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By Daniel Kanu
It is no longer news that the Federal Government is considering applications for new private universities to be established in the country.
Going by the latest hint from the acting Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Dr Chris Maiyaki, at a British Council workshop in Abuja recently, about 270 private universities had applied for licences to commence academic activities.
The applications came despite public concerns over proliferation of universities, some mushroom in nature, and the inadequate budgetary allocations to the education sector in general.
Looking at available official record, if approved, the new request is estimated to bring the total number of universities in Nigeria to 528, among which 418 are privately owned.
Nigeria currently has not less than 258 universities. Among them are 50 belonging to the Federal Government, 60 owned by the states and 148 owned by private individuals and organisations.
Although it is not the number of universities in a country that really matters, but the capacity of those available to serve as solid foundation for rapid national development through innovations, discoveries and other feats, the requests for approval of more varsities many believe is indeed an indication that more Nigerians are yearning for higher education in the country amid limited available spaces.
Records show that in the eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari government, not less than 90 universities were approved for operations in the education sector. Disappointingly, available evidence shows that the increase in the number of universities over the years has not rubbed off positively on increase in education standards.
By their creation, universities are known to be drivers of socio-economic, cultural and political development, and global innovation. Basically, they bequeath academic skills, professional expertise and knowledge to generations of students through teaching, researches, and disseminating existing and new knowledge.
Critics have argued that among the worries is that Nigerian universities only focus on their traditional role of training scholars and leaders, with the institutions remaining weak in the practical application of knowledge, making them unable to respond to the demands of the complex contemporary job market. It is part of the reason millions of the nation’s university graduates are seen roaming the streets jobless after their education.
If the proposed 270 varsities are approved and the total in the country becomes 528, there ought to be an increase in competition among the institutions, which should lead to higher standards, but as the institutions increase in number, the standards seem to be waning.
Experts who spoke to Sunday Sun have, therefore, counselled that as the Federal Government considers the applications for the new private universities to be established in the country, there is need to look beyond just granting the requests, with a view to ensuring that the standard of education, especially university education, is not compromised. Again, they insisted that the institutions be made to be strong and well equipped to be able to perform their expected responsibilities to the society.
The truth is that education is one of the very crucial requirements of a country to progress and compete with other nations across the world.
In particular, universities are considered to be centres where intellectuals, scholars use their ingenuity to invent solutions to problems of the society, beyond training scholars and leaders. Where this is the case, the country develops fast.
Some stakeholders in the education sector have expressed worry over proliferation of universities, which they claimed stemmed from the general belief that the institutions in the country, particularly the private ones, are falling short of expectations of the government and the public in terms of infrastructure that is inadequate, low value for the huge fees they charge, and poor contribution to national development.
But despite reservations on the establishment of new universities, there are still individuals, erudite educationists, who strongly believe that the country needs it, but must ensure that those to come on board must not compromise standards.
Renowned Professor of Sociology and former Dean, School of Social Sciences, Prof Lai Olurode, told Sunday Sun that there is nothing wrong in establishing more universities in the country, but advised that Nigerians stop having a wrong concept of what a university should be. For instance, he said that Nigeria could establish specialized institutions, with just 300 to 500 students offering specialized courses, without occupying large expanse of land.
“I don’t think that the response to have is to think that such new number of universities is too much. The truth is that universities can never be too much, the more universities you have the more the people that will have access to tertiary learning, tertiary education.
“And when you look at the population of this country, we have a population of, whatever the estimate is, it’s over 300 million and a youthful population. There is this yearning to access higher education and higher education is usually important for political participation, for political representation.
“Anybody that wants to be the president, prime minister or other higher positions in any country of the world cannot do that without education, so access to it is very critical. Participation in the critical sectors of the economy also will demand people that have exposure to a measure of higher education,” he said.
Olurode, who was former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), also noted: “Criminal activities tend to be lower among people who have been sent to school, who have had access to higher education because they already have a feeling of hope, expectations that tomorrow will be better for them, that their time will soon come.
“When you look at the image of public universities in this country, it’s a sorry sight, there is congestion and all sorts of things that will make you feel sad. When I was an undergraduate at the university of Lagos in the late 70s, I know how it used to be when compared to what we have today.
“When I was a student at the university of Sussex in Britain for my PhD programmes, I recall those years and they are nothing compared to what we are witnessing today. Now, a room that is expected to have eight or nine persons will habour illegal occupants because of lack of accommodation.
“What I am saying in a nutshell is that the facilities in the public universities are getting over-stretched, there is congestion, there are no enough facilities and the funding of universities is very low. Government have virtually withdrawn.
“The more universities you have, private universities the better for the children of the poor so that it will not be an exclusive reserve of the children of the rich. I am not sure all the 270 that you mentioned will scale through, but I don’t think having additional universities is bad.
“Most of the things that we are doing here, for instance, having a large land mass, premises for the building and all that are not necessary. Go to the streets of London and you see some universities, three or four blocks in a small premises, specializing in let’s say theology or in certain aspects of education.
“They don’t need all those large acres of land to have a university. So, it’s good for us to have more universities to allow more Nigerians have access to tertiary education. Don’t make university education exclusive preserve of the children of the rich, children of the powerful in accessing private university education.
“You don’t need to have your population in thousands to have a university. Even numbers like 500, or 300 students can be in a university premises specializing in law, specializing in engineering, specializing in different areas.
“We should make education a common commodity not just for our national development, but in international participation in the global economy. You don’t need to use all your trainees, experts here, there are other countries that need them too. you can train for other countries and you bring the money home too to assist develop our country.
“Education, learning can never be too much because the more you have your population educated the better. All you need is to get the right personnel that will train those students. You don’t build universities so that they are empty of lecturers too, you must balance things rightly with proper funding”.
Also, Associate professor, former Commissioner and immediate past Provost, Abia State College of Education, Technical Arochukwu (ASCETA), Dr Phillips Nto, said that there is nothing wrong in establishing more universities, but expressed worry at the level of poverty in the country, which he said was an impediment to funding.
“If you address the issue of adequate funding, and infrastructure the country is good to go with establishment of new universities”, he said.
According to Nto, “if you compare the total number in our population with such request, it is not too much. The problem is in the funding. How are they funded and that is a major problem?
“When you look at the existing ones, both the private and public, most of them are under-funded, most of them are under-utilized because of the poverty level of the country. A situation where more percentage of the population are poor, how will they go to school? How will they pay the school fees?
“Assuming you give approval to 250, for instance, as additional universities, where will they get the students? Yes, we have people that are aspiring to go to universities, but can they pay? A situation where a very high percentage of our population is living in abject poverty where will they get the money to pay for the high school fees?
“Universities must be well equipped, well- funded and with quality standard. There is need for educational endowment to be established. There is need for funds/loans that individuals can access easily to go to the university.
“In America, for instance, you can have access to loan and the individual will pay after graduation, when you must have started working. Can we obtain such here? Even students that graduate here in Nigeria stay years unending not getting employment. So, how will they pay back if they even have access to such loans?
“They don’t have problem in America because after your graduation, you are sure to get a job and to pay back. Some individuals that graduated over 10 years ago in this country have nothing doing, and even when they try, its peanuts that they earn or get. Even when they want to start their own businesses has it been easy?
“Even those that build universities here, the majority are for prestige purposes, for status symbol and when you go there, you will not get the quality needed and where the quality is there the parents will not be able to afford it. That is the dilemma that we find ourselves in this country.
“So, it requires serious planning, serious overhauling of the system, more sincerity from the government in building a strong economy that will provide the needed opportunities. How many of this universities can attract foreign students? The government through good governance must provide the right environment that will also attract investment in the education sector. It requires a holistic review, but it’s possible”.
Some commentators say though the establishment of new universities would give the increasing candidates wider choices, and bring enrolments in schools to what the authorities can manage, but that there is need to upgrade the existing ones, especially those owned by federal and state governments to be able to really stand and serve the society remarkably as is the case in the developed countries.
Not many people will worry much about the number of universities if they are seen to actually be competing with their counterparts across the globe in terms of innovations that are proving effective in tackling some of the troublesome challenges at various segments of the society and several sectors of the economy.
A university lecturer, at Ebonyi State University, Dr Ossai Edmund Ossai told Sunday Sun that although more universities are needed, but that the government must be stern with the criteria for establishing a university before doing so.
“It must establish the financial capability of those seeking to establish a university to be able to provide the necessary infrastructure for teaching and learning and meet all financial obligations.
“It is important that the NUC come up with very strong criteria for establishing universities in the country, with a view to ensuring that the standard does not fall or is not sabotaged and the services are adequately delivered as should be. Beyond setting such criteria, NUC must closely monitor the institutions to make sure that they are not compromised,” he said.
A survey by the NUC showed that only about 30 per cent of the country’s student population has adequate access to lecture theatres, laboratories and libraries.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had at several fora lamented that the pressure on available facilities has led to rapid deterioration and overcrowding across ivory towers in the country.
These are the issues that must be properly addressed before licences are issued for new universities.
Esther Njoku, an educationist, told Sunday Sun that report that some specialised universities in tge country are veering away from their specific academic mandate to attract more students’ patronage must be checkmated.
In addition, Njoku called for self-re-examination so as to reposition the country for innovation and research needed to create business solutions that will fuel long-term economic growth, arguing that Nigeria can establish more universities, especially, specialized ones that will not require large buildings and expansive land mass.
Today, many citizens believe that universities, especially by private owners, are established for commercial purposes, and it is the reason they charge fees that are beyond the reach of poor students. Emphasis must be on bequeathing to the students’ knowledge and skills that will make them self-employed, and make the country reap the increasing and modern benefits of education.
Some analysts say that the NUC must look at the programmes of the new universities and see how they can solve problems, ensure that their curricula should be such that they can make their graduates get jobs at completion of their courses.
In all, stakeholders and educationists that spoke with Sunday Sun were all in agreement that for proper monitoring, the universities’ Senate, House Committee on Tertiary Education, Ministry of Education and NUC should rise to the occasion and step up their oversight functions in order to ensure that universities stay within the mandate, vision and mission for setting them up without deviation.
They submitted that they should ensure that universities stick to the core mandates for which they were set up and stop running programmes, which have no bearing to their names and foundation.
