a 95 percent confidence interval.