Nigerian universities challenged as diaspora students react to FX crunch

As the September date for the take-off of the new academic year approaches, Nigerian universities are hard pressed to cope with a surge of applicants who have to study in the country because their goal to school abroad has been thwarted by the failing fortunes of the naira against the US dollar.

The effects of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) new FX policy holds mixed fortunes for both Nigerian students studying abroad and those intending to embark on studies abroad, come next academic session. In the case of those who have already commenced studies abroad it might be difficult to return.

“I have been carrying money around since last week. However, yesterday I was able to access FX from First Bank. To send N190,000 I had to pay some extra N18,000 as charges. I appreciate the fact that it is easier to access FX now, even if it is at a rate higher than $199 I was used getting.” Odumosu Omolara, CEO Class Climax Consulting, an education advisory  and solutions services provider, told BusinessDay.

Omalara said she has already sunk over $12, 000 in her son’s tuition and cannot bring him back home when he has only one year to go.

BusinessDay’s investigation reveals that some parents would have to reconsider sending their wards abroad for studies, given the value of the naira against the dollar.

Ebele Obiadazie, a building engineer whose daughter would be graduating from one of the Loyola Jesuites Colleges in Nigeria said she has decided to send her daughter to one of the local universities because her budget was calculated based on the CBN’s initial $199 value. A number of other parents who spoke to BusinessDay are reconsidering the decision of sending their wards abroad for studies.

This brings back the multifaceted problem of how to develop the carrying capacity of universities with commensurate increase in quality of education.

Peter Okebukola, former executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) and chairman Crawford University governing council, had suggested a blueprint to help develop the carrying capacity of local universities to stem the tide of the outflow of FX by growing local capacity.

Okebukola said the first step would be to embark on massive upgrading of physical facilities in existing universities to take in at least additional 1,000 students per year.  This will involve more classrooms, hostels, laboratories, workshops, libraries and offices.

To reinforce the infrastructural upgrade, staff recruitment should be undertaken in the quantity and quality to match the annual growth in student enrolment. With successful scaling of the NUC due diligence on the expanded facilities and increased human resources, carrying capacity would be increased by 1,000.

The university can, thereafter, proceed to enrol additional 1,000 students during the next admission season. In ten years, a typical university would have added about 10,000 students to its baseline stock. In terms of cost per university, this option translates to an annual average of N1.6 billion for building, equipment and staffing. In ten years, each university will require at least N40.6 billion for the expansion project.

The university don contended that a 10 percent annual increase in enrolment in the nation’s 141 public and private universities would require $1.494 billion (about N4.5 trillion) in ten years. Of this sum, the 40 federal universities will require N624 billion while the 40 state universities will require the same amount.

The remaining N946.6 billion will have to be sourced by private universities from their proprietors.

Having added about one million spaces in ten years through the expansion project of existing universities, the next critical component of the plan is to add 300,000 more spaces through a gradual increase in the number of universities.

“A few additional universities can be licensed in the next five years by NUC, some to emerge from upgrades of selected polytechnics and colleges of education to degree-awarding institutions.

“One more piece of the puzzle is to strengthen the National Open University of Nigeria to be able to take in many more eligible students in the region of about 1, 200,000 in ten years. Thus, in ten years, the Nigerian university system would have expanded to almost triple its present enrolment capacity. This will put a smile on the faces of seekers of university admission and bolster the country’s higher education participation rate.”

STEPHEN ONYEKWELU