•The committee is trying but there is room for improvement

Although the Committee Of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) turned 60 years in October, last year, it could not roll out the drums due to the then strike in public universities in the country. The eight-month strike, which began on February 14, 2022, ended on October 14, 2022, the very day the committee turned 60. Little wonder the committee says it is desirous of a situation where the country would never again witness such disengagement of academic activities in our universities.

Mercifully, the 60th anniversary celebration was finally held penultimate week in Abuja.

Speaking at a press briefing to mark the diamond jubilee of the committee, its secretary-general, Prof Yakubu Aboki Ochefu, told the story of how it all began: “On the 14th of October 1962, five gentlemen assembled in the Office of Dr Kenneth O. Dike, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, for what we can now say was the inaugural meeting of what came to be known as the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities. The other gentlemen were; Professor Norman Alexander, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1962-1966), Dr George Marion Johnson, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1960-1964), Professor Oladele Adebayo Ajose, University of Ife (1962-1966), Professor Eni Njoku, University of Lagos (1962-1965).”

CVCNU started as the umbrella organisation for vice-chancellors of federal universities in Nigeria. However, today, vice-chancellors of states and private universities that have been accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) are now automatic members of the committee. Its mission is “To be a veritable platform for Nigerian Universities for the attainment of academic excellence through cooperation and exchange of ideas”. And vision: ‘’To provide a focus of academic leadership through which bold initiatives can be taken on matters concerning university education.

In short, CVCNU is a platform for discussing common issues such as inter-university cooperation, administrative and academic practices, maintenance of academic standards, staff recruitment and exchange, sporting competitions, students’ affairs, etc.

So, if the committee is to be assessed, it has to be along these parameters. Without doubt, not much is known about the CVCNU, but Prof. Ochefu disclosed some of the achievements of the committee. According to him, some major policy initiatives that have been witnessed in the education sector are products of the committee. These include harmonisation of universities’ academic calendar, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Scheme, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), improvement of the welfare of university personnel, predatory journals to promote good journal practices in the university system and the minimum academic benchmark and core curriculum of the university system.

Ochefu added that ‘We also provide international collaborations, peer review, case studies and exchange of ideas with other universities across the world to benchmark our successes and challenges, especially with universities with longer histories of up to 700 years”.

“You can see that in the past 60 years, CVCNU has been working quietly at the background for the Nigeria university system,” he said.

What all of these would suggest is that CVCNU is a silent worker because the country has had one thing or the other to benefit from these areas of intervention by the committee.

But there is always room for improvement. We still have the issue of cultism in several universities. Sex-for-mark is still very much a problem. Then the problem of incessant strike which has continued to impact the quality of education negatively.

We know that some of these problems are beyond the vice-chancellors. Funding, for example. But we have also had a few instances where some vice chancellors have had to be sanctioned for misappropriation of funds and sundry misdemeanor. Moreover, the universities still have a long way to go in terms of research. The vice chancellors must think out of the box in solving these problems.

We congratulate CVCNU for coming this far. We urge it to continue to work relentlessly towards improving university education in the country.

Update news