The National Universities Commission (NUC) has claimed that economic pressures and several other factors have affected the funding of Nigerian tertiary institutions, News About Nigeria reports.
The acting Executive Secretary of the NUC, Chris Maiyaki, said this while speaking during the 2024 Registry Lecture at Babcock University, Ilishan, on Tuesday.
He noted that there has been a decline in the nation’s university system over the past three decades, compared with the remarkable achievements of earlier periods.
He also stated that poor governance, academic corruption, and inadequate funding are some of the critical issues affecting tertiary education in Nigeria.
“We had our glorious years but then we had the downturn and there are a lot of factors for that: economic pressure, a gradual decline in funding, and the value of the naira in the real term is no longer enough.
“Some of these are also attributed to poor governance systems and, 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 stated.
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.
He also called for a collaboration to create the desired future, assuring the federal government’s support in creating policies that would direct institutions toward accomplishing their goals.
