By Gabriel Dike and Bianca Iboma-Emefu
There is a wide gap between what is obtainable in United States higher education and in the Nigerian university system (NUS).
The gap is obvious in several areas. And to bridge the gap, the inaugural Nigerian Higher Education Conference, with the theme “Opening new frontiers: Mobilizing stakeholders to build long-term partnership between U.S. and Nigeria institutions of higher education” was held in Lagos for two days recently.
The all-important higher education conference attracted experts from U.S., including the deputy head of public affairs, U.S. Consulate, Lagos, Jennifer Foltz, head of public affairs, U.S. Consulate General, Lagos, Stephen Ibelli, vice-president, Academic Quality and Planning, School of Education, Franklin University, Columbus, Ohio, Dr. Patrick Bennett, conference coordinator, U.S. Consulate General, Clemson Ayegbusi, and director or Global Partnership, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.
The Nigerian team to the event was led by the deputy secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Dr. Chris Mayaki, secretary-general, Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, vice-chancellors, University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe; Lagos State University, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatinji- Bello; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede; Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Prof. Ademola Tayo, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof. Charles Esimone; Caleb University, Imota, Prof. Nosa Owens-Ibie; and deputy VC, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Prof. Emmanuel Udensi.
In his remarks, Ibelli said the U.S. was committed to supporting initiatives that would strengthen educational and cultural ties between the two countries.
Ibelli described the conference as a giant step forward, noting, “bringing U.S. and Nigerian universities closer together, exploring future partnership and discussing ideas for joint degrees with American experts were great outcomes of the higher education conference.”
“The world has changed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and also in the area of education. We are here to bridge the gap between U.S. institutions and Nigerian universities. We have several education linkages with Nigeria.
“Nigeria has over 13,000 students in U.S. institutions. It is the 10th largest foreign students in U.S. We want to open a new chart with Nigerian universities in the areas of ICT, research, online, curriculum, women empowerment and highbred programmes.” he said.
One of the U.S. higher education experts, Dr. Bennett, shared the American perspective on higher education partnership and funding with the vice chancellor and NUC.
He exposed the VCs to best practices in exploring potential revenue streams and resources outside government’s funding of higher education and how Nigerian universities could build and maintain productive relationships with alumni, the private sector and other donor institutions: “There has been deeper understanding of each other’s educational systems. Through technology, we have the opportunities to link more universities together in our increasingly globalized world.”
Addressing the gathering, NUC representative, Mayaki, acknowledged support the commission received from the consulate, stressing that the conference was coming at a time when the NUC was working on guidelines on transnational education in e-learning.
Mayaki further explained that the NUC was overhauling university curriculum, which would soon be launched by Vice-President Yomi Osinbajo.
He said, because of the anticipated increase in population of students, the commission set up a strategic team to prepare a blueprint on infrastructure, curriculum and women empowerment in higher education.
The NUC lauded the U.S. Consulate for putting together the conference, stating, “We are ready to partner with the consulate to improve higher education.”
On his part, Ochefu said the working relationship between American universities and the NUS would help to reposition Nigerian universities. He described the conference as a knowledge-sharing programme and a way of changing dynamics based on the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on higher education.
He also disclosed that the conference was about lessons the NUS could learn from American universities, noting, “look at the number of Nigerian students in the U.S. and the opportunity available for our students online.”
VC of BU, Prof. Tayo, told The Education Report that Nigerian students go abroad for higher education because of international exposure, leverage on available network and available facilities.
He said another reasons are the incessant strikes in public universities, force students to stay at home for months. The VC stressed that private universities do not experience industrial action and that they complete academic calendar as planned.
“Despite schooling aboard being exorbitant, parents feels the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages,” Prof. Tayo observed.
Vice Chancellor of OAU, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, said the problem is not with the philosophy of Nigerian Education System but the need to have confidence in our system and develop relevant technology that would prepare students for employability skills.
Ogunbodede observed that experiencing a different education system and practices can be of great advantage once the students enter the labour market after completion of their schooling abroad.
“Not only is it proven that taking part in an international exchange programme increases the students’ chances of employability, but it also helps them gain skills for their future job,” he noted.
For the Vice Chancellor of LASU, Prof. Olatunji – Bello, her take home from the higher education conference is the need to scale up skills through exchange programmes with foreign institutions.
She said based on what the American expert on higher education disclosed, there are certain knowledge gained, which Nigerian universities would deploy to improve on what is obtainable abroad.
She added: “Many exchange students are fluent in foreign language. They have increased feeling of personal efficiency, responsibility, self- confidence, and self – esteem. Exchange students accept others perspective and integrate them in their thinking and action.”
At the end of the two – day conference, Nigerian universities represented by over 30 vice chancellors, from federate, state and public universities tapped the wealth of experience of five U.S. higher education experts on to impact of COVID-19 pandemic, on higher education, online teaching, linkages and the benefit the NUS can get from collaboration with American universities.