By Daisi Omokungbe
I finalized my decision to write on this topic when I received the news of the approval of 20 new private universities by the federal executive council led by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, February 3, 2021. I heard the voice within that said, the future of tertiary education in Nigeria is with both the public and private universities in the quest to unlocking the full potentials of our educational system. If there is no change in the funding structures of our public varsities from the government both at the states and federal, some government owned higher institutions may be privatized in no distant time to save the varsities from hard breathing, incessant strikes, poor facilities and salary imbroglios. Afterall, majority of the foreign universities that the rich men and women in Nigeria do send their children to are privately owned institutions.
On December 11, 2020, I was at Achievers University in Owo, Ondo state to attend their 13th foundation day lecture titled: Challenges of Re-Inventing Quality University Education in Nigeria as part of the activities marking their thirteenth anniversary. The lecture, which was delivered by Professor Jide Owoeye, the pro-chancellor of Lead City University in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.
Professor Owoeye made revelations that the usual norms like Nigerian graduates are unemployable, the standard of education is falling and lack of space for admission for the teaming secondary school leavers among others were all untrue. He faulted the claim that the standard of education in Nigeria has collapsed, that there is inadequate access to higher education in Nigeria and, that private universities are after evangelism and profits were not correct.
On standard – he explained that “standard refers to a measuring instrument. It is a reference point against which other things can be evaluated. It is a basis for comparison. There is no stage of education for which vigorous standards have not been set in this country. For instance, these standards set the minimum requirements for teachers’ professional practices and conduct. It also set the academic standard for what students should know and be to do at every level. Furthermore, this minimum academic standard at each level of education has never been lowered but instead, consistently pushed higher”.
Talking about access to higher education in Nigeria, the professor said exodus of university aspirants to foreign countries was understandable in the past but no longer fashionable as local institutions are now fairly adequate in number. He said Nigeria currently has 170 universities with 43 federals, 48 belonging to states while 79 are being run by private organizations. Prof. Owoeye said in 2013, JAMB said only 42% of nationally available university spaces were filled. Yet, the general slogan is that Nigeria is lacking in adequate spaces for higher education which is far from the truth. He posited that the Nigeria university system as it stands today with 170 institutions, can accommodate all qualified applicants not just from Nigeria, but from the entire West Africa.
I finalized my decision to write on this topic when I received the news of the approval of 20 new private universities by the federal executive council led by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, February 3, 2021. I heard the voice within that said, the future of tertiary education in Nigeria is with both the public and private universities in the quest to unlocking the full potentials of our educational system. If there is no change in the funding structures of our public varsities from the government both at the states and federal, some government owned higher institutions may be privatized in no distant time to save the varsities from hard breathing, incessant strikes, poor facilities and salary imbroglios. Afterall, majority of the foreign universities that the rich men and women in Nigeria do send their children to are privately owned institutions.
As of today, Nigeria with the estimation of 201 million people has a total of 190 universities out of which 99 are being run by private organizations and missionaries with the addition of the 20 new private universities. While I will dwell not much on employability argument because it has to do with the entire educational system, not peculiar to either public or private universities, it cut across the whole system. Employability issues should be strictly addressed to ensure graduates are up to the tasks ahead of them in the marketplace, importantly when emerging practices are taking over the economies.
My focus is on making private universities sustainable for productivity, gaining more student enrolments, contributing to quality education and creating jobs while returning profits to their stakeholders. Professor Owoeye while delivering his lecture, he talked about the need for government to extend scholarship opportunities to students in the private varsities and also urged the government to extend funding opportunities to them. I agreed with the first but disagree with the latter. I agreed with his first position because government scholarships are being paid through taxpayers’ money which the students in the private varsities are entitle to but disagree with the latter because, government do not have the responsibilities of funding private institutions, not even when the government is finding it very difficult to fund public varsities. In 2020 alone, public varsities were under lock and key for ten months not necessarily because of COVID-19 lockdowns but because the federal government failed to meet with the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that was primarily centered on funding, welfare and facilities for public universities.
Instead of the proprietors and managers of private universities to be looking up to the government for funding, it will be appropriate and essential to employ strategies and tactics to gain more student enrolments to fill their almost empty lecture rooms and theatres in their campuses. They will effectively solve their funding problems when they are able to admit students to capacity, filling all the quota given to them by the Joint Admissions and matriculations Board (JAMB). For instance, according to the data Professor Owoeye released during his public lecture, in 2013, JAMB said only 42% of nationally available university spaces were filled. This means, 58% of the admission slots for that year were wasted and this has continued unabated.
As it stands today, majority of Nigerians see private varsities as only being meant for the rich not for average men and women. Though, it is not easy to fund private universities especially when government support is not involved. It is high time for the proprietors and managers of private varsities to know that they are competing with public institutions. They need to see government as their competitors not their funders in any way. Perhaps, it is time for the private varsities to look into the reduction in the fees, offering of scholarships and attractive packages for middle-level income earners, parents and guardians to be able to send their children to their institutions.
In the campuses of private varsities, I had visited, I saw beautiful but almost empty classrooms. Majority don’t have enough students that matches their admission quota and capacity. I can say without hiding the truth that none of our private varsities in Nigeria have been able to meet up with their admission quota. Instead of focusing on few students paying huge fees, why not shift focus on admitting more students to fill their JAMB admission quota while allowing students to pay less? With this approach and strategy, no doubt, student enrolments in private institutions will rise geometrically coupled with the fact that private varsities don’t waste time. No ASSU strike, no NASU strike and no student unrests among other issues that usually faces public institutions.
Private universities are business entities even when the main purpose is not profit oriented but to contribute their quota to quality education and opening the gate of higher institutions to as many young people as possible, the managers of private varsities need to employ innovative, traditional and creative approaches to market and advertise their institutions for student/parent patronages. Creating the right offers with compelling attractive characters, targeting the appropriate demographics through their common traffic sources, ensuring they land on the right pages admission slots, and effective management, new levels of students’ enrolment would be achieved by our private universities.
The sustainability of private varsities in Nigeria largely depends on the ability and innovations to reach out to as many as possible prospective students and parents to embrace their admission slots or else will remain largely unable to meet up with their admission quota and will continue to operate with their scanty students. To make the demands for their admission to rise, they should consider reducing their fees to what many more can afford.
Daisi Omokungbe is the Chief Executive Officer of Technocrat Innovations Plus Ltd, the publisher of Technocrat Media Nigeria. He can be reached via oludaisi@technocratmediang.com
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