By YETUNDE FATUNGASE

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has identified poor governance, academic corruption and inadequate funding as some of the critical issues affecting tertiary education in Nigeria.

The Acting Executive Secretary of the NUC, Chris Maiyaki, made this statement during the 2024 Registry Lecture at Babcock University, Ilishan, on Tuesday.

Maiyaki said there had been decline in the nation’s university system over the past three decades, compared with the remarkable achievements of earlier period.

NAN reports that the theme of the lecture is “Role Of The Administrator in Changing University Environment; Issues and Prospects”.

According to Maiyaki, Nigerian graduates were once celebrated both nationally and globally, but the current landscape is marred by social vices, manpower shortages, economic pressures and incessant strike actions.

He urged university administrators to embrace technology and artificial intelligence to revolutionise their institutions, emphasising that effective administration and governance were key to institutional success.

“We had our glorious years but then we had the downturn and there are a lot of factors for that; economic pressure, gradual decline in funding, value of the Naira in the real term is no longer enough.

“Some of these are also attributed to poor governance systems and also sometimes the broken family system. We have fallen short in procuring state-of-the-art museum modern current journals, books, and laboratory equipment in some cases.

“We need more PhDs; we need to stabilise; the system has suffered a lot of instability due to a combination of factors. We need sustained constant funding and so many, things to be done,” he said.

Maiyaki urged administrators to broaden their focus and cultivate strong relationships with external stakeholders to contribute to the development of an effective system that supports long-term growth and excellence in higher education.

He also called for a collaboration to create the desired future assuring the federal government’s support in creating policies that would direct institutions towards accomplishing their goals.

“May I sound a note of optimism that all hope is not lost as we have some good and cheery news to report.

“Nigeria has shown improvement in the universities ranking and that shows that in spite of everything we’re going through, we have shown a lot of resilience.

“We have recently re-engineered our curriculum with critical stakeholders to bring it to speed because it must be in tandem with global best practices.

“I appeal to Babcock University and all other Nigerian universities to continue to work with the commission to forge ahead towards creating a future in which higher education values are defined by excellence, equity and global competence.

“We must continue to search for a way out as giving up is not an option,” he said.

Earlier in his welcome address, the University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ademola Tayo, said that the lecture was a platform, where key issues about our university system were raised and interrogated.

Tayo added that it was an opportunity for participants to exchange ideas in a friendly non-threatening manner while at the same time broadening their horizons as practitioners, scholars, administrators and Nigerians.

According to him, the lecture will stimulate all stakeholders to do more for the country as it affects the educational sector.

He expressed hope that the lecture would come up with practical solutions that would usher in far-reaching reforms in the university system and rejuvenate the nation to launch it to the next level. (NAN)

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