Education experts across the country have expressed divergent views over the Federal Government’s recent approval of six new private universities in the country.
The Federal Executive Council recently approved the establishment of the six new institutions, bringing the number of private universities in the country to 74.
The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who announced the decision at the end of a FEC meeting in Abuja, listed the newly-approved private universities to include Admiralty University, Ibusa, Delta State; Spiritan University, Nneochi, Abia; Precious Cornerstone University, Ibadan, Oyo State; Pamo University of Medical Sciences, Port Harcourt, Rivers State; Atiba University, Oyo State; and the Eko University of Medical and Health Sciences, Lagos.
It is not the question of the number of universities we are opening, but the engineering of education; that is, the quality assurance
However, experts in the nation’s education sector have raised issues about this development, especially regarding inadequate infrastructural development and quality of tuition.
A lecturer in the Department of English, University of Ibadan, Prof. Obododimma Oha, said that the six newly approved universities would create more room for students seeking admission.
“Many people are worried about the increase in the number of private universities, but what they failed to realise is that there are many Nigerian students who need higher education, and since they are not given admission, they become frustrated staying at home and rewriting examinations. But with the approval of these new private universities, I think, it would help them to gain admission. When many young people are not enrolled to pursue their economic dream, they end up victimising their life for doing the wrong thing and that leads to unfortunate consequences.”
Oha added that the process of getting approval for these universities had been on for a long time, even before the advent of the current administration.
“I think the approval of more private universities is in the right direction. It is something that has been on and many of these private institutions would have applied long ago. So, it is not just about the current government in Nigeria,” he said.
Speaking on the high fees charged by many private universities in Nigeria, he said, “There were private institutions, even from the primary school level, that the government used to run, but presently, there is the inability to run private institutions; funding is a problem.
“Even in terms of appointment of heads of ministries of education, there is nothing wrong in private partnership in this kind of situation. It will only help competition to flourish among Nigerians.”
Another expert, who is a professor of political science at University of Lagos, Solomon Akinboye, argued that it would have been better to upgrade the facilities at the existing universities than approving new ones.
“What I feel about this development is that the existing universities should be equipped and strengthened, rather than creating new universities. The government should have provided money for the infrastructural development of the existing schools,” he said.
Akinboye, however, added that existing universities could accommodate more students if their infrastructure was expanded.
“For instance, if a university has the capacity to admit 100 students presently, they would be able to increase it to about 150 students, if there is more infrastructural development in the universities,” he said.
The Chairman of the Governing Council of the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikan, Lagos, Prof. Tunde Samuel, said the quality of tuition rather than the number of universities should matter most.
“It is not the question of the number of universities we are opening, but the engineering of education; that is, the quality assurance. This generation has crisis of value, and the crisis of self above the nation, which is negative. It should be nation above self,” he said.
Samuel also lamented that the competence and proficiency of the lecturer had declined unlike in the past, while the commitment of the Nigerian student towards education had also dropped.
“Emphasis must go to vocational and technical education. If we shift emphasis, we don’t need more universities, we don’t need so many universities, but we need human capital and skills,” he added.
