Mimiko lists poor funding, corruption as obstacles to Nigeria’s university education

Nahzeen Olufemi Mimiko, a former vice chancellor of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akoko Akungba, has identified poor funding and corruption in the system as the major obstacles to Nigeria’s university education.

Mimiko stated this in a pre-convocation lecture he delivered as part of the activities marking the 8th convocation ceremony of the Federal University, Lokoja.

In his lecture with the topic: ‘Reimaging Nigeria’s University Education for Wholesome National Development’, Mimiko, pointed out that the principal challenge that university education faces in the country is its mediocre level of funding.

“Nigeria remains one of the countries in the world that are yet to meet the UNESCO-recommended threshold for education funding, at 15percent to 20percent of GDP (UNESCO, 2015),” he said.

He called for increased budgetary allocation to the education sector in Nigeria with emphasis on university education.

The Professor of Political Science and International Relations noted that physical facilities for teaching and learning in the Nigeria’s tertiary education were inadequate, dilapidated, overstretched/overcrowded and improvised, as he observed that basic learning resources were unavailable or in short supply while majority of the universities in the country were grossly understaffed.

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Mimiko equally attributed corruption in the system as one of the major setbacks in the nation’s university education.

“I reference corruption here not just in the narrow sense as financial corruption, but also reflected in inanities like provincialism; and cultivation of crop of indolent staff.

“The only way to overcome challenges bedeviling Nigerian universities is the reimagining requisite for making these institutions to be competitive, and capable of driving wholesome national development,” he said.

Comparing university education with that of Polytechnic, Mimiko recommended that university education in Nigeria should remain focused on the more conceptual dimension of the knowledge enterprise, while technical education as administered by polytechnics should be devoted to producing middle-level manpower in technical competencies.

Earlier, Olayemi Akinwumi, vice chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, said that the lecture was geared towards providing intellectual discourse and described the guest lecturer as erudite scholar who knows his onions.

He said: “We are committed to celebrating our academic excellence as the topic of the lecture is very relevant to our future career and guidance. The lecture, no doubt, will contribute immensely to Nigeria’s educational and economic landscape.”