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Nigeria’s Education System And New Universities

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15 years ago

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Federal Government’s decision to establish six new universities in the country’s six geo-political zones, as justifiable as it might sound on paper, may not have gone down well with some stakeholders in the nation’s education sector, particularly those in the university system.

For those who oppose the decision, it really sounds absurd and defies common sense that a government that has not taken care of or improved the status of existing universities will now go ahead to float new ones just to satisfy some political interests.

The sorry state of our universities, especially the federal and state government-owned ones is so obvious and glaring that any right thinking Nigerian should not think of establishing new ones, rather should concentrate on how to better the standard of the existing ones which are in pathetic state.

Government’s resolve in this direction is not in consonance with the prevailing situation in most Nigerian universities. Our universities are really in a very sorry state. Perhaps, that accounts for the reason why most rich Nigerians now send their children and wards to other universities in other African countries such as Ghana, South Africa, just to name a few.

Infact, the number of Nigerian students studying in other parts of the world coupled with those in African countries have conservatively hit over 10 million students.

If our universities rank among the best in the comity of universities in the world, there will be no such flooding of our people to other universities around the globe.

It therefore behoves the authorities to check the trend before we wake up someday to discover that our Universities are just empty with only lecturers, but no students to teach. The only way out remains that we must equip the old universities and think less of building new ones for now.

Our university system needs thorough overhaul and adequate funding to be at par with other universities in the world. Though with a large population, Nigeria does not require more than 100 universities to have a breakthrough in science and technology or in any other discipline for that matter.

By the last count, we hear the country boasts of over 200 universities (public and privately owned ones inclusive), yet, we tend to be retrogressing everyday while we watch countries like Ghana, South Africa and other African countries advance to the next level in their education system.

What is required, for a turn-around, one may ask? The problems are, indeed, legion. For one, the budgetary allocation to the education sector, precisely the university system is grossly inadequate and infact below internationally acceptable standard. Thus, except there is radical appreciation in sectoral allocation to the sector, the pathetic situation of our universities will remain the same for a long time to come.

Worse still, is the policies sommersault in the sector. Though, a Nigerian problem, but education appears to be worst hit in terms of policy inconsistency leading to hazard implementation of policies and programmes.

It is on record that the Federal Ministry of Education has had over 15 ministers of education in the past decade, a development which stakeholders not only decry but describe as worrisome and unacceptable in a civilised world.

Perhaps, due to the frequent change of baton in the Ministry with its attendant policy sommersaults, industrial disputes often leading to strikes have remained the hallmark of our university system. This, obviously, has become the biggest threat to the development and advancement of education to the next level.

Funds, indeed ,lack of it in the university system also constitutes a cog in the wheel of progress. Research grants are not released as at when due, facilities are in dilapidating conditions, dearth of equiptment in the laboratories, outdated books in the libraries, infrastructural decay of the entire system, all characterise Nigerian university system.

A situation where a councillor in a local government council with a pass in West African School Certificate (WASC) earns much more than a professor with over 30 years in the university system is just pathetic and does not motivate men in the ivory tower to put in their best.

Considering all these hic-cups in the old and existing universities, it, therefore, makes no sense for establishing new ones which by all calculations is done to score cheap political points.

The magnitude of ‘wahala’ that has undermined and continues to hinder quality education is such that our policy makers and leaders should rather concentrate on how best to upgrade the old universities by sufficiently funding and equipping them. Consolidation principle should apply. The answer obviously is not to float new ones.

The hollow argument put forward by the authorities to justify the new universities is so flimsy and laughable.

Education Minister, Ruqayyatu Rufai in her desperate bid to justify the new universities said the move was to ease off the high demand for limited places (spaces) at the undergraduate level in the universities.

According to her, 84 per cent of eligible undergraduate applicants are rejected by the universities because the existing universities can not exceed their capacity.

The Minister, perhaps, may have forgotten that the facilities in the old universities can be expanded to accommodate more students and enhance learning, teaching and research rather than build brand new ones on virgin environment.

The financial outlay for one new university, not to talk of six, is enough to provide facilities and infrastructure that will accommodate thousands of eligible candidates seeking university admission.

Did the Minister really consider the financial implications of the new universities from take-off till they stablise? The minister ought to reflect on this before justifying the reason for establishing new universities.

Methinks that her argument sounds illogical and unjustifiable, especially against the background that our universities are at the crossroads and at the brink of collapse.

Rufai’s predecessors in the Ministry had adopted so much cost-saving strategies in our university system, yet no tangible results were achieved. So, if she now tells Nigerians that the new universities will be cost-effective in terms of project and programmes implementation, she is only stating the obvious which is no longer news to most observers and stakeholdes in the university system.

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Renewable Energy Faces Looming Workforce Crisis

Published

3 weeks ago

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August 18, 2025

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Despite a discouraging political climate and unprecedented uncertainty in the United States clean energy sector, low costs of wind and solar energy continue to drive growth of the domestic clean energy sector.
However, while market forces continue to support the expansion of renewable energy capacity, the sector faces critical challenges extending beyond the antagonism of the Trump administration.
The continued growth of solar and wind power risks being hampered by several mitigating factors, including (but not limited to) intensifying competition over increasingly scarce suitable land plots, stressed and volatile global supply chains, lengthy and unpredictable development processes, Complex and overlapping permitting processes, and a critical talent gap.
The renewable energy labor shortage has been years in the making, but is no less closer to resolution. The issue spans both white collar and blue collar positions, and threatens to kneecap progress in the booming sector.
Between the years of 2011 and 2030, it is expected that global levels of installed wind and solar capacity will quadruple. Analysis from McKinsey & Company concludes that “this huge surge in new wind and solar installations will be almost impossible to staff with qualified development and construction employees as well as operations and maintenance workers.
“It’s unclear where these employees will come from in the future,” the McKinsey report goes on to say.
He continued that “There are too few people with specialized and relevant expertise and experience, and too many of them are departing for other companies or other industries.”
The solar and wind industries are suffering from a lack of awareness of career paths and opportunities, despite their well-established presence in domestic markets.
Emergent clean energies face an even steeper uphill battle. Geothermal energy, for example, is poised for explosive growth as one of vanishingly few carbon-free energy solutions with broad bipartisan support, but faces a severe talent gap and punishingly low levels of awareness in potential talent pools.
But while the outlook is discouraging, industry insiders argue that it’s too soon to sound the alarms. In fact, a recent report from Utility Drive contends that “solutions to the energy talent gap are hiding in plain sight.”
The article breaks down those solutions into four concrete approaches: building partnerships with educators, formulating Registered Apprenticeship pathways, updating credential requirements to reflect real-world needs, and rethinking stale recruitment strategies.
Targeting strategic alliances with educational institutions is a crucial strategy for creating a skilled workforce, particularly in emerging sectors like geothermal energy.
Businesses can, for example, partner with and sponsor programs at community colleges, creating a pipeline for the next generation of skilled workers. Apprenticeships serve a similar purpose, encouraging hands-on learning outside of the classroom. Such apprenticeships can apply to white collar positions as well as blue collar roles.
“If we can figure out a way to educate the younger generation that you can actually have a career that you can be proud of and help solve a problem the world is facing, but also work in the extractive industry, I think that could go a long way,” said Jeanine Vany, executive vice president of corporate affairs for Canadian geothermal firm Eavor, speaking about the geothermal energy talent gap.
These approaches won’t solve the talent gap overnight – especially as political developments may discourage would-be jobseekers from placing their bets on a career in the renewables sector. But they will go a long way toward mitigating the issue.
“The clean energy transition depends on a workforce that can sustain it,” reports Utility Drive. “To meet the hiring challenges, employers will benefit from looking beyond the next position to fill and working toward a strategic, industry-wide vision for attracting talent.”
By: Haley Zaremba
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Is It End For Lithium’s Reign As Battery King?

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1 month ago

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August 1, 2025

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Lithium-ion batteries power the world around us. Their prevalence in our daily life is growing steadily, to the extent that lithium-ion batteries now power a whopping 70 percent of all rechargeable devices.
From electric vehicles to smartphones to utility-scale energy storage, lithium-ion batteries are increasingly forming the building blocks of innumerable sectors.
But despite its dominance in battery technologies, there are some serious issues with lithium supply chains that make it a less-than-ideal model upon which to base our world.
Not only is extracting lithium often extremely environmentally damaging, it’s deeply intertwined with geopolitical pressure points. China controls a huge portion of global lithium supply chains, rendering markets highly vulnerable to shocks and the political will of Beijing.
China’s control is particularly strong in the case of electric vehicle batteries, thanks to a decade-long strategy to outcompete the globe.
“For over a decade, China has meticulously orchestrated a strategic ascent in the global electric vehicle (EV) batteries market, culminating in a dominance that now presents a formidable challenge to Western manufacturers,” reports EE Times.
The effect functions as “almost a moat” around Chinese battery production, buffering the sector against international competition.
The multiple downsides and risks associated with lithium and lithium-ion battery sourcing is pushing EV companies to research alternative battery models to power the electric cars of the future.
There are a litany of lithium alternatives in research and development phases, including – but not limited to – lead, nickel-cadmium, nickel-metal hydride, sodium nickel chloride, lithium metal polymer, sodium-ion, lithium-sulfur, and solid state batteries.
Solid state batteries seem to be the biggest industry darling. Solid-state batteries use a solid electrolyte as a barrier and conductor between the cathode and anode.
These batteries don’t necessarily do away with lithium, but they can eliminate the need for graphite – another critical mineral under heavy Chinese control. Plus, solid state batteries are purported to be safer, have higher energy density, and recharge faster than lithium-ion batteries.
While solid-state batteries are still in development, they’re already being tested in some applications by car companies. Mercedes and BMW claim that they are already road-testing vehicles powered by solid-state batteries, but it will likely be years before we see them in any commercial context.
Subaru is on the verge of testing solid-state batteries within its vehicles, but is already employing a smaller form of the technology to power robots within its facilities.
However, while solid-state batteries are being hailed as a sort of holy grail for battery tech, some think that the promise – and progress – of solid-state batteries is overblown.
“I think there’s a lot of noise in solid state around commercial readiness that’s maybe an exaggeration of reality”, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said during an interview on this week’s Plugged-In Podcast.
Sodium ion batteries are also a promising contender to overtake lithium-ion batteries in the EV sector. Sodium is 1,000 times more abundant than lithium.
“It’s widely available around the world, meaning it’s cheaper to source, and less water-intensive to extract”, stated James Quinn, the CEO of U.K.-based Faradion. “It takes 682 times more water to extract one tonne of lithium versus one tonne of sodium.That is a significant amount.”
Bloomberg projections indicate that sodium-ion could displace 272,000 tons of lithium demand as soon as 2035.
But even this does not signal the death of lithium. Lithium is simply too useful in battery-making. It’s energy-dense and performs well in cold weather, making it “indispensable for high-performance applications” according to EV World.
“The future isn’t lithium or sodium—it’s both, deployed strategically across sectors…the result is a diversified, resilient battery economy.”
By: Haley Zaremba
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Why Oil Prices Could See Significant Upside Shift

Published

1 month ago

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July 28, 2025

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The 9th OPEC International Seminar was held in Vienna recently, wherein participants discussed energy security, investment, climate change, and energy poverty, with a particular emphasis on balancing these competing priorities.
According to commodity analysts at Standard Chartered, the summit, titled “Charting Pathways Together: The Future of Global Energy”, featured significantly greater engagement from international oil companies and consuming country governments, with discussions converging on a more inclusive shared agenda rather than non-intersecting approaches seen in previous years.
However, StanChart reported there was a clear mismatch between what energy producers vs. market analysts think about spare production capacity.
Unlike Wall Street analysts, who frequently talk about spare capacity of 5-6 million barrels per day (mb/d), speakers from several sectors of the industry noted that spare capacity is both limited and very geographically concentrated.
StanChart believes this erroneous assumption about spare capacity has been a big drag on oil prices, and the implications for the whole forward curve of oil prices could be potentially profound once traders realize that roughly two-thirds of the capacity they thought was available on demand does not actually exist.
This makes the analysts bullish about the general shape of their forecast 2026 price trajectory (Figure 32), i.e., a set of significant upward shifts as opposed to the flat trajectory seen in the market curve and in analyst consensus.
In other words, oil prices could have as much as $15/barrel upside from current levels.
StanChart is not the only oil bull here. Goldman Sachs recently hiked its oil price forecast for H2 2025, saying the market is increasingly shifting its focus from recession fears to potential supply disruptions, low spare capacity, lower oil inventories, especially among OECD countries and production constraints by Russia.
GS has increased its Brent forecast by $5/bbl to $66/bbl, and by $6 for WTI crude to $63/bbl, slightly lower than current levels of $68.34/bbl and 66.24/bbl for Brent and WTI crude, respectively.
However, the Wall Street bank has maintained its 2026 price forecast at $56/bbl for Brent and $52 for WTI, due to “an offset between a boost from higher long-dated prices and a hit from a wider 1.7M bbl/day surplus.’’ Previously, GS had forecast a 1.5M bbl/day surplus for the coming year.
Further, Goldman sees a stronger oil price rebound beyond 2026 due to reduced spare capacity.
EU natural gas inventories have climbed at faster-than-average clip in recent times. According to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) data, Europe’s gas inventories stood at 73.10 billion cubic metres (bcm) on 13 July, good for a 2.31 bcm w/w increase.
Still, the injection rate is not enough to completely fill the continent’s gas stores, with the current clip on track to take inventories to about 97.9 bcm, or 84.3% of storage capacity, at the end of the injection season.
Europe’s gas demand remains fairly lacklustre despite extremely high temperatures across much of the continent in recent weeks.
According to estimates by StanChart, EU gas demand for the first 14 days of July averaged 583 million cubic meters/day, nearly 3% lower from a year ago but a 10% improvement from the June lows.
However, StanChart is bullish on natural gas prices, saying the market is likely underestimating the likelihood of more Russian gas being taken off the markets.
Back in April, U.S. senators Lindsey Graham (Republican) and Richard Blumenthal (Democrat), introduced “Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025”, with the legislation enjoying broad bipartisan support (85 co-sponsors in the Senate out of 100 senators).
In a joint statement on 14 July, the two senators noted that President Trump’s decision to implement 100% secondary tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas if a peace agreement is not reached within 50 days but pledged that they will continue to work on “bipartisan Russia sanctions legislation that would implement up to 500 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas”.
StanChart has predicted that the Trump administration is unlikely to take actions that risk driving oil prices higher. However, Russian gas remains in the crosshairs, with U.S. LNG likely to see a surge in demand if Russian gas exports are curtailed.
StanChart estimates that the EU’s net imports of Russian pipeline gas averaged 79.8 million cubic metres per day (mcm/d) in the first 14 days of July, with all non-transit flows into the EU coming into Bulgaria through the Turkstream pipeline, with Hungary and Slovakia also receiving Turkstream gas.
There was also a flow of about 65 mcm/d of Russian LNG in the first half of July, with Russia providing 18.6% of the EU’s net imports. StanChart has predicted that we could see a strong rally in natural gas prices if Washington slaps Moscow with fresh gas sanctions.
By: Alex Kimani
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