Expert Faults Proliferation Of Varsities

A researcher in higher education management, Professor Mustapha Arikewuyo has called on the federal government to check the rising proliferation of universities in the country to guarantee quality as well as checkmate entrenched trends of half-baked graduates.

Arikewuyo made the call yesterday while delivering the 120th inaugural lecture of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, titled “From One To Two Hundred and Sixty-Two: Navigating the Sustainability Question in the Proliferation of Universities in Nigeria.” The lecture was chaired by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ayodeji Agboola.

He explained that the call becomes urgent given the evidence that past NEEDS Assessments of public universities in Nigeria have indicated that further proliferation of universities in the country would hurt the system in addition to both the quality and quantity of their products.

With particular mentioning of a Bill proposing an additional 47 numbers of federal universities for the country, which had scaled second reading in the House of Representatives as of February this year, Arikewuyo said the federal government, through the appropriate regulatory agency, should evolve means of expanding the carrying capacity of the existing ones in such that they would be able to admit the entire quota allocated to them by JAMB rather than establishing additional universities.

He blamed the military for the proliferation through policy somersault and the creation of more states with the attendant creation of more Universities, particularly citing General AbdulSalami Abubakar as one who opened the floodgate in the twilight of his administration; he granted licences for three private universities – Igbinedion University Okada, Babcock University Ilishan and Madonna University.

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According to him, when the military eventually retreated in 1999, individuals and politicians in government took cues from them and began to establish universities, even for outright “political considerations.”

“If, as of today, all the Universities cannot admit the Quota allocated to them, is there a justification for the proliferation of universities in Nigeria?

“Perhaps there is also the need to check the proliferation of universities, especially in the quality area. Experience has shown that quality may be affected if the number of universities is not checked. Providing adequate human resources has been a major challenge in the Nigerian University system. The private Universities are mostly affected”.