Private Varsities And Educational Dev In Nigeria

The federal government on April 8 presented provisional licences to 20 new private universities bringing the total number of private universities in Nigeria to 99. The approved universities are, Topfaith University Mkpatak, Akwa Ibom State; Thomas Adewumi University, Oko-Irese, Kwara State; Maranatha University, Mgbidi, Imo State;Ave Maria University, Piyanko, Nasarawa State; Al-Istiqama University, Sumaila, Kano State; Mudiame University, Irrua, Edo State; Havilla University, Nde-Ikom, Cross River State; Claretian University of Nigeria, Nekede, Imo State and others.
Presenting the licences, the Minister of Education, Mallam AdamuAdamu, represented by his Minister of State, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, was quoted as saying that the approval of the establishment of these universities was a testimony to the continued partnership of the federal government with the private sector in education development in the country.
With the population surge in the country, increasing demand for university education, crumbling facilities in the public universities, unpredictable academic calendar owing to incessant strike, inadequate funding of the public higher institutions, dwindling education standard, among other factors, came the need for private investment in the universities to replicate the success story in both primary and secondary schools.
It is generally believed that with the involvement of non-state actors religious organisations, corporate bodies and entrepreneurs in the education sector, the story of university education in Nigeria will change for the better both in delivery of qualitative education, better infrastructure, more access to university education and others.
So, since 1999 when the first three private universities – Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, Ogun-State; Igbinedion University, Okada-Benin, Edo State; and Madonna University, Okija, Anambra State were licensed following the lifting of the hitherto ban on establishment of private universities by the military government, there has been a steady rise in the number of private universities in the country. From three institutions 22 years ago, we now have 99 accredited private universities.
However, whether the upsurge of private universities has impacted positively on the education sector in Nigeria as envisaged is debatable. While some protagonists of private universities believe that education in Nigeria has greatly improved in the past two decades of existence of private universities and more of it will guarantee a more solid education sector, the antagonists say the burgeoning of private universities portends a threat to quality education in Nigeria.
For, the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, the proliferation of private varsities in Nigeria will not address the inherent problems confronting tertiary institutions. He said during a newspaper interview that ”Proliferation of private universities in the last two decades or so has not and cannot solve the problems. Government needs to expand facilities and employ more academics in both federal and state universities to accommodate more indigent candidates seeking university admission.
“Again, the proliferation of private universities is over-stretching academics in the existing public universities. Most of these private universities are unleashed on Nigerians without concrete and realistic human resource development plans.
“So, they poach on academics in older universities to attract them mostly as visiting, part-time and adjunct lecturers. The few permanent lecturers in most of these private universities are employed under conditions that are not labour friendly.
“If you look closely, many of the seasoned lecturers listed by most private universities only exist on paper because their roles are pushed to the less qualified lecturers.  These and other sharp practices by many private universities are negatively impacting the quality of university education in country.
The ASUU president also noted the school fees of most private universities are beyond the reach of the poor thereby making it impossible to attract quality students from this group which he said constitute about 70% of admission applicants.
Corroborating Ogunyemi’s views was a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Communication and Linguistics Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Christopher Ochonogor. He observed that though the increasing number of private universities may increase the chances of more people gaining admission; provide employment for a few individuals, the quality of their products is still very regrettable, noting that many of them lack adequate manpower, infrastructure and equipment and their staff are poorly remunerated when compared with their counterparts in public institutions.
He blamed the regulatory body – the National Universities Commission (NUC) for part of the lapses in the universities. According to him, the NUC is not doing what is expected of it because they do the accreditation, resource verification and see the same lecturers being recycled from one university to another and do nothing about it. “They are supposed to pay impromptu visits to the universities but they always give some months’ notice. So, these people will do a lot of window dressing, borrow a lot of things, including lecturers, borrow adjunct staff from wherever and fill up the place. Immediately the NUC members leave, those things will disappear and the students will just be there,” he disclosed.
Ochonogor opined that instead of floating more universities, the government should monitor the existing ones and ensure that they are operating optimally and that the set standard is maintained so that the best result will be achieved.
However, another lecturer, Dr. (Mrs.) Chizoba Ezeme, believes that private universities have an edge over those of the public because the lecturers are better supervised and are more committed to their duties; they are better equipped; they have modern teaching and assessment methods; they have faster academic calendars without disruptions; the students are thoroughly monitored to ensure they take their academics seriously; adequate amenities and conducive learning environment are provided, the infrastructures are well maintained and not overstretched and there is zero tolerance for cultism (especially in faith-based universities).
Ezeme averred that the engagement of part-time lecturers and borrowing of equipment both from within and outside the school for accreditation is not peculiar to private tertiary institutions rather it cuts across both public and private universities.
As a way out, she suggested that NUC should ensure that staff used for accreditation are permanent staff of the particular university or department; insist that all equipment for accreditation must be engraved so they cannot be used outside a particular department or institution as the case may be.
Some other analysts have also looked at the contribution of private universities to nation-building in terms of their multiplier effects. In the views of a renowned Port Harcourt based journalist, Mr. Olalekan Ige, creation of more private universities means more employment for the citizens, increased revenue for the government and more development for the host communities. He noted that the ancillary services associated with thes institutions – fast food joints, banks, hostels, super markets, business centers and many more, will increase the purchasing power of people within and around their communities.
He further argued that with a population of over 200 million people with about 60% of the population under the age of 25, less than 200 universities in the country, both public and private, is grossly inadequate, disclosing that the United States of America whose population is somehow close to that of Nigeria has close to 4000 universities. “Over two to three million candidates sit for JAMB every year. How many are admitted? Less than 500 people are admitted into the universities and you begin to ask, where do the rest go to?” He queried.
Ige submitted that while there is a need to provide safety nets for those who do not want to go to the universities through skills acquisition and the likes, more universities should be licensed to cater for the huge number of candidates seeking university education. He however, advised that NUC strictly adheres to the template for granting license to private universities, insisting that all the criteria are fulfilled by intending university owners
Other suggestions by these experts on how to have more formidable universities in the country include: regular monitoring of both private and public universities by the NUC and the federal Ministry of Education to ensure that high standards are maintained at all times; minimum requirement  especially for teaching staff should be maintained by private universities;  proper funding of the universities and education generally; government should respect whatever contract they go into with both the academic and non-academic staff unions of the universities so as to minimise strike actions; the infrastructural rot and decay in public universities, as comprehensively documented in the 2012 Federal Government’s Needs Assessment Report of Public Universities, should be addressed without further delay .
Charles Bradford, an American lawyer and former Governor of Oklahoma, USA once said, “No other investment yields as great a return as the investment in education. An educated workforce is the foundation of every community and the future of every economy”. Therefore, as analysts opined, the NUC should live up to its mission statement which is “to ensure the orderly development of a well-coordinated and productive university system that will guarantee quality and relevant education for national development and global competitiveness”.
The competition from increased private delivery of education can generate improved performance among both public and private schools and lead to the much-needed development if the right steps are taken to put things in proper perspective, they insisted.

By: Calista Ezeaku