Academic Corruption, Bad Governance Responsible For State Of Education In Nigeria – NUC

By Akinwale Kasali

The Nigeria University Commission, NUC, has identified bad governance and funding as a major  problem bedeviling the Nation’s Universities.

Chris Maiyaki, NUC Secretary, said that poor governance, academic corruption and inadequate funding are some of the critical issues affecting Tertiary Education in Nigeria.

He made this assertion during the 2024 Registry Lecture at Babcock University, Ilishan, Ogun State.

Maiyaki said there is a decline in the nation’s University system in the past three decades, compared with the remarkable achievements of earlier periods.

Speaking on the theme, “Role Of The Administrator in Changing University Environment; Issues and Prospects,

Maiyaki said 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 are 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.

He also 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 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.