Former Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said that universities must begin to look for alternative sources of funding to augment what they get from the government.
Delivering a lecture at the Sound state University on the topic “Interrogating the Funding of Education: Global Versus Nigerian Perspectives”, the former Speaker said Universities in other parts of the world have developed ways of raising funds for their activities.
Gbajabiamila, who spoke of how to effectively, sustainably and productively fund tertiary education in Nigeria, said giving people the intellectual resources, skills and confidence to navigate the global knowledge economy is very crucial.
He said, “I have long believed that investing in people by providing opportunities for education and skills acquisition not only changes the individual’s life, but also offers the best possibility of transformational impact on the well-being of our society”.
He maintained that the primary purpose of education is to improve the individual’s mind and body and empower them to be useful to themselves and beneficial to society, saying “a good education should produce an individual who is confident in their abilities, capable of logical thought, and aware of their shortcomings but not constrained by them,” he said.
Gbajabiamila noted that though the government is doing its best to fund universities and other institutions of learning, tertiary institutions, particularly universities, should seek other ways in order to properly fund the schools.
He said some universities in the United States of America conduct research and development activities to develop intellectual property that can be created, transferred, or licensed for commercial value.
“Stanford Management Company, Columbia Investment Management Compan,y and the Harvard Management Company are all wholly owned investment companies of their eponymous universities.
Read Also: Gbajabiamila to Adeleke: you and your exco are doing a good job
“These companies manage the financial assets of their respective universities by investing in established businesses and startups, managing real estate holdings and various financial instruments to help ensure these universities have the financial resources to remain world-class institutions,” he said.
Gbajabiamila, who sponsored the Students loan Act said as a member of the House of Representatives and later Speaker, he sponsored and ensured the passage into law of the Students Loan (Access to Higher Education) Act 2023, which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed into law in one of his earliest official actions as President.
According to him, the law established the national student loan program to ensure that the doors of public tertiary institutions will never be closed against capable and willing candidates solely based on an inability to pay whatever fees are required.
He said, “I hope that this sort of policy thinking will inspire others in this room and beyond to take a critical look at the question of tertiary education funding and see the universe of possibilities that exist if we are willing to put in the effort today so that our children’s tomorrow can be better than all our yester years”.
Gbajabiamila also commended the Nigerian parliament, particularly investigative committees like Public Accounts, Public Assets, among others, for unravelling several issues which have helped the government positively.