Future of Nigerian Universities By Professor Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah Vice-Chancellor, Kwara State University Nigeria

“We must recognize that the African crisis today is as much inward, psychological, and moral as it is structural and related to objective realities. The effort of reconstruction must therefore be undertaken at two levels: that of the mind, in the first place, as the necessary foundation for the second level, that of action, the two correlated in the reconstitution of our world, so as to create within it our own unique space of life and expression.” F. Abiola Irele, - “The Political Kingdom: Toward Reconstruction in Africa,” (10)

Irele, borrowing from the ideas of a German thinker Jurgen Habermas about a return to the rational ideals of the Enlightenment, expresses what he says are the roles of African universities in post IMF-imposed SAP:   “It remains valid today, now that a major preoccupation is to roll back the disasters of SAP by reconstituting the university as an institution, so that it can continue to function as an agent of economic and social development. (10)

Irele is right that African universities must be in good position to serve as effective agents of positive change for Africa in the twenty-first century. Scholars of Africa, even though removed from decisions that led to acquisition of IMF loans by many African countries, have been the strongest voices regarding the consequences that IMF conditionality would have on Africans. This obviously is the premise for my discussion of the future of the Nigerian university system. That the fate of the university system in Nigeria is rooted in historical and political realities and my ideas for moving the university forward will be born out of the zeal for national development and global competiveness for my nation.

The Historical Perspectives to the Nigerian university system The western colonial idea of university was planned and planted for Nigeria in 1948 through the then University College, Ibadan (UCI), which was established by the British colonial government and put under the University of London, in accordance with the recommendations of the colonial administration’s Elliot Commission of 1945.

Therefore even when what seems to be the right language are used by education planners in describing tertiary education goals in the various Nigerian education policies, e.g., “to satisfy needs of the economy for skilled manpower” what is actually meant is to produce more graduates who would go out to seek for jobs from government and private sectors.

Therefore the colonial university and its philosophy were inherited by independent Nigeria and unfortunately maintained by subsequent Nigerian governments without much of a change, and this situation is not much different in many African countries (Mahmud Mamdani 1995).

Other universities, public and private, that have been created since the Nigerian independence from the British have pretty much traced and copied the philosophical and structural models set by UCI: the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1960; the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria in 1962; the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), also in 1962; and the University of Lagos, in 1962; later came the University of Benin in 1970; and then six more universities in Calabar, Ilorin, Jos, Kano, and Sokoto, established by national government of Nigeria in 1975.

Today Nigeria has 63 public universities (27 by the national-level government and 33 by regional-level governments) and 41 private universities, for a total of 104 universities in Nigeria (Okojie 6).

Challenges facing contemporary Nigerian University System Okojie, in the order of his listing are: i. governance, ii. funding, iii. access, iv. relevance, and v. quality.

On governance, Okojie a. feels that weak and poor leadership, poor deployment of resources, accountability and integrity issues are among the weak points of governance, and also lists what he calls “staff and student militancy (which) contribute to instability in the system” (8). Also among problems of governance discussed by b. identifies the conflicting mandates between government and professional organizations, and the tension between professional bodies and registration agencies.

Recruitment into administrative cadres in the Nigerian university system must assess innovative ideas presented by the candidates for achieving global competitiveness and their strategies for practical implementation of the ideas.

Yet, more resources are needed: better deployment of ICT facilities, better availability and access to library resources. Some universities must lose recognition of the National Universities Commission (NUC) for poor quality, which might have resulted from poor funding.

An education that is not relevant to the developmental needs of a community does not worth expending even the smallest amount of money on. How closely related is the courses taught in our universities to the actual needs of our communities? The Nigerian university education has still not departed from the philosophy of “training for (government) jobs,” rather than training for personal and community development and for creation of wealth and self-employment in the community.

Nigeria still produces degree holders in agricultural science, mechanical engineering who would rather take a job sitting in an office than working on the farm or in a workshop because they would not function on the field.

The level of demand in university education in Nigeria has not attracted equal level of resources committed to it: student enrollment has increased as follow and no adequate resources to support such massification of university education: “104 students in 1948; 1, 395 in 1960; 40, 000 in 1976; 172, 000 in 1988; 448, 000 in year 2000; to over 900, 000 today.” (Okojie 2)

Only about 200, 000 thousand students are given admission into universities in Nigeria from about 1.0 million candidates that apply for placements in the universities. This is a national crisis, and as far as I’m concerned, the only action taken by the Nigerian government to address this has been to create more universities and allow private participation in the establishment and running of universities.

The Future of the Nigerian University For example, ranking and accreditation introduced by the NUC seems sure to increase quality and ensure that universities become more competitive. ETF continues to grant universities what has been described as intervention funds to help support infrastructural, curricula and staff development in the universities. The latest among its intervention is the proposed Central Laboratories in 6 regions of Nigeria where neighboring universities could use world-class science and engineering laboratories for teaching, learning and research.

The NUC has also introduced the Direct Teaching and Laboratory Cost Grant and the Teaching and Research Equipment Grant, which will complement the new ETF central laboratory plan. The NUC has introduced a Virtual Library Project, which when fully developed will increase access to academic resources.

Participation by private sector in providing university education in Nigeria is very positive. I see a situation like the United States where the best universities in national and international ranking are the private universities, such as Harvard, Princeton and the University of Chicago are in USA: the so-called Ivy League colleges.

Another advantage of private universities is that they will easily avoid unionism crisis that have nearly paralyzed public universities and would be able to maintain regular calendar and also easily discipline of staff and students for unwarranted behaviors.

Expansion of the National Open University and a strong effort to take it to the level that Long Distance Learning has attained in the USA and Europe will give a wonderful opportunity for candidates who would instead apply to conventional universities to now go to the National Open University.

The vision for the future Nigerian universities must be to produce global citizens with local mentality. Programs such as study abroad in both short and long term available to all students who can afford it must be a way to go. It is only when students are given global experience through actual international travel that they will better appreciated the opportunity and challenges of our world. I will recommend that Nigerian universities, like we are trying to do at Kwara State University, take other Africa country as the primary foreign travel destinations for their students.

The future of Nigerian universities is in collaboration with private businesses and industries. Development of campus infrastructures through what is popularly called Public Private Participation through the BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer model) will not only bring much sought after funds to campus but will also ensure that private organizations become important stakeholders in the delivery of sound and effective services on campus. Perhaps more important than this for Nigerian universities is to enter into collaboration with industry in research and in massive production of goods and services.

The Nigerian university system must find a consistent and strong funding system which must include the introduction of tuition. Financial aids, scholarship programs and student loans similar to what is practiced at the United States would be strongly recommended.

Developing a strong Nigerian Diaspora Academic Force to help the Nigerian universities will be a sure way to go. There is a strong and brilliant Nigerian community abroad and the way of future will be to use them to strengthen the Nigerian university system by inviting them home on short visits to university campuses, and in some cases to get them to permanently relocate home to work in the Nigerian universities.

Thank You!