From Isaac Job, Uyo
Dr Emmanuel Abraham is founder/chairman, Topfaith University, Mkpatak, Akwa Ibom State. He spoke on the Nigeria University System (NUS), access to university education, exclusion of private universities from TETFund grants and award of first class degrees in private universities.
Excerpts
What are your views about the state of affairs of the Nigeria University System (NUS)?
I am quite young in the operational centre of the university system. But I am old enough to have some basic observations because I have benefitted from the NUS many years ago when I was an undergraduate of the University of Calabar as well as my post graduate days in the University of Lagos. For me who started experiencing the university system in Nigeria far back October 1977 and graduated in 1981with First Class degree, I had another wonderful opportunity to do my post graduate studies in UNILAG and ended up with master’s degree in Economics in 1986. Having existed that long and it is only in my doctorate degree that I had opportunity to study outside Nigeria basically for diversification and comparative experiences.
The NUS as it is constituted today is made up of institutions of various categorisations as well as what I may describe as specialisations or focus from the ownership and funding perspective. We have federal, states and private universities and other individually funded universities.
Of course, it is obvious that these institutions are subjected to national policy on education, which actually gives responsibilities to universities to produce high-level manpower for the purpose of executing the growth and developmental aspirations of the nation.
I think it is also part of the policy to produce human resources not just with skills but character and attitude to contribute positively to the growth and development of the nation. That is one of aspects of the categorisation.
There is this other aspect of categorisation that I have observed such as general purpose and specialised universities like the universities of technology, agriculture, petroleum, maritime and others.
This is another classification and these cut across various sections. This is the general issue in terms of classification and functionality of Nigeria university system and broad perspective of the system within the ambience of the national policy.
Let me just comment on the system of specialised universities. It appears to me that these specialised universities such as university of technology got involved in all spheres of programmes including Law, Administration, Arts, Banking and Finance, etc.
To me, this happens at the detriment of the founding philosophy and specialty ideology of what those universities should stand for. My expectations would have been that if you are categorised as university of agriculture, such institution should have focused on agriculture with a view to produce the requisite manpower with the mindset, character, skill, and learning that will graduate to appreciate the enormous imperatives pervading the agriculture sector of this country.
It could help to support food processing and security, general employment as well as capacity to avail industrial sector of requisite raw materials derivable from agricultural sector. The way specialised universities like that of agriculture diversify and digress into other areas like Music, Arts, Humanities, Accounting, seems to reduce their energy in their core mandate that such university supposed to focus on. The same with University of Technology.
My expectation also would have been for them to focus on their core mandate and see how they can take the technological advancement of this country to another level. Through research and other essentials of academics and non-academic activities.
In a system where you want to create a synergy because I am aware that in today’s world there was a time they used the word STEM meaning Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. But I think the world has moved away from the concept of STEM, therefore, the world should be teaming now.
Of course, if this has to be so, it has to be designed in such a manner that the synergy between these aspects of life collaborate together to produce the human resources needs of the nation. But the point I am making is that specialised universities should in my own opinion be made to give priority to the functional philosophy, which those universities were established. This is my take regarding the university system in Nigeria.
Have private universities filled the gap of access to university education?
The answer is yes and no. I will like the question to be reframed as whether the private universities have or complimented or contributed to access to university education in Nigeria. Then I will say yes. If you say has the private university fill the gap of access to university education, I will say yes.
But if you ask if the private university has filled the gap of access to university education, then I will say no. Even the private universities with their capacity put together visa-vis the demand for university education, will still not be sufficient. But then there is another distortion of fact, which has to do with the pricing of education private versus public.
The public university education system whether states or federal owned is much cheaper than private university. The reason is obvious! The private universities are basically funded through the subscription, investments of the stakeholders/proprietors. Their fund solely sourced by them either by borrowing or from fees paid by students.
On the other hand, the public university system is basically subsidised. I am happy that is the only sector for now where total subsidy has not been removed. There is even a loan element that has been added to encourage students so that whatever minor issues in terms of financial obligation that the students have to fulfil will not be a barrier to their success and access to public university education system.
So, comparatively, the public university system is much cheaper and that itself makes that area much more available to not very highly rich students from average homes. But you compare that to private universities system where the operations have to be funded through fees.
A typical private university depending on its facilities, vision and orientation will do some basic calculations as to what it takes to teach, expose, keep and maintain students over a period of time and then use that to determine the volume of fees expected to be paid per student on each programme. Sometimes such fees in the present dispensation of Nigeria economy can be very scaring. It can raise a situation where many parents cannot afford to take advantage of the private university system.
Doe the cheap fees contribute to the quality of education in public university?
Thank God you don’t use the word collapse of the public university system due to cheap fees. Sometimes people use that word and I don’t subscribe to it. Using the word collapse is not good. As far as I am concerned, Nigeria university system has not collapsed. I am saying it with all amount of conviction in me that it has not collapsed.
Whatever challenges we have derive for the attitude that we are exhibiting. Yes! There is nowhere in the world where we don’t have challenges. Our own is not very peculiar. What we need to do is to sit back and conduct what is popularly known as SWOT analysis.
The Nigeria university system whether public or private has its own strength, weaknesses and opportunities. And even those things that threatened the system are psychological. This same system that is said to have collapsed is the system that has produced Nigerians, is the system that has produced Nigerian graduates who are victims of brain drain.
This means Nigerian trained graduates see opportunities outside Nigeria and get absorbed in other parts of the world. It is the same university system that we criticise, which produced these human resources who have become easily absorbed elsewhere. So, if the system is bad, why is it that our doctors, nurses, engineers, IT experts, accountants and bankers are highly sought after in foreign countries? These are products of Nigeria private and public universities.
Using this as a parameter, I am convinced that NUC is neither collapsed nor the worst in the world. It’s left for us to have constructive attitude engagement in such a manner that even the operatives of the system should have confidence in the same system and possess not just can-do spirit but a positive disposition to what is available.
Above all the university should be free from corruption in all its ramifications. When you run a system that is not student centred, then there is a challenge. Therefore, the Nigeria university system should strive to be students centred in its approach so that students would be happy about the system.
Generally, we talk of under-funding, we should also advocate for efficiency in administration of the lean resources available. How effective and efficient have the available resources for Nigeria public universities have been put to use? How prudent and transparent is the university management? What is the vision of our public universities? When these questions are answered, it becomes a matter of gradual growth into efficiency, effectiveness and excellence.
Private university students have been excluded from NELfund. What is your take?
This is part of the process of government that should be finetuned. If NELfund is for Nigerians and it is meant to provide some succour to Nigerian students, my opinion is that it should be available to every Nigerian student whether they attend federal, state or private universities.
It would have been something that has been structured in such a manner that you give discreet, absolute, specific sum of this loan. I don’t know the details of this loan but from what I heard, seems to create confusion. I learnt that some students can apply for different types of loan, but I don’t know the details.
My opinion is that if anybody is a Nigerian undergraduate in any university, a certain amount of the loan should be given either annually or sessional. This is the confusion. It should be the right of every Nigerian student.
Remember that not every student in private universities comes from wealthy family. The loan should be opened to everyone provided you are a Nigerian. I hope government will think in that direction so that the inclusivity will become an issue to practice to be able to include students from private universities for the purpose of equity and fairness.
There is agitation that private universities should get TETFund grants. Do you share this view?
I personally want to remain relatively independent. As a private investor and education entrepreneur, I am driven by certain level of passion. And if I am passionate to invest in education, I should be prepared to take that vision on passion to a level that I would beat my chest and say God thank you my passion has metamorphosed into great achievements.
Having said that, if the government is interested in proper human resource development, it is also proper that the government can choose to support private initiatives, specifically with concrete assessment indices in such a way that the government can include Topfaith University in TETFund allocation and each private university that meets certain criteria to build laboratory.
In parts of the world, universities are used as research centres in critical national infrastructure, assets, issues, social or scientific and otherwise. It could be possible for TETFund to pick some private universities depending on their specialty and fund any project so that they can contribute in specific areas to national development.
To relegate private universities initiatives totally is absolutely not in the best interest of national development. I am not advocating for dependency of private universities on government funding. My advocacy is on a macro perspective, a national conscious perspective where the nation will want to invest in knowledge.
It should not be selective TETFund and the National Universities Commission (NUC) knows the capacity of each university. This can form the basis for these institutions to fund research. They say Topfaith is located in the area where there is enough oil palm production. They can give us laboratory to research through our Biotechnology programme into oil palm production.
As we speak, we are conducting research in oil palm production. We have seedlings multiplication centre and it is part of our entrepreneurship programme, which is meant to expose our students to the process of palm oil production. This will expose our graduates to the psychology that they make a living out of it.
We can take oil palm production to a level of technology, digital education and technological knowledge for national productivity. These things have to pass through researches. I recommend that government should not shut out private universities when it comes to research funding and other support facilities through organisations like TETFund.
Some stakeholders queried private universities for churning out many first class graduates. Do you agree with them?
From casual observation, comparing my days and the present day, there is a huge difference in research, facilities, access to data, information and learning environment factors. When you put all these together, you are talking from different perspectives.
Today, information, data and knowledge are at our fingertips. In fact, you can be educated online. In my days, you visit the library desperately and flip through volumes of books and encyclopaedia before you can get one concept through for yourself.
But today, it is different. There is Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet and other sources for references. Research is done in seconds. For students who are desirous to learn, they have access to facilities, opportunities and even the ambience to learn. When they add all these to their passion, talents are highly realizable. Comparatively, because of all these factors listed above, students are intelligent.
But I am not one of those who believe that first class graduates are churned out anyhow. I made a first class in 1981 and I know how it took me to get there. First class degree starts from the first year you are admitted in the university from the first semester. I am sure that a typical undergraduate passed through 20-30 lectures from year one to final year.
These are lecturers with different styles of grading; approach to teachings and all these lecturers contribute to first class. It is not a one man show and not one-day examination. This why it is called Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPS). Not that the private universities just wake up to award first class degrees.
The private universities bare more students centred than public universities. We use “teach the child, not teach the students approach.”
In other words, you are expected to mentor every child not by grouping. If you have good students the system nurtures them. I can tell you from experience, first class is not cheap and common. It is out of diligence, consistency, hardwork, attention to details, brilliance, sacrifice and above all prayers. It is not all comers’ affairs.z