Low enrolment, infrastructural deficit hobble new varsities
Two weeks before the end of the last administration, the Federal Executive Council ( FEC) approved the establishment of 37 new private universities, bringing the total number of universities in Nigeria to 260, comprising 51 federal, 61 stateowned, and 148 private universities, even as existing ones struggle to stay afloat owing to lack of students. Ayodele Adegbuyi ( Ekiti), Rotimi Agboluaje ( Ibadan), Murtala Adewale ( Kano) and Adelowo Adebumiti ( Lagos) report.
IN the eight years of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, about 90 universities were approved for operations in the education sector.
According to data obtained from the National Universities Commission ( NUC), 10 federal universities, 22 state universities, and 58 private universities were established from 2015 to date.
While some argued that the additional institutions would help prospective students eager to acquire a university education have wider choices, others said that conscious effort is needed to upgrade existing ones, especially the federal and state- owned ones to offer quality education.
Apart from the lack of funding and adequate facilities, analysts also observed that the new institutions have other challenges, especially in recruiting qualified academic staff and meeting global standards.
One of the consequences of the proliferation of universities is the substandard quality of education provided to students and the halfbaked graduates produced by those institutions.
Without the much- needed financial, technological, and technical assistance, most of the private institutions are struggling to survive. They may not be able to deliver the kind of quality education that students expect or attain the lofty objectives they set for themselves.
Most of the institutions established during the period are struggling to remain afloat, The Guardian investigation has shown. Apart from a lack of funds, many of the schools do not have enough students, facilities, and qualified academic staff to teach.
At Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology ( BOUEST), Ekiti, students struggle to learn, as the school lacks the needed infrastructural facilities and a conducive environment for learning. Although the institution was upgraded from a college of education to a university in 2020, the structures inherited were grossly inadequate. Students said they receive lectures in overcrowded lecture halls, while members of staff are also quartered in offices meant for fewer people.
They stated that but for the intervention of the Tertiary Education Fund ( TETFUND) while still a college, nothing has been done in terms of physical infrastructure, provision of standard learning facilities, conference attendance sponsorship, academic staff training and development, library development as well as Information and Communication Technology ( ICT) intervention.
According to some staff members, the monthly subvention coming from the state government was barely enough to pay wages
and salaries, hence, no room for infrastructural development.
The institution’s spokesman, Temitope Akinbisoye, admitted that funding is a major challenge. He said so many things are left undone due to lack of funds.
“There are so many things that we have to do but the government would always tell us to look inwards. In doing this, the only product we sell is to admit students,” Akinbisoye said.
He, however, disclosed that enrollment has improved tremendously in the last three years of the school’s transition to a university, as about 9,000 students were admitted.
In Oyo, the situation is not different as the new institutions are struggling to survive. Among them are Kola Daisi University, Ibadan, ( KDU- I), Precious Cornerstone University ( PCU), Ibadan, Atiba University, Oyo; Dominion University, Ibadan, and Dominican University, Samonda, Ibadan, among others.
Although the institutions have taken off, paucity of funds is the greatest challenge confronting them.
This singular challenge affects other operations of the universities, including recruitment of academic staff and equipping them with state- of- the- art facilities required for teaching and learning researchers, procurement of upscale equipment, and a host of others.
In a recent interview, the Vice Chancellor of PCU, Prof. Kola Oloke, called on the Tertiary Education Trust Fund ( TETFUND) to include private institutions in the financial assistance being offered to their public counterparts.
Student enrollment at PCU, a faith- based institution, is impressive but it has just two faculties - Social and Management Sciences and Applied Sciences.
KDU- I has over one thousand students in its academic programmes spread across many faculties.
Admiralty University of Nigeria ( ADUN), established in 2017 as a public- private partnership between the Nigerian Navy and Hellenic Education Nigeria Limited ( HENL) in Ibuza, Delta State, recently transited from Naval management to Federal Government full takeover.
The public relations officer, Mr Makut Mashat said while the institution emphasizes infrastructural development, he listed funding, manpower, and delay in payment of fees as some of the challenges confronting the institution.
He sought government and private organisations’ support through grants for research and innovation.
Makut Mashat, however, lamented that parents’ refusal to pay fees as and when due, even with the option of installmental payment, is preventing the school from actualising some of its goals.
In Kano, the newly licensed private universities have created opportunities for the growing youth population constantly seeking university education, having been deprived of access due to limited space and carrying capacity of the few public tertiary institutions in the state.
Amidst overstretched facilities and limited manpower, the second- generation university; Bayero University, Kano ( BUK), and the two state- owned institutions, Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Wudil and Maitama Sule University, could not accommodate the surging number of Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination ( UTME) candidates from and outside Kano on yearly basis.
Hence, the NUC issued provisional licenses to Skyline University, Mariam Abacha American University, Baba- Ahmed University, Al- Istiqama University, Khalifa Isyaka Rabiu University, Azman University, and Capital City University.
However, while a number of these institutions hit the ground running, some are still struggling to stabilise. A number of them have remained at the infancy stage, especially in the areas of infrastructure, manpower development, and enrollment.
At Skyline University, for instance, findings revealed that the first private university in Kano, affiliated with an academic college in Sharja, the United Arab Emirates ( UAE), has graduated its second set of students, who are currently observing the National Youth
“Many of the existing private universities are struggling to survive. Only a few of them are really strong. Actually, these universities could be an alternative for the large number of youths, who seek admission to higher institutions yearly but are not able to get it. At some point, the government will have to support them because it’s either they will not be able to survive or will survive on poor quality. ”
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Licensed in 2018, the institution runs 13 academic programmes in science, management, computing, entrepreneurship and social science with over 1,000 undergraduate students.
Like Skyline, Mariam Abacha American University, Baba- Ahmad University, as well as Capital City University, have attained progress in the areas of enrollment, infrastructure, and manpower development since inception.
For instance, Mariam Abacha American University, licensed in 2021, only commenced academic session in 2022 with more than 1,000 enrollments running various academic programmes in four schools.
Currently, the university has students in its 100 and 200 levels, and the infrastructure available in the school can compete favourably with other centres of excellence, The Guardian observed.
On its part, Baba- Ahmed University runs two academic sessions concurrently. Licensed in May 2022, the school commenced its academic programme in September 2022, enrolling 311 students in less than 10 months.
Meanwhile, Azman and Khalifa Isyaka Rabiu Universities are still in infancy, and are yet to commence admission.
The two institutions recently inaugurated members of the Board of Trustees and Governing Council, but recruitment of academic and non- academic staff has not started.
Although a visit to Khalifa Isyaka Rabiu University, along BUK road, Gadankaya, showed that the infrastructures are ready for teaching and learning, the situation was not the same at Azman University, at Yargaya village, along Maiduguri road, Kano.
Except for the fenced vast land, the institution can only boast of a few buildings under construction and a completed administrative block, a visit to the permanent site revealed.
Almost all private universities are battling with inadequate manpower, as the majority rely on the services of academic staff from federal universities who work on a part- time basis.
Critical among the challenges common to private universities is the affordability to an average family, considering the cost of tuition and registration.
Trinity University, Lagos, licensed in 2019, offers 18 courses and has already secured full accreditation for 12 programmes.
The university city campus, situated at Yaba, functions as the institution’s main campus until its permanent site located at Laloko, Ogun State is ready for full academic activities.
Findings showed that in the last three years, the institution has yet to meet its target concerning enrollment. At its third matriculation ceremony, the institution admitted 182 students, 240 students at its fourth and 411 this year.
However, to increase enrollment, the institution introduced nine months JUPEB programmes for students, who did not pass UTME or are less than 16 years or awaiting their O’level results.
But concerned stakeholders have faulted the proliferation of universities, wondering where the manpower would come from.
A Professor of Education at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko ( AAUA), Anthony Akindele, said: “I don’t think establishing new institutions is in the best interest of the education system. Where do they expect 20 universities to get lecturers?.