Varsities pay less attention to research – Kukah

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev (Dr.) Matthew Hassan Kukah said universities in the country now have very little time and interest in serious academic activities and research.

Rev Kukah speaking at Pre- Convocation Lecture of University of Abuja on the topic, ‘Though Tribe and Tongue May Differ: Managing Diversity’ said this was due to the fact that both states and federal universities have gradually become ground to the forces of ethnic, regional and religious politics and power play.

“Cultism among students is merely a mirror reflection of the dirty power play at the higher levels of administration,” he said.

He said that most federal universities rather than reflect the aspiration of the nation, have become incubators of the worst form of ethnic or religious politics, saying “discrimination based on religion, ethnicity and even political loyalties and other cleavages are rife in our universities.”

He said it was a mistake for government to have named universities after the host communities’ local heroes saying it was a distortion of national identity.

The National Universities Commission (NUC), according to him, must look beyond regulating academic standards and turn attention to how much these universities reflect the aspirations of the nation and how much they create a sense of belongings to all citizens.

“In most of these federal universities, local customs trump national constitutional right in such areas as freedom of worship and religion,” he added.