TheNewsGuru

Tag: Nigerian Universities

  • FULL LIST: Covenant University beats UNN, UNILAG, UI, others to emerge best in Nigeria

    FULL LIST: Covenant University beats UNN, UNILAG, UI, others to emerge best in Nigeria

    The Times Higher Education has released the 2025 World universities rankings across 108 countries and regions.

    In Nigeria, 43 universities appeared on the list with Covenant University taking the number one spot.

    Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) comes second highest-ranked university, while Landmark University and  University of Ibadan, takes third and fourth positions respectively.

    The University of Lagos (UNILAG) took the fifth position, maintaining its global position from 2024 but dropping one spot domestically.

    Top 5 Universities in Nigeria (THE 2025)

    Covenant University
    Ahmadu Bello University
    Landmark University
    University of Ibadan
    University of Lagos

    Other notable institutions in the top 10 include Bayero University, Kano, and the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).

    Full Rankings: Top Nigerian Universities (THE 2025)

    Covenant University
    Ahmadu Bello University
    Landmark University
    University of Ibadan
    University of Lagos
    Bayero University
    Federal University of Technology, Akure
    Federal University of Technology, Minna
    University of Benin
    University of Ilorin
    University of Nigeria, Nsukka
    Ekiti State University
    Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta
    Federal University of Technology, Owerri
    Federal University Oye-Ekiti
    Ladoke Akintola University of Technology
    Lagos State University
    Nnamdi Azikiwe University
    Obafemi Awolowo University
    University of Port Harcourt
    Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto
    Abia State University
    Akwa Ibom State University
    Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike
    Ambrose Alli University
    Baze University
    Bells University of Technology
    Benson Idahosa University
    Bowen University
    Delta State University, Abraka
    Evangel University, Akaeze
    Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun
    Godfrey Okoye University
    Lagos State University of Education
    Lagos State University of Science and Technology
    Nasarawa State University, Keffi
    Niger Delta University
    Nile University of Nigeria
    Osun State University
    Rivers State University
    Thomas Adewumi University
    University of Cross River State
    University of Maiduguri
    Veritas University, Abuja

  • SAD! Chairman, Cttee of VCs, Prof. Edoumiekumo is dead

    SAD! Chairman, Cttee of VCs, Prof. Edoumiekumo is dead

    The Chairman, Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Prof. Samuel Edoumiekumo, is dead.

    A source close to the family of the deceased revealed this development on Saturday evening.

    Edoumiekumo, who was the immediate past VC of the Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State, was said to have died on Friday night following a brief illness.

    Edoumiekumo obtained his First School Leaving Certificate from Akeindenowei Primary School, Toru Angiama, in 1982 and his West Africa School Certificate from Ajeromi Ifelodun High School, Lagos State, in 1988.

    The late economics professor holds a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and two Doctor of Philosophy Degrees, which he obtained from the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and the University of Nsukka.

    On May 17, 2017, the then governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, approved the appointment of Edoumiekumo as the acting VC, NDU, following the expiration of the tenure of the former VC, Prof. Humprey Ogoni.

    On May 2, 2018, he was appointed the fourth substantive VC of the school.

    Until his death, he served as the chairman, Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities.

  • ABUAD founder warns federal and state governments against the proliferation of universities

    ABUAD founder warns federal and state governments against the proliferation of universities

    The founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) has cautioned the federal and state governments against the proliferation of universities, stressing that the existing ones were underfunded and lacked the requisite facilities to offer quality education.

    He stated this on Friday at ABUAD on Friday, during the 10th convocation ceremony of the private university held at the Ado- Ekiti campus of the institution.

    The ABUAD founder, Chief Babalola stated that the fact that the university was ranked first in Nigeria and 321 globally by Times Higher Education Impact Ranking, signposted that something good and meritorious can still happen in Nigeria.

    He warned the federal and state governments against the proliferation of universities when the existing ones were underfunded and lacked the requisite facilities to offer quality education.

    Babalola said: “The future of this country is certainly in private universities. By the time ABUAD was founded in 2009, there were only 33 private universities in Nigeria.

    “But between 2009 and now, we have 77 private universities. The strict conditions like a conducive learning environment, provision of teaching facilities, structures, laboratories, libraries, and qualified personnel with which ABUAD was subjected to were no longer there anymore.

    “What we have mainly today seem to be constituency projects to satisfy the yearnings of some governors and legislators.
    “It is inconceivable that a newly established private university is allowed to run Medicine, Engineering, and Law in the first year. We should not allow the undue proliferation of private universities to destroy the quality and functional education.”

    Babalola said the university had expended a total of N1,149,500,000 billion to power scholarships for students and staff, describing these as needed to motivate them to give their best in their services to the nation.

    The Legal Luminary disclosed that the university had offered training to about 1,000 students in Nigeria and the Republic of Benin in agric-based vocations and 894 of them had been provided with start-off facilities to checkmate unemployment and the attendant crimes.

    He urged the youths to work assiduously and halt the drift in the education standards in the country, saying no nation progresses beyond the qualities of its productive population.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the former Governor of Ekiti State, Engr Segun Oni, the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Garba El-Kanemi, and a legal Icon, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), were garlanded with Honourary Doctoral degrees of the prestigious citadel of learning.

  • ASUU Strike: FG finally gives up

    ASUU Strike: FG finally gives up

    The Federal Government has finally given up on the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, saying “we have done the best that we can”.

     

    The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, disclosed this to reporters at an ongoing meeting with Pro-Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors of Federal Universities at the National Universities Commission (NUC) Abuja.

     

    The meeting, at a point, went into a closed-door session.

    In the spirit of sincerity, the Government made it clear that it would not break the law

    Adamu said: “In all, we have been doing, our guide has been the directive of Mr President Muhammadu Buhari, namely, that while the unions should be persuaded to return to work, Government should not repeat the past mistakes of accepting to sign an agreement it will be unable to implement. Government should not, in the guise of resolving current challenges, sow seeds for future disruptions.

     

    “We have done the best that we can in the circumstance. After Inter-ministerial consultations and rounds of hard negotiations with all government agencies, we interacted with the Unions.

     

    “I personally, gave it all it required to resolve the current challenges. I met the Unions anywhere and everywhere possible with facts, with figures, and with absolute sincerity.

     

    “For example, I directly met with ASUU leadership in my house, in my office and at the ASUU Secretariat on several different occasions, in addition to other formal engagements going on.

     

    “To be frank with all the unions, especially with ASUU, one major issue over which Government and the Unions could not reach amicable agreement was the issue of the law on “No work, No pay”.

     

    “In the spirit of sincerity, the Government made it clear that it would not break the law. And on this, I must, openly and once again, thank all the Unions which made the sacrifice of understanding the position of Government on the matter.”

     

    According to ASUU, the strike was a hard decision it was forced to take to prevent the destruction of public universities and the system.

  • INTERVIEW: FG has not met any of ASUU’s demands – UNN Lecturer

    INTERVIEW: FG has not met any of ASUU’s demands – UNN Lecturer

    The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) announced an indefinite strike which came into effect on Monday, August 29, after months of talks with the Federal Government failed to reach a compromise.

    The Council has accused the Federal Government of “high-level deceit” since the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement opened in 2017 and ASUU insists it will not call off the strike action until the Federal Government takes concrete steps towards implementing its demands.

    These demands include the payment of earned academic allowance, review of the National Universities Commission (NUC) 2004 Act to tackle the proliferation of universities, implementation of 26 per cent budgetary allocation to the education sector, implementation of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), payment of withheld salaries and non-remittance of check-off dues of unions, salary upgrade and the constitution of visitation panels.

    In an interview with TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) on Thursday, a senior lecturer and researcher at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Dr Kingsley Ugwuanyi, admitted that there is mistrust between ASUU and the Federal Government.

    From resource allocation to its utilisation, Ugwuanyi, an expert in English sociolinguistics who is also a consultant to the Oxford English Dictionary, provides an in-depth perspective into what the real issues are and what he thinks might be the way forward. An excerpt of the interview is presented below:

    How bad is the funding situation in Nigerian public universities?

    You know when people hear about funding, they assume it’s about salaries. No! Salaries are part of it, no doubt. But the key issue is funding infrastructure and resources for teaching and learning. Let me give you an example from a recent experience. In February shortly before the strike, I was teaching a class of nearly 500 students, and for 2 weeks we were looking for a venue that could take all of us, but we couldn’t find one. In the end, we had to share another big hall with another lecture – so two lectures were going on in the same auditorium at the same time. You can’t imagine how chaotic that was. Some lecturers hold their lectures in the stadium or on an open field. Can you imagine that? Let’s not even talk about how our science and engineering laboratories are poorly equipped. Some laboratories in Nigerian universities were last equipped in the seventies – that’s where there are at all.

    Nigerian students complain all the time that all most of their lecturers give them are theories. No equipment to demonstrate or apply what they learn. As a senior lecturer, I don’t have an office. I sometimes would want to take my students to the language lab, but there’s no light. Students and lecturers don’t have access to new publications in their field to keep pace with developments in the field. The list is too long!

    Should we even talk about salaries? I’ve worked in the university for more than 10 years, and my salary, till today, is about 170 thousand naira. A graduate assistant lecturer, which is the first level for lecturers who are yet to have a Master’s degree is about 100k; for those who have a Master’s degree, the starting salary is about 120k. You know what 100k or 120k can buy in today’s Nigerian market. This is a salary structure that was last reviewed in 2009. The truth of the matter is that every aspect of our university education needs urgent funding intervention, and this is exactly what ASUU is fighting for.

    The Federal Government says it has agreed to about 80 per cent of ASUU’s demands. Is this so?

    Even though the Minister said that 80 per cent of the demands have been met and that the only outstanding issue is the issue of the payment of salary for the months ASUU was on strike, I want to tell you that that’s not true. Not one demand has been met. The Federal Government said they will not be able to pay ASUU members their salary from March until now because they have not worked and ASUU said No Pay, No Work and that was the point where every negotiation broke down. Another demand of ASUU is that they don’t want to be paid through IPPIS because it does not capture the peculiarities of universities such as lecturers who are on sabbatical leave in other universities or those who take up contract positions in other universities; they want to be paid using UTAS, which is specific to the universities and addresses the shortcomings of IPPIS.

    What the Federal Government said through the Minister is that they are promising to grant all of ASUU’s demands, which is really interesting to hear. But one thing they said is that ASUU will have to wait until 2023 when the money will be included in next year’s budgetary allocation, which is what they’ve been saying for years. One of the resolutions ASUU made in February was that once the strike commenced, it would not be called off until the Federal Government implements the agreement, not give more promises. This is still ASUU’s position until this moment. The reason is that the FG has been giving ASUU promises upon promises since 2009 when the agreement was first reached. So ASUU says it’s tired of promises; it wants to see implementation. Action.

    If the Federal Government has set up a committee to harmonise the IPPIS and UTAS payment systems and also released the sum of N50 billion for the payment of earned academic allowances, is that not sufficient grounds for ASUU to call off the strike?

    If you recall, the Memorandum of Agreement between the Federal Government and ASUU was entered in 2009, that was even before I became a lecturer in 2010, and between 2009 and today, not up to 20 per cent of that agreement has been honoured by the Federal Government. The Federal Government keeps saying we will implement. Then in 2013, there was a renegotiation because the government said what was negotiated in 2009 was not feasible and as a result, they could not implement it. There was six months strike in 2013 because of this. ASUU and Federal Government went back to the table to renegotiate and agreed to start implementation in 2014.

    In 2014, the Federal Government didn’t implement as they said and there were short warning strikes because of this in 2014, 2017 and 2019. The issues lingered on until 2020, which led to another long strike in 2020. Again, the Federal Government said the negotiated agreement in 2013 was not implementable and that there was a need for renegotiation. Again, ASUU went back to the negotiation table with the Federal Government and renegotiated, working with the Renegotiation Committee set up by the Federal Government and headed by Professor Munzali Jubrin. Again, the government failed to sign, much less implement, the agreement which was ready in 2021. This is 2022 and ASUU said no, we are tired of endless promises that seem to be the traditional approach of the government. So from ASUU’s relationship with the Federal Government over the years, ASUU can no longer trust the Federal Government to keep its promises and, therefore, ASUU is saying, we cannot work with promises. ASUU is saying that until these demands are met one by one, they can’t go back to the classroom.

    Given Nigeria’s economic outlook, would it not be unrealistic for ASUU to expect 100 per cent implementation of the agreement before it calls off the strike?

    There is no official document showing that the government has approved even one of ASUU’s demands. Just promises. And remember that whatever the Minister of Education agrees with ASUU will still go back to the executive for approval. And mind you, what the minister is saying is not even an agreement because ASUU was not involved. So if the Minister of Education is saying we will do it, it is still subject to approval. So in the end, the government could come out to say that even though the minister said this is going to be the case, we can’t do it. So there’s no guarantee. Until we see that the government has approved and given specific directives for these demands to be met, ASUU is saying we won’t be able to call off the strike.

    It takes a very rigorous process for ASUU to declare a strike or call it off. How ASUU operates is that every decision to go on strike or call off strike is taken at the chapter levels, that is, each university takes the decision and then those decisions would be aggregated at the national level and that would inform the decision of the national leadership.

    Given the recurrent strike action, what other funding options can Nigerian public universities explore?

    I have taught at two universities in the UK – the University of Northumbria and the University of Newcastle. I did my PhD in the UK as well and it was funded by Northumbria University. So how is university education funded in the UK, for example? Primarily, university education is funded by the government and I’m using the UK example because that’s the one I’m most familiar with. But there are other sources of funding like endowment funds from NGOs, private individuals, alumni, companies, or establishments that have relationships with these universities. Do we have all of these sources of funding in Nigeria? Just a few. In the University of Nigeria Nsukka, for example, there is an endowment fund by  Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in the department of Geology. This is the example I can mention off the top of my head right now, but there are not as many of them in Nigeria as you find in the UK.

    Do alumni help in Nigeria? Maybe also to a very small extent, but the fact is that the bulk of university funding in the UK comes from the government. The government has annual grants and allocations to universities and most times these allocations are given according to the research output of these universities. There are also research councils for humanities, social sciences, engineering and medicine that individual lecturers or researchers attached to universities can apply to directly and have their research funded, following clearly stipulated, transparent and often merit-based procedures.

    For instance, in Nigeria, there is the TETFUND which should do that, but you know how Nigeria is. I remember applying to TETFUND in 2015 to attend a conference in Germany, I didn’t as much as get a reply, not even a response that my application was not successful. But I knew some other people who got the funding because they know someone in the university administration or someone that works in TETFUND. Nigerian universities must also become more business-oriented. A faculty of agriculture, for example, should be able to produce sufficient food to meet the demands of the area where it is located, and profit therefrom.

    How can Nigerian public universities reinvent themselves to produce graduates with the right skill set, who can add value to the system and attract funds from non-government sources?

    The quality of higher education in Nigeria is poor by every measurement and what ASUU is saying is that part of what contributes to this poverty is that there are insufficient resources to train the students. If you produce a biochemist, a medical doctor, or an engineer, for example, who has not touched a machine, and you bring the person out to begin to work with machines, the person will not fit in. To tell you that Nigerian graduates are not as poor as painted, every year, Nigerian graduates leave Nigeria in droves for other countries – Canada, the US, UK and they do exceptionally well in those countries. They do well because the resources they can work with are there and they only need slight training to beef up the theoretical knowledge they have already acquired from our Nigerian universities. So Nigerian education is not completely useless.

     

  • ASUU Strike: NAPTAN proposes N10k per session by each parent to boost funding of universities

    ASUU Strike: NAPTAN proposes N10k per session by each parent to boost funding of universities

    Following the protracted strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, the National Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, has urged the payment of N10, 000 per session by each parent, to assist government in making more funds available for universities.

     

    NAPTAN’s Public Relations Officer, Dr. Ademola Ekundayo, disclosed this during an interview on Tuesday.

     

    Ekundayo, who lamented continued closure of universities in the country, said parents were at the receiving ends of the disagreement between the Federal Government and ASUU.

     

    He said, “We have submitted a letter to the Office of the Education Minister, seeking for audience where we hope to discuss a proposal.

     

    “We are proposing a sum of N10, 000 per parent every session that will be directly paid to the universities. That will be our own contribution apart from other statutory payments in making more funds available to the universities.

     

    “It can be called parent support levy for universities. We are at the receiving end of the industrial action. We plead with the ASUU and Federal Government to immediately resolve their differences.”

     

    A philanthropist and founder of Opeyemi David Falegan Foundation, Opeyemi Falegan, has called on the past presidents and military rulers to intervene in the lingering ASUU strike.

     

    He also called on the Federal Government and the striking lecturers to consider making necessary sacrifices to end the strike.

     

    The United Kingdom-based Social Democratic Party chieftain made the appeal in a statement made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday titled, “Strike: Nigerian tertiary education system on the verge of total collapse if ASUU strike continues, Falegan warns.”

     

    “The continued industrial action by ASUU may lead to total collapse of tertiary education in Nigeria if the Federal Government and ASUU continue to be flexing muscles. They should sheath their sword in the best interest of hapless Nigerian students and their parents,” Falegan said.

     

    He urged former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan and as well past military leaders, including Yakubu Gowon and Abdusalam Abubakar, among others to intervene with a view to making the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), see reason to ensure reopening of the universities.

     

    “We call on well-meaning Nigerians, especially former Heads of State and Presidents to prevail on the current Nigerian leaders to accede to the demands of ASUU to allow the lecturers and students return to the classrooms,” he said.

     

    Meanwhile, the Federal University, Dutsin-Ma branch of ASUU has called for total and indefinite strike by union members nationwide if the Federal Government continues to ignore its national headquarters’ demands.

     

    The union took the decision at its congress was held at the institution’s take-off campus in Dutsin-ma on Monday.

     

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that a copy of the resolutions arrived at during the congress, signed by the branch’s Chairperson, Jibrin Shagari; and Secretary, Mzungu Ignatius was made available to journalists.

  • ASUU STRIKE: Nine varsities risk losing 159 courses’ accreditation

    ASUU STRIKE: Nine varsities risk losing 159 courses’ accreditation

    At least, nine federal universities across the country may lose 159 courses’ accreditation following their expiration in 2022 amidst the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.

    The nine universities include the University of Ilorin; University of Jos, Plateau; University of Calabar; Bayero University Kano; University of Benin, Edo; University of Lagos; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; and University of Ibadan.

     

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the National Universities Commission is the agency of the Federal Government in charge of accreditation of courses in Nigerian universities, and the commission is empowered by law to set minimum academic standards for universities and accredit their degree programmes.

     

    This led to the preparation, with the use of experts, of the minimum academic standards for the 13 disciplines taught in Nigerian universities in 1989.

     

    The disciplines are: Administration, Agriculture, Arts, Basic Medical Sciences, Education, Engineering and Technology, Environmental Sciences, Law, Medicine and Dentistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sciences, Social Sciences and Veterinary Medicine.

     

    The 159 courses were all granted full accreditation by the NUC in 2017; a document of the accreditation result of the schools from 1990-2021, which was obtained from the NUC, has been revealed.

     

    For instance, at the University of Ilorin, the Department of Information and Communication Sciences was accredited in 2017, with the accreditation set to expire in 2022, making it the only course whose accreditation is set to expire.

     

    For the University of Ibadan, the NUC data revealed that only the accreditation for Pharmacy expires in 2022.

     

    The accreditation of 20 courses at the University of Jos is set to expire; while 31 courses including Public Administration, French, German, History, Linguistics, Yoruba and Medical Rehabilitation will be affected at the Obafemi Awolowo University.

     

    Others are University of Calabar (15); Bayero University Kano (14); University of Benin (27); University of Lagos (27); Ahmadu Bello University (23).

     

    When asked if pre-accreditation and accreditation processes can commence despite the ongoing strike, the ASUU chairman of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Dr Gbolahan Bolarin, said, “Accreditation of courses cannot be done during strike. All activities are suspended.”

     

    Pre-accreditation activities such as drawing up a list of academic programmes to be accredited; compilation of list of panel chairmen/members, time-tabling and budgeting and organising the accreditation coordination meeting for panel chairmen and members in a simulation workshop can occur.

  • FG berates ASUU over strike

    FG berates ASUU over strike

    “You are being mean. There is no point in disrupting everybody’s life because you have not got your money,” said the Minister of State for Education, Mr Emeka Nwajiuba, to Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over ongoing strike.

     

    He stated his position on the ASUU strike in an interview, explaining that the government had no money to fund the union’s requests at a go as the sale of petroleum had dropped drastically in the country.

     

    He wondered if the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) could bear with the Federal Government over non meeting to their demands, why would ASUU not do likewise.

     

    Nwajiuba said it is selfish for the ASUU to shut down the universities since they are not the only ones that have demands.

     

    Berating ASUU, Nwajiuba stated, “The issue is not whether they are right or wrong.

     

    “What we’ve consistently said is government and the people of Nigeria will continue to look into the matter because if you disrupt academic sessions because of one entitlement, you would eventually get the entitlement, but we would have lost the time our children would have used in learning.”

     

    “The 2.2 million children we have in tertiary institutions who are in the universities and other tertiary institutions, and the nearly 100,000 lecturers, that work with them are a very important segment of our workforce.

     

    “But then, they are not the only people in Nigeria. There are unionists in so many different parts. All we manage to sell after banditry attacks is just less than 1,000 barrels of oil in a day. When the money comes in, it is that money we are going to use to pay the police, Man O’ War, and all the civil defence groups and other organisations in Nigeria.

     

    “It is that same money we are going to use in paying secondary school teachers. To build infrastructure, the government just goes around begging China, begging this, begging that. But to pay salary, we have to sell this little crude oil in order to keep the lives of 200-so million lives running.

     

    “You can see what the Ministry of Finance is doing. It gave N50bn, N20bn. We don’t have N200bn in the coffers at a go. When the last President (Goodluck Jonathan) signed the agreement, he thought he might have the money. The government can’t be managed like that: The government will not be robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

     

    The minister also defended the decision of the Federal Government to establish more universities, saying it was part of efforts to increase access to university education.

     

    He stated, “What we have done is to at least expand access. And while we are using the resources that are available to us to improve human capacity to be able to run because those are the two things needed; buildings are not the universities. It is content that makes the universities. So as long as we keep developing human capacity around them, we will ensure we give access to our people in millions.”

     

    According to him, government licensed 20 universities last year; another 12 this year.

     

    “It is our belief that Nigeria is still below 250 universities for 250 million people,” he added.

     

    He said no fewer than 1.5 million candidates write Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination every year, out of which only 600,000 are admitted.

     

    Nwajiuba, also, took a swipe at the Joint Action Committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions for also going on strike.

     

    Two weeks ago, SSANU and NASU began a two-week warning strike.

     

    Among others, JAC is demanding payment of earned allowances. It also faulted the usurpation of non-academic career positions by vice-chancellors.

     

    JAC on Friday also extended its strike by another two weeks. ASUU, which began its strike on February 14, accused the government of poor commitment to the payment of the academic earned allowance, among others.

     

    According to Nwajiuba, there was no point in the unions disrupting the lives of students because of money that they would eventually be paid.

     

    The minister stated that the workers were still receiving their salaries despite their refusal to call off the strikes.

     

    While reacting to Nwajiuba’s allegations, National President- ASUU, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, faulted the claim that the government had no money.

     

    He stated, “They (government) have money to pay him all his allowances. They have money to feed students for the so-called N250bn a year and I have not seen students who said they were fed. They have money to construct the second runway of the presidential wing of the airport but they don’t have money for education.

     

    “Nigeria has money to be used to pay school fees every year in foreign countries but we don’t have N200bn to use in our country.

     

    “Tell him if that is what he wants, they should close all the universities, till when money comes.”

     

    Osodeke added that the plan of the government and the elite was to devalue the government tertiary institutions so that every Nigerian would be forced to attend private institutions.

     

    He emphasised that the government could afford to turn a deaf ear to the unions’ requests because politicians’ children were not schooling in Nigeria.

     

    “Do we still have public primary and secondary education? They have killed them. That is what they want to do to universities. If we give up this fight, you will be surprised that in the next two years, Nwajiuba will have a university.”

     

    “Their children are not in this country and they have nothing at stake. They are not interested. If they have their children in this country, they will not tell you there is no money for education.”

  • Seven Nigerian universities make list of world best varsities

    Seven Nigerian universities make list of world best varsities

    Times Higher Education World University Rankings has released the 2022 World Best University ranking recognising seven Nigerian Universities among the top 1000 universities in the globe.

    The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022 include more than 1,600 universities across 99 countries and territories, making them the largest and most diverse university rankings to date.

    In the latest ranking, the University of Lagos (UNILAG) is in second place (501-600) and Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State third position (601-800), respectively. University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) was in the 4th position (1201+) while the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) is in the 5th place (1201+).

    Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is in the 6th position (1201+) and the Lagos State University (LASU) occupying seventh place on the table.

    The current ranking analysed more than 108 million citations across over 14.4 million research publications and included survey responses from almost 22,000 scholars globally.

    The table is based on 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across four areas: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

    “Overall, we collected over 430,000 data points from more than 2,100 institutions that submitted data. This year’s league table reveals how the COVID-19 pandemic has started to shift global higher education performance,” Time Higher Education’s report said.

    The US is the most-represented country overall with 183 institutions, and also the most represented in the top 200 (57), although its share of universities in this elite group is falling.

    Harvard University tops the teaching pillar, while the University of Oxford tops the research pillar and Macau University of Science and Technology leads the international pillar.

    The University of Oxford tops the ranking for the sixth consecutive year, while mainland China has two institutions in the top 20 for the first time: Peking University and Tsinghua University share 16th place.

    Globally, the California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Stanford University and the University of Cambridge came second, third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

    In Africa, the University of Cape Town, South Africa topped the continent’s representation occupying 183 on the global scale. Stellenbosch University came second (251-300) followed by the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and the University of Kwazulu- Natal in that order.

    The University of Ibadan that ranked first in the country scored 12.6 % in research, teaching 23.4%, citations 91.2, industry income 35.3, and international outlook 32.2% while the University of Cape Town, which ranked first in South Africa and the continent had 41.4% in research, teaching 31.4% citations 85.5, industry income 56.4% and international outlook 80.1 %.

  • Nigerian Universities; beyond quantity – Dakuku Peterside

    Nigerian Universities; beyond quantity – Dakuku Peterside

    Dakuku Peterside

    The hallmark of productivity is improvement in quantity and quality. If one of these standards is sacrificed for the other, needed development is compromised. This argument is so valid in our tertiary education sector today . The demand for higher education in Nigeria, spurred by urgent national development needs, is enormous hence the need for more Universities. However, it is counter- intuitive and counter-productive to establish more when most existing universities are ‘glorified secondary schools’, poorly resourced, poorly managed, and sometimes not fit for purpose. I advocate for improving the quality of existing universities before indulging in the proliferation of universities in Nigeria. And I would argue that improving the quality of outcomes of Nigeria’s universities requires investment, propelled by a national strategic vision, and complemented with good governance.

    The National Universities Commission (NUC) has indicated that it intends to increase university capacity by supporting the creation of new private universities. But indications show that the commission has not focused on scholarly output and quality of teaching. Quantity is of limited use unless accompanied by quality. Recently, NUC issued provisional licenses to 20 newly approved private universities in Nigeria. However, the standards and criteria of approving private universities are either not known or are out of tune with current global reality. The approval brought the number of private universities in Nigeria to 99 and a total of 197 universities.

    Ordinarily, the increasing number of universities in Nigeria should be a source of excitement, especially in the educational sector. An increment in number means increased competition and increased choices, which should lead to better standards. However, the situation with Nigerian universities seems not to support this axiom. As the numbers of universities in the country increases, the standards seem to decrease. It is an ironic situation where competition does not seem to drive quality standards.

    In the most recent report released by Webometrics, a respected authority in the ranking of universities globally, no Nigerian university made it to the top 1,000 universities in the world. The report stated that the highest ranked Nigerian university, the University of Ibadan, is placed 1,258 globally and number 18 on the continent of Africa, far behind universities from South Africa, Egypt,Ghana, Kenya and Uganda. In terms of knowledge production through research, “Nigeria’s universities produce only 44% of the “scholarly output” of South Africa and 32% of Egypt. This is even though Nigeria has nearly four times more universities than Egypt and over six times more than South Africa.” These rankings tell a gory story of the state of university education in Nigeria and it’s gradual decline to global irrelevance. It is not the best way to showcase the state of education in a country touted as the giant of Africa, a country endowed with enormous human and material resources.

    Universities aim to help people acquire academic skills, professional expertise and knowledge. These enable individuals to develop into valuable members of the community. The universities achieve these through teaching, researching, and disseminating existing and new knowledge, pursuing service to the community and being a storehouse of knowledge. Also, it aims to inculcate proper value orientation, provide an objective view of the local and external environments, and improve individuals’ intellectual capacities to understand and appreciate their environment. Given Nigeria’s peculiar circumstances, universities should strive to close the gap in life skills of leadership,
    entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology adoption.

    In this time where the battle for universities’ essence and heart and soul are contested in the public sphere, it is vital to reiterate the benefits of university education. It gives students the capacity for creative and independent thought. Other benefits include providing long-term financial gain, job stability, career satisfaction and success outside of the workplace. With more and more occupations requiring advanced education, a university degree is critical to the success of the average youth in today’s workforce. The pertinent question is, are Nigerian universities adequately fulfilling their aims and providing adequate benefits to society and especially the youths? It is time to rethink university education to make it fit for purpose and a tool to help Nigeria leap-frog development. This calls for leadership. Education leaders in Nigeria must articulate a clear vision for our universities and sell this vision to society so that all stakeholders will work collaboratively to improve the universities.

    The current situation where, in most Universities, Vice- chancellor’s function more as project managers, interested in civil contracts than as leaders of the academic community, must change. Incessant strikes by university workers, especially lecturers, have reduced our universities to “burial grounds” where people gather periodically to bury quality education. ASUU, the abbreviation for Academic Staff Union of Universities, the principal trade union of university teachers in Nigeria, has become a byword for frequent disruption in academic studies occasioned by trade disputes between lecturers and the government on one hand and lecturers and the university administration on the other hand. Between 2019 and 2020, Nigerian university students spent almost one year at home through a combination of ASUU strikes and the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of incessant ASUU strikes, some students spend upwards of seven years pursuing a four- year programme.
    The disruption of academic programmes of institutions of higher learning affects students learning outcomes since lecturers find it difficult to complete the course work. In most cases, a semester’s course work is sandwiched into few weeks during which lectures are rushed to accommodate the time lost to strike. It has also contributed to the culture of “ bow and go” at project and thesis defence which has crept in from the political space to the academic environment. This type of academic rush is a significant threat to the attainment of quality in higher education in Nigeria.

    There is also the issue of inadequate funding. Today in Nigeria, many universities cannot build lecture halls, students’ hostels, equip laboratories and workshops, and pay staff salaries, research grants, allowances, and medical bills. While the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, recommended that governments of developing nations like Nigeria should allocate between 16-25 per cent of their budget to education, the federal government allocations to education in Nigeria rarely go beyond 7 per cent, a far cry from internationally recommended standard. In the 2021 Budget, the federal government proposed N197 billion for education out of a budget estimate of over N13 trillion.
    There is also the brain drain problem, which has seen a mass exodus of brilliant and most talented lecturers to other countries of the world and other sectors of the economy. In the 1960s to early 1980s, several foreigners were in the nation’s universities as teachers and students. Today, the story is entirely different. In recent times a lot of lecturers have left Nigerian universities to join the business world. Some joined politics while others left Nigeria for greener pastures abroad. The import of brain drain is a decline in research outputs from institutions of higher learning in Nigeria.
    The prevalence of lack of quality lecturers
    is embarrassing . In some public universities, some lecturers are engaged on political consideration and not competence . Agreed the challenge of quality academic staff is more pronounced in some private universities who find it difficult to pay the salaries of competent staff, unlike government-owned universities. There have been scandalous cases where some lecturers in both public and private universities sell handout as means of survival and not for the benefit of the students .

    There are also other problems in our universities such as inadequate cum obsolete facilities and equipment, inadequate infrastructure, lack of vibrant staff development programmes, poor quality students from secondary schools entering university, plagiarism, examination malpractices, institutionalised corruption, cultism, poor policy implementation, and lack of information communication technology facilities.

    There are no simple solutions to the myriad of problems facing Nigerian universities, but the key indeed lies away from establishing more universities, at least for now, until quality improves. In some cases, federal and state governments establish universities due to some primordial considerations and political calculations. Just last month, the federal government announced the establishment
    of two universities of technology in Akwa Ibom
    and Jigawa States to balance universities of technology across all geopolitical zones in the country. While this looks like good optics politically, little or no consideration is given to the funding of these new institutions.
    Also, in our various states, we have situations where incumbent state governors either move the permanent site of the state university to their local communities or establish campuses there. In most cases, it becomes a merry go round as every governor takes a turn to develop campuses in their communities. These acts by these state chief executives, which leads to the proliferation of university campuses, hardly take into consideration infrastructure logistics issues and the extant needs of the university. It leads to some universities becoming pawns of politicians rather than places of academic excellence.

    To get it right in Nigerian universities, the government should never make promises to lecturers, which the incumbent administration or subsequent administrations cannot fulfil. The usual practice of allocating a meagre 7 per cent of the budget to education does not reflect a serious intention to improve the quality of education in the country. The UNESCO recommended 16% -25% of educational spending should be aspired to and met.
    If the government and other stakeholders give adequate funding and desired attention to the sector, it can become a great source of revenue for the country. An improved educational system in the country can attract international students through which government can generate foreign exchange, which can be used to finance the education of locals and improve the infrastructure in our universities. They should create enabling environment for staff through improved conditions of service, provision of basic infrastructure and tools required for effective functioning of universities, virtual libraries, and information communication technologies and internet connectivity. They should create research-friendly environments to encourage creativity and innovation.

    In the Western world, the private sector is heavily involved in the funding of university education through grants and endowments. This is an area that must be well explored in the country. Large companies and corporations should be encouraged to dedicate part of their profit to the funding of our universities as part of their corporate social responsibility.

    In conclusion, ideally, increased options lead to increased competition, leading to improved standards. But Nigerian situations are never ideal. The increased number of universities has not led to an improved standard of education over the years. Instead, what we have is an invasion of the university sector by all sorts of characters masquerading as educational investors. The concentration of all and sundry in the educational sector should be not in getting more universities to be established but rather to see that the ones already on the ground are of excellent quality.