Six first generation universities may soon be designated ‘Mega Universities’ if President Goodluck Jonathan approves the recommendation of the National Economic Council.
Rising from its monthly meeting on Thursday, NEC, which comprises the 36 state governors and chaired by Vice President Namadi Sambo, suggested that one university from each of the six geopolitical zones, should be expanded to accommodate between 150,000 and 200,000 students.
Governor Peter Obi, who briefed State House correspondents after the meeting, said the expansion will be gradual.
The NEC’s recommendation followed the consideration of the report of its technical committee on the needs of Nigerian Universities.
The committee considered the need to expand access and therefore “recommended the designation of a focal Federal University per geopolitical zone to be upgraded towards expanding its absorptive capacity to between 150,000 and 200,000 students in the medium term.
“As you know, this is obtainable everywhere in the world where you have universities with 400,000 students like in Argentina. For example, you can go to the South East and say University of Nigeria that today the population is about 20,000 and say let’s increase this by say thrice because you are not going to do it immediately. That is why we use the word medium-term. You are looking at upward of five to 10 years. It is not overnight.
“The funding is something that is going to be planned. The capacity of some of our big universities is very low because of this you can’t really get as much intake as required. You take one of the existing ones and turn it into a mega university. You can go to the South South, the South West and look at the older universities and ABU in the North.”
Towards changing the fortunes of the universities, the committee also made the following recommendations:
Funding: The Committee agreed with CNANU that funding was a big issue in tertiary education and recommended that both the Federal and State Governments should prioritise funding by raising budgetary allocation to schools and guaranteeing that funds for education are disbursed as appropriated to ensure that the necessary facilities are provided.
Governing Councils: It recommended the strengthening of the composition and character, especially the external members, of the Governing Councils of the Universities by populating the board with members who have a direct stake in academics to ensure better management of the universities.
On Staffing: The Committee noted that the Nigerian University system is grossly understaffed and recommended the introduction of attractive incentives towards promoting post-graduate education and upgrading the academic qualifications of all lecturers to PhD level within a given period.
Relationship between Students’ Enrollment and Manpower Needs of the Nation: It also recommended the establishment of a Federal Ministry of Higher Education and Manpower Development in order to ensure that students’ enrollment is reconciled with the national manpower development priorities of the nation.
Other recommendations made by the Committee include: Government’s investment in Hostel Accommodation; Establishment of Specialized Laboratories; Establishment of a robust Federal and State Scholarship Scheme; and Lifting of the moratorium on the Creation of More than One University by State Governments.
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