By Dorcas Elusogbon
Ile-Ife (Osun), May 13, 2023
The Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, has called on the Federal Government to fund tertiary education adequately in Nigeria.
Rasheed made the demand at the 2023 National Reunion Conference of Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates Association (UNIFEMGA), at Obafemi Awolowo University, on Saturday, in Ile Ife.
The Executive Secretary delivered the lecture titled “Funding of tertiary education in Nigeria: Issues, trends and opportunities.”
The NUC boss, who was represented by Prof. Shehu Ado, a Consultant to the schools’ regulatory body, said that the major issue affecting Tertiary Education is gross underfunding which affects teaching, learning and research.
According to him, tertiary education is grossly underfunded, and government needs enough money to inject into the system; the underfunding is one of the banes of education development which has contributed to the low standard of education in the country.
“The universities are producing graduates that lack skills for employment and creative abilities. There is need for universities to generate income to complement government’s efforts. The sector cannot be funded alone by government,” he stressed.
He insisted that there is urgent need to invest in university education, hence the need for states and the private sector stakeholders to invest in the sector for national development. He also said that the university managements need to be more prudent in their spending.
“There is need to know why there is brain drain in the university system. This is caused by non-conductive learning and teaching environment and some other issues and needs to be corrected,” he stated.
According to him, in the past, university teachers were doing well. The naira was good then but today it is not, he pointed out.
He stated further that inadequate funding, obsolete equipment and constant disruption of the academic calendar have been described as some of the challenges facing tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
The Executive Secretary noted that though government needs to increase the funding, the institutions should endeavour to identify areas from where they could generate funds to continue their to carry out their activities.
“I was surprised when a Youth Corp member was asked to give the full meaning of NYSC and he couldn’t do it. This showed deteriorating state and quality of graduates produced by universities.
“Amongst other issues affecting our Tertiary Education is archaic curriculum which ought to be redesigned by injecting realities of the times as the world is moving on a rapid note with lack of skilled workers, graduates with no skills and self-confidence.”
Also speaking, Mallam Yusuf Ali SAN, who was the Chairman of the occasion said that government alone cannot fund tertiary education, insisting that sole government funding of tertiary institutions does not happen anywhere in the world.
Ali adding that Nigeria needs to look at other funding parameters to be used to generate funds such as endowment funds for scholarships and payment of fees.
“Nigerians send their children to foreign universities and pay huge school fees. People pay exorbitant fees in secondary schools and then say they cannot pay for university education.
“The agitation of Academic Staff Union of Universities for better pay is genuine. There is need for government to give the lecturers what is commensurate with their contributions to be able to retain them in the system rather than brain drain.
“Individuals that God has been kind to in terms of material provisions should assist the university system. When students pay school fees, government can now come to assist them through scholarships and other forms of aid,” he emphasised.
The Chairman appealed that government should continue to play its roles and everyone must join hands to ensure that they have universities that are worthy of their names.
He noted that national resources are getting smaller because of increase in population and the fact that Nigeria is a mono-economy country and will remain so until it taps its potentials in terms of income generation from taxes, mining, agriculture and information communication technology.
The UNIFEMGA National President, Engr. Olanlege Abdul-Fattah, said that the challenges in the education sector, especially the ASUU strikes, need to be tackled.
He added that a lot of things need to be put in place to make university education curriculum more relevant and that policies need to be redesigned to enable the university system to be self-sustaining.
He also advocated changes to make the university system more autonomous, called on government to generally overhaul the education sector to bring about positive changes.
Abdul-Fattah equally called for the adjusting of the curriculum to meet the needs and challenges of the youths and to make them more relevant in future.
According to him, the association has offered about 800 scholarships to students to support their future aspiration. It has also organised mentoring and coaching programs for students to enable them achieve their future career goals.
Speaking at the Ceremony, the Host Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Adebayo Bamire said, he was thrilled by the activities of UNIFEMGA because they are doing is targetting the younger ones that will take over from them.
Bamire said that the members of the association are serving as good mentors, role models that the younger ones look up to, noting that they (the younger ones) will do same to those coming after them.
According to him, the University is grateful for the contributions of the association to the OAU community.
He also used the opportunity to point out some of the achievements of his administration so far.
Earlier, a library donated to UNIFEMGA by late Alhaji Abdullah Ayinla Bello’s children, was commissioned.
Also, a courtesy visit to the Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Prof. Adebayo Bamire, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) Prof. Yomi Daramola took place.
