Pre-Convocation Lecture: Gov Uzodinma Says Govt Overstretched

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, has called on Nigerian Universities, to put on their thinking caps with a view to fashioning out alternative sources of sustaining their operations.

He insisted that the increase in the number of Universities in the country has made   the reliance only on the Government for funding unrealistic.

This is even as he attributed the incessant industrial disharmony and general restiveness in the system to the problem of inadequate funding.

Governor Uzodinma who spoke at the  pre-convocation lecture of the Federal University Birnin Kebbi , Kebbi State, noted that  Government alone can no longer sustain the funding of the Universities going by the economic realities on the ground.

Represented by the State Commissioner for Education, Chike Nwadike, the Governor Stated that the increase in the number of Universities has overstretched the resources available to the Government which is the only source of funding for the institutions.

In his lecture entitled “Challenges of Funding Public Universities in Nigeria : Pathway for Sustainable Tertiary Education”  the Governor emphasized the need for Nigerian Universities to look inward and come out with viable alternative sources of funding.

While recalling the era when public Universities, particularly, the Federal institutions enjoyed almost 100% Government support and funding, Governor Uzodinma maintained that the current economic realities no longer support such a situation.

The Imo State Governor stated that while it is indisputable that the increase in the number of Universities and others has equally increased the people’s access to higher education, he nevertheless, called on all stakeholders to device more ways of funding the system.

He decried the prevailing situation whereby the primary, and most times, the only source of funding for the country’s growing tertiary educational institutions is the Government.

Governor Uzodinma noted that Nigerian Universities, like their counterparts in other climes, can explore other revenue generating options like research, Community service, Consultancy services, and others .

The Governor is of the conviction that such self sustaining efforts, put together with Government and TETFund contributions will go a long way in improving the fortunes of the country’s Universities.

He insisted that the present arrangements where Universities rely on subventions alone  have become totally unsustainable.