- Good idea, but needs careful and concerted implementation
Are Nigerian universities running the risk of collapse? This is a major question before the federal and state governments that have concurrent jurisdiction over tertiary education.
Since 1999, the universities have been shut down over industrial disputes involving academic and non-academic staff virtually every year, the longest period being in 2021 when students were kept at home for more than eight months. Finding solution to this has been the subject of conferences, a public hearing by the House of Representatives and press briefings by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Yet, there has been no real solution found. This must have led to government’s decision to restore full financial autonomy to the institutions as is the practice in developed countries.
As Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, announced at the Annual Education Conference, it has become imperative for government to find creative means of funding universities. In this case, granting the institutions full autonomy is nothing strange, it is global best practice and has become inevitable. The template of government bearing nearly full responsibility for running the universities has become unsustainable. Not in an era when universities are expected to be engines of national development. In other countries, researches conducted in the ivory towers are adopted by industries and agencies to spur economic and social growth. This is not the case in Nigeria where the town and the gown operate in compartments that fail to interact. Government must find a way of making all stakeholders work as genuine partners.
It is good that President Bola Tinubu appreciates the importance of tertiary education and has already announced some innovative ideas. The reintroduction of students loans board is one brilliant scheme that, if well managed, would be a great relief to students from indigent homes. Government has also said that 25 percent of the Federal budget would henceforth be earmarked for education. This would be a giant leap from the less than six percent budgeted in recent years. It is good, too, that the Federal Ministry of Education nonetheless acknowledges that quality education costs much more than government could fund at a time when all facilities have broken down in the universities, and that there is need to stem the brain drain that has hit the sector as a result of poor salaries.
It should be noted, however, that putting too many irons in the fire at the same time could cause social dislocation. The public is still groaning under excruciating hardship occasioned by fuel subsidy removal and a new regime of foreign exchange management. Both policies, while expected to impact positively on the economy in the long run, have impoverished many in the short run. The students loan’s scheme will surely aid the students when it takes off, but it is yet to. All the mechanisms must be carefully worked out before allowing education fees to skyrocket, being the likely effect of granting full autonomy to the institutions.
Universities like the federal universities in Lagos, Ife, Jos, Nsukka and Kano that have moved to introduce steep upward review of fees are being resisted. Government cannot afford to add student protests to brewing protests by the labour movement in the land. Cushioning measures must be in place before babies are weaned off the bottle. If the National Bureau of Statistics indicates that about 133 million Nigerians are multidimensionally poor, and many are either unemployed or underemployed, there must be means of ensuring that the poor have access to tertiary education. At the moment, it is through subsidised fees structure. While we agree that this must change, the roadmap that Professor Tahir said is being worked out should be carefully reviewed by stakeholders and the effects on students and staff examined.
Tertiary education in the 21st century must involve all – the schools by generating funds internally, the alumni, industry, parents and government. All hands must be on deck through a scheme that all subscribe to.
