From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
The founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), has called on the federal government to stop licensing more universities without adequate plans for monitoring their standards.
He also charged the National Universities Commission (NUC) to overhaul the university licensing process to ensure the highest standard.
According to the legal luminary, licensing more universities without proper planning for monitoring their standards is prioritising quantity above quality and functional education, hence the rapid decline and rot of the country’s educational system and in the quality of graduates produced.
Babalola made the call while delivering his address at the High Impact Research and Journal Advancement Workshop organised by the ABUAD Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy, held at the institution’s campus in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State, on Monday.
Babalola commended Prof. Peter Okebukola, who was the keynote speaker at the event, for redefining excellence in national service during his time as Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC).
“As you may already know, during his time as Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Okebukola redefined excellence in national service. Under his leadership, the NUC developed a reputation for a careful, meticulous and painstaking approval process for the establishment of universities.
“Not only was the visitation and accreditation process rigorous, it was also impossible to obtain approval to commence professional degrees such as medicine, engineering and law in the first few years of establishing a university.
“But what do we have today? The mass approval of mushroom and substandard universities with some lacking even the basic learning facilities and infrastructure. His strict compliance with the law and rules has been brushed aside now.
“As a result of the “anything goes” approach to university licensing and accreditation, NUC’s ability to ensure quality control and to stamp out substandard institutions appears to have been seriously compromised. We currently have over 270 universities in Nigeria, and proposals for the approval of another 200 new institutions are currently under consideration by the National Assembly.
“The focus now seems to be on quantity, not quality, licensing more universities without adequate plans for monitoring their standards. The end result is a rapid decline and rot of our educational system and in the quality of our graduates. What we need is quality education. Poor education is worse than illiteracy.
“We cannot seriously speak of advancing sustainable development through high-impact research unless we address this menace of the proliferation of substandard universities in our nation.
“Mushroom and substandard universities recruit substandard faculty members, who conduct substandard research that are printed by substandard publishers, resulting in substandard and half-baked graduates that have little or nothing to offer to national development.
“Most public institutions owe teachers’ salary. How can such universities acquire the latest equipment for 21st-century education?
“If we are really serious about accelerating national development through research, the starting point will be for the NUC to return to the era of placing quality over quantity.
“What we expect is for the NUC to completely overhaul the university licensing process to ensure the highest standard and to also take immediate steps to close those mushroom universities, many of which are illegal and are operating without the permission of NUC.
“The government and the National Universities Commission are not bothered about the large numbers of illegal universities recently put at 58 by NUC.
“As a university built on the foundation of reforming higher education in Nigeria, our goal at ABUAD is to maintain our focus on highest quality research and education.”
In his keynote address, Prof. Peter Okebukola, spoke on a lecture, titled, Promoting High-Impact Research Publications For Sustainable National Development in Nigeria: Opportunities Challenges and Future Directios’ where he identified the challenges to achieving High-Impact Research Publications to include, “Infrastructure Deficits: Inadequate research facilities, unreliable internet access, and power shortages hinder data collection, analysis, and dissemination processes.
“Weak Research Culture: Emphasis on teaching over research, weak mentorship.Many early-career researchers lack training in scientific writing.
“Publishing Challenges: High article processing charges, predatory journals.
“Brain Drain: The emigration of skilled researchers to countries with better facilities and opportunities depletes the talent pool in Nigeria.
“Low Recognition of Research Outputs: Insufficient emphasis on the relevance and application of academic research in policymaking and industry weakens its impacts.”
Okebukola, however, outlined some of the ways to overcome the challenges to include, “Promotion of interdisciplinary research: Fostering collaboration across different fields to tackle complex developmental challenges
“Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in research: Leveraging AI for data collection, analysis and publication process to enhance efficiency and impact.
“Increased private sector involvement: Encouraging private companies to invest in R&D to collaborate with academic institutions.
“Policy Alignment: Ensuring that research priorities align with national development goals, fostering a research culture that directly addresses societal needs.”
In her remarks, the Vice Chancellor of ABUAD, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, said the workshop was made possible through the generous support of Electronic Information For Libraries (EIFL).
She said, “The theme of this workshop centres on the Diamond Open Access (DOA) model, a transformative publishing framework that removes both paywalls and article processing charges.
“This model reflects ABUAD’s enduring mission to democratise access to knowledge, empower local research ecosystems and support scholarship that addresses pressing societal needs.”
She added, “Participants will be equipped with practical knowledge on managing and sustaining Diamond Open Access Journals, ethical research publishing and improving the visibility and credibility of African academic outputs. Hands-on sessions will introduce online journal management systems, offering practical skills for sustainability in academic publishing.
“These objectives align strongly with ABUAD’s strategic vision of producing homegrown, mission-driven research that contributes meaningfully to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs).”
On his part, Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnership (RISP), Editor-In- Chief of the Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy ABUAD, lauded the Electronic Information For Libraries(EIFL), Lithuania and the Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom for making the workshop possible through a generous grant received from EIFL and Wellcome Trust.
He thanked them for supporting ABUAD to take the journal to the next level and to foster collaboration and best practices on Diamond Open Access(DOA) publishing journal management, digital journal platforms for global scholarly impact and ethical research practices that advance sustainable development.