The Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Governing Board, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, has emphasised the need for adequate funding of university education in the country.
Ndoma-Egba spoke during the 31st Convocation Ceremony of the University of Calabar (UNICAL), where he was conferred with Doctor of Laws, (Honoris Causa), last Saturday.
He declared: “While we celebrate excellence, it is also an opportunity to reflect on certain issues of the moment, one of which is the state of education in our country.
Ndoma-Egba lamented that funding constraints had hindered education in Nigeria, stating that many public universities were in various stages of decay on account of poor funding.
He observed that funding of universities had consistently fallen short of the 26 per cent of the total national budget recommended by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
The NDDC boss said that as we move into the future, education must be visionary and innovative.
“We must not just fund education. It must be funded adequately as it remains the bedrock of our future,” he declared.
Ndoma-Egba noted that between 1980 and 2017, the number of recognised universities in the country grew from 16 to 152, adding that “for the first part of the growth, higher education capacity building was primarily in the public sector, driven by federal and state governments. By late 1990s, the Federal Government had liberalised and encouraged the setting up of private universities. This resulted in a dramatic growth in the number of private universities.
“As at 2017, private universities constituted about 45 per cent of all Nigerian universities, growing from three in 1999 to 68 in 2007. About two-thirds of these private universities were affiliated to religious organisations.”
The NDDC chairman assured the authorities of UNICAL that the three beneficiaries of the honorary doctorate degrees would continue to contribute to the growth and development of the university to ensure that it was able to prepare its students for the future.
He also pledged to step up his sponsorship of the Faculty of Law building in the university, declaring: “It will be completed, furnished and provided with a state-of-the-art e-Library.
He further made a commitment that all NDDC projects in the university would be completed within a reasonable time.
Speaking at the occasion, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Zana Akpagu, said the awardees were selected based on their positive contributions to the society and for their supports to academic excellence in the institution in particular, and the country in general.
The convocation ceremony witnessed the award of degrees to 11, 807 graduands in their various fields with 42 of them emerging with 1st class.
A breakdown shows that 7957 earned 1st degrees, 1,624 Diplomas and 2226 Post-graduate degrees.