Both the quality and quantity of the Nigerian university system are disgracing and unsettling. Buffeted by poor funding, administrative corruption, valueless political system, planning and implementation problems among others, the Obasanjo administration approved licenses for private universities to operate, hence the growing number of private universities.
In Nigeria today, both public and private universities are funded by the Federal Government. Private universities are largely owned by individuals, business enterprises and religious bodies. With the upgrading of the Nigeria Police Academy to a university, Nigeria now parades a cluster of 124 universities, 37 of which are federal universities.
The demand for higher education in Nigeria, particularly at the university level, has outgrown what the system can cope with; hence, less than 20 per cent of those who pass the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board Examinations are admitted each year into the universities. In order words, the geometric mushrooming of both the public and private universities have not actually helped in tackling the existent challenges. These have led to the weakening of university administration, poor teaching and learning outcomes, diminishing research and consultancy traditions and questionable community services.
According to the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organisation’s recommendation, 26 per cent of annual national budget ought to be dedicated to funding education of member countries. The consistent failure of the Federal Government to implement this policy remains one of the factors for the industrial dispute between the university lectures and the Federal Government over the years. For months and sometimes years, some universities remain under lock and key as a result of incessant strike actions by staff.
In the absence of adequate funding and clear direction, universities are left to engage mainly in routine activities. A number of federal and state universities have remained on their temporary sites for decades because the government has failed to back up its initial promise with adequate funding.
The government’s failure to respect its agreements with the Academic Staff Union of Universities has frequently led to strikes and university closures.
However, throwing money at the universities will not in itself solve the endemic problems within the university system. Poor planning, corruption and blatant erosion of values have produced a culture of underachievement that will take decades to correct. Particularly affected by these factors are the universities’ internal administration and the trio of teaching/learning; research/consultancies; and community service. Policy makers and lawmakers should ensure that our universities are adequately funded and make laws that would compel lecturers to be responsible to their duties and restrict them from private practices once there are improvements in their salaries.
The major aim of establishing tertiary institutions is to build high-level manpower for national development. It is a place where people acquire the needed tools for social, mental and intellectual skills as resourceful members of the society. We believe that one of the ways to handle this challenge is that top public office holders should be compelled to send their qualified children to public institutions of learning so that the poor would have confidence in getting the best training out of it. The issue of funding and effective supervision by regulatory bodies such as the National University Commission, NUC, and Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND, are key towards achieving this goal as well. That is why the recent clamp down on some blooming fake private universities by the NUC is commendable. This exercise should be sustained in order to properly sanitise our university education.