While issuing licences to five new private universities last week, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof Julius Okojie, declared that private universities are the future of university education in Nigeria. But how can private participation in university education improve access and effectiveness in a cost-effective manner without compromising equity? SEBAGEN HENRY NOBOH takes a look at this in line with Prof Okojie’s declaration.
The licensing of the five new universities last week by the NUC brought the number of private universities in Nigeria to 50. Emphasising on the desirability of private participation in university education, the Executive Secretary of the commission, Prof Julius Okojie, told the new universities: “What we have going for us are the private universities. I have no apologies to say this; the future of university education in Nigeria lies with the private universities. They provide element of stability and new programme design. If you look at the private universities, they have the opportunity to design new programmes. If you go to old institutions, you would discover that they don’t and can’t change programmes. There is no doubt we need more institutions, but we also need them to be of good standard. The involvement of the private sector in the subsector would achieve both aims.”
Prior to his taking the front seat at the NUC, Okojie was the pioneer vice-chancellor of the Bells University of Technology, a private institution, in 2005. Before then, he was a vice-chancellor at the University of Agriculture Abeokuta in 1996. So haven steered the ship of universities at both private and public sectors, it is hoped that he should know. However, experience has shown that knowledgeable professionals often fail to reconcile their knowledge with reality once they navigate into political zone in Nigeria. But is private university education really the future for Nigeria, as Okojie had advanced?
As Okojie said, “there is no doubt that we need more institutions.” The increasing numbers of students graduating from secondary school has led to corresponding pressures in the demand for post-secondary education. In fact, if Nigeria is to meet up with the current demand for university education, it would need to establish a new university every nine days for the next ten years! Only last year, about 1.5 million candidates sought for admission into a university, as they chose university as the most preferred institution while registering for the examination conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) into higher institutions.
Meanwhile, the available spaces in the universities could only absolve less than 20% of them.
The rapid growth in tertiary education enrolments reflects shifting demographics, changing economic structures and significant improvements in access to primary and secondary education. According to a World Bank report, by the late 1990s, Nigeria alongside 74 other developing countries had primary enrolment rates of over 90%. Particularly, between 1965 and 1995, the secondary gross enrolment ratio increased from 2 to 32 per cent in Nigeria (World Bank, 2000). On average, between 1995 and 2003, upper secondary enrolment grew by 39% in countries, including Nigeria, participating in UNESCO’s World Education Indicators (WEI) program. The same goes for university admissions. Although only 30, 000 candidates applied for a university education in 1978 when JAMB took off, about 1.5 million registered for JAMB’s exams in 2011, in their quest for a university education.
No doubt, there is growing evidence that private participation in education can address the issue of access and improve effectiveness in developing countries in a cost-effective manner and without compromising equity. Countries like Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Namibia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, and many others, are practical examples. In those countries, there is over 50% of private share of university enrolment, according to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS). Even in countries like Angola, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Portugal, Rwanda, Venezuela, United States, and others, between 25% to 50% of their university students are in private schools. The involvement of the private sector in these countries has largely address the issue of access and quality. Inversely, private sector has less than 10% share of university enrolment in Nigeria, according to the Federal Ministry of Education (Nigeria: Digest of Education Statistics).
It would seem, therefore, that private education is really the future of education in Nigeria, considering the fiscal paucity of the federal government and its ineptitude in running institutions. But the challenge is that formulae that works in sane climes seems to flounder once flown into Nigeria. For example, private universities are highly regulated in the aforementioned countries, with the exception of the US, which allows all sort of private degree-awarding institutions to thrive. But that is understandable, as America already has well-defined academic structures and landscape. A developing country like Nigeria would require robust state regulation of private universities, lest education at that level become mere commercial commodity.
The regulatory challenges of private university are already searching for a root to tap. Whether it would succeed is another kettle of fish. At the occasion where five private universities were licensed last week, something happened that gave that indication. Speaking on behalf of the newly-licensed universities, Chief Michael Ade-Ojo, who is the Board of Trustees Chairman of Elizade University, one of the new universities, told Okojie: “Where we need to give you an injection, we would not hesitate to do so. We will not say that because you are the regulator we would not call you to order.” The question is, who is to call who to order? This arrogant disposition that you can always put any regulator in your pocket once he sees and smells the content of the pocket is indeed a huge challenge.
As expected though, no-nonsense Okojie lived up to the occasion, as he told Ade-Ojo and his ‘cohorts’: “You have to understand that if you violate our regulation, we would come hard on you. You have to apply the private sector discipline.” He has done it before, and he would do it again, if need be. It is noteworthy that the NUC boss had refused to accredit any of the courses offered by the National Open Universities of Nigeria (NOUN) because the then vice-chancellor refused to come under his umbrella. It was learnt that the VC, Prof Olagbemiro Jegede, dared to call the bluff of his regulator because of his affinity with the president then, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
But that did not make Okojie to balk. However, only time will tell if he would continue in this pace and pitch at the full explosion of private universities.
Nigeria is not alone in the struggle to expand private participation in university education. The United Kingdom, Nigeria’s colonial master, is in this league.
The British Minister of State for Universities and Science, Mr David Willetts, said while approving the first private university in 2010:
“It is healthy to have a vibrant private sector working alongside our more traditional universities. I am delighted that, less than four months after coming into office, we are creating the first new private university college in more than 30 years.”
This declaration did come with some resistance. The leader of the UCU lecturers’ union, Sally Hunt, attacked the creation of the new university college as a threat to standards in higher education. “Today’s news could mark the beginning of a slippery slope for academic provision in this country,” she said. “Encouraging the growth of private providers and making it easier for them to call themselves universities would be a disaster for the UK’s academic reputation. It would also represent a huge threat to academic freedom and standards. Private providers are not accountable to the public and do not deserve to be put in the same league as our universities,” added the leader of the lecturers’ union.
Based on the decision of Britain to get the private sector actively involved in university education, government funding for teaching and background funding for research will be substantially reduced, from September 2012. One study indicates that annual government funding in that country for teaching and research will make up just 15% of universities’ income by 2015.
So Nigeria is learning from its masters. Even if ASUU continue to kick from now till thy kingdom come, the government would eventually reduce its investment in higher education. Indeed, it is obvious that public universities would soon take the mode of public primary schools, known as L.E.A primary schools. Currently, government-owned universities rank far higher than their private counterparts. But with the present drift, private universities would obviously replace government-run universities in status. At least, the regulator has said so; and the signs are already there. It is only a matter of time.