NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES ASSUME HOPELESS STATUS

Sonny Akor

Sonny Akor writes:
Nigeria's political class have failed us, agreed, but it is the fact that they are already putting structures in place to fail our children and future generation that is paining my chest this morning. It is hard these days to look away from mainstream politics for a minute, but while we are at it, Daily Trust reported recently that the National Assembly is at advanced stage with plans to make laws establishing 80 brand new federal universities!

If you think this is good news and these legislators who recently cut the budget earmarked for education by half to fund elections have sense , here are some interesting statistics of our existing 'universities', as outlined in an exposing article written by The Guardian's Martins Oloja:

1. Less than 10% of the universities have Video Conferencing facility.

2. Less than 20% of the universities use Interactive Boards

3.More than 50% don’t use Public Address System in their lecture overcrowded rooms/theatres.

4. Internet Services are non-existent, or epileptic and slow in 99% of Nigerian Universities

5. Nigerian Universities Library resources are outdated and manually operated. Bookshelves are homes to rats/cockroaches

6. No university library in Nigeria is fully automated. Less than 35% are partially automated.

7. 701 Development projects in Nigerian universities 163 (23.3%) are abandoned 538 (76.7%) are perpetually on-going projects

8. Some of the abandoned projects in Nigerian universities are over 15 years old, some are over 40 years old.

9. 76% of Nigerian universities use well as source of water, 45% use pit latrine, 67% of students use bush as toilets.

10. UNN and UDUS have the highest number of abandoned projects (22 and 16 respectively).

11. All NDDC projects across universities in Niger Delta States are abandoned. About 84.6% of them are students’ hostels.

12. 77% of Nigerian universities can be classified as "Glorified Primary Schools" Laboratories are non-existing.

13. There are 8 on-going projects at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi. None of them is funded by the State Government.

14. 80% of Nigerian Universities are grossly under-staffed

15. 78% of Nigerian Universities rely heavily on part-time and visiting lecturers.

16. 88% of Nigerian Universities have under-qualified Academics

17. 90% of Nigerian Universities are bottom-heavy (with junior lecturers forming large chunk of the workforce)

18. Only 2% of Nigerian Universities attract expatriate lecturers, over 80% of Ghanaian Universities attract same.

19. 89% of Nigerian Universities have ‘closed’ (homogeneous staff – in terms of ethno-cultural background)

20. Based on the available data, there are 37,504 Academics in Nigerian Public Universities.

21. 83% of the lecturers in Nigerian universities are male while 17% are female.

22. 23,030 (61.0%) of the lecturers are employed in Federal universities while 14,474 (39.0%) teach in State Universities.

23. The teaching staff-students ratio is EMBARRASSINGLY very high in many universities.

24. LECTURER STUDENT RATIO: National Open University of Nigeria 1:363 University of Abuja 1:122 Lagos State University 1:111.

25. (Compare the above with Harvard 1:4; MIT 1:9; Yale 1:4, Cambridge 1:3; NUS 1:12; KFUPM 1:9; Technion 1:15).

26. Nigerian Universities Instead of having 100% Academics having PhDs, only about 43% do so. The remaining 57% have no PhDs.

27. Nigerian University medical students trained in the most dangerous environment, some only see medical tools in books.

28. Only 7 Nigerian Universities have up to 60% of their teaching staff with PhD qualifications.

29. While majority of the universities in the country are grossly understaffed, a few cases present a pathetic picture

30. There are universities in Nigeria, which the total number of Professors is not more than Five (5).

31. Kano University of Science and Technology Wudil, established in 2001 (11 years old) has only 1 Professor and 25 PhD holders.

32. Kebbi State University of Science and Technology, Aliero, established in 2006 has only 2 Professors and 5 PhDs.

33. Ondo State University of Sci & Tech Okitipupa, established in 2008, has a total of only 29 lecturers.

34. MAKE-SHIFT LECTURING SYSTEM: Out of a total of 37,504 lecturers, only 28,128 (75%) are engaged on full-time basis.

35. 9,376 (25%) Nigerian Lecturers are recycled as Visiting, Adjunct, Sabbatical and Contract lecturers.

36. In Gombe State University, only 4 out of 47 Professors are full-time and all 25 Readers are visiting.

37. In Plateau State University, Bokkos, 74% of the lecturers are visiting.

38. In Kaduna State University, only 24 out of 174 PhD holders are full-time staff.

39. 700 EX-MILLITANTS in Nigeria are receiving more funds anually than 20 Nigerian universities under 'Amnesty Programme.

40. 80% of published journals by Nigerian University lecturers have no visibility in the international knowledge community.

41. No Nigerian academic is in the league of Nobel Laureates or a nominee of Nobel Prize (only one Nobel laureate in Literature since 1986).

42. There are only 2 registered patents owned by Nigerian Academics in the last 3 years.

43. Numerically, there are more support staff in the services of Nigerian universities than the teaching staff they are meant to support.

44. More expenditure is incurred in administration & routine functions than in core academic matters in Nigerian Universities.

45. There are 77,511 full-time non-teaching staff in Nigeria’s public universities 2 times the number of academic staff.

46. In the University of Benin, there are more senior staff in the Registrar cadre (Dep. Registrars, PARs, SARs) than Professors.

47. Almost all the universities are over-staffed with non- teaching staff.

48. There are 1,252,913 students in Nigerian Public Universities. 43% Female 57% Male.

49. There is no relationship between enrolment and the tangible manpower needs of Nigeria.

50. Nigerian Universities have horrible hostel facilities, overcrowded, overstretched lavatory and laundry facilities, poor sanitation, etc

51. Except The Nigerian Defence Acadamy Kaduna, no university in Nigeria is able to accommodate more than 35% of its students. The NDA accommodates 100% of its cadets.

52. In some universities (e.g. MOUAU), female students take their bath in the open because the bathrooms are in very poor condition.

53. Laundries and common rooms in many universities have been converted into rooms where students live, in open prison style.

54. In most improvised cages called hostels in Nigerian Universities, there is no limit to the number of occupants per room.

55. Most State universities charge commercial rates for unfit and unsuitable hostel accommodation.

56. In off-campus hostels, students are susceptible to extraneous influences, violence, prostitution, rape, gang violence, theft, etc.

57. In some Nigerian Universities, students sit on bare floors or peep through windows to receive lectures.

58. Over 1000 students being packed in lecture halls meant for less than 150 students.

59. Over 400 Nigerian University students being packed in laboratory meant for 75 students

60. University administrators spend millions to erect super-gates when their Libraries are still at foundation level; Expend millions to purchase exotic vehicles for university officers even though they lack basic classroom furnishings; Spend hundreds of millions in wall-fencing and in-fencing when students accommodation is inadequate and in tatters.

61. Governments are interested in spending money on creation of new universities instead of consolidating and expanding access to existing ones; Keen to award new contracts rather than completing the abandoned projects or standardizing existing facilities; Expend hundreds of millions paying visiting and part-time lecturers rather than recruiting full-time staff.

62. Governments spend hundreds of millions in mundane administration cost instead of providing boreholes and power supplements; Governments hire personal staff, including Personal Assistants, Special Advisers, Bodyguards, Personal Consultants, etc instead improving university facilities.


Sonny Akor is a social commentator and community activist. He writes from Abuja.

David King