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Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Prof. Afe Babalola
The founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Afe Babalola, has warned the Federal Government to stop giving out too many licenses for new universities.
Babalola said the government is approving universities without thinking about quality or proper facilities, which could cause big problems for the country in the future.
He gave this warning on Monday while speaking at a research and journal workshop held at ABUAD in Ado-Ekiti.
He said that when Prof. Peter Okebukola was the head of the National Universities Commission, they used to take their time and follow strict steps before approving new universities.
“Not only was the visitation and accreditation process rigorous, but it was also impossible for anyone to obtain approval to commence degree programmes, especially in Medicine, Engineering and Law, especially in the first few years of establishing a university.”
He added, “But what do we have today? Mass approval of mushroom and substandard universities, with some lacking even the basic learning facilities and infrastructure.
“As a result of this anything-goes syndrome, the approach to university licensing and accreditation and NUC’s ability to ensure quality control and to stamp out substandard institutions have been seriously compromised.
“We currently have over 270 universities in Nigeria, and proposals for the approval of another 200 new institutions are currently under consideration by the National Assembly.”
Babalola said it looks like the focus now is on number, not quality, saying too many universities are being approved without proper checks.
“The end result is a rapid decline and rot of our educational system and in the quality of our graduates.
“What we need is quality education, because poor education is worse than illiteracy,” he added.
He also said Nigeria cannot expect to grow through good research if it doesn’t deal with the problem of poor-quality universities.
“If we are really serious about accelerating national development through research, the starting point will be that the process of approval for university licences should be thorough.”
Meanwhile, Prof. Peter Okebukola, while giving his lecture titled ‘Promoting High-Impact Research Publications for Sustainable National Development in Nigeria: Opportunities, Challenges and Future Directions’, said Nigerian institutions need to work more with international researchers. This, he said, would help improve the global ranking of Nigerian universities.
He added that this would bring international attention to ABUAD and help it grow faster than other schools in the country.
The Editor-in-Chief of the ABUAD Journal of Sustainable Development, Law and Policy, Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, said the aim of the workshop was to help researchers become more creative and business-minded in how they handle research, journals, and publishing.
Olawuyi said the journal began in 2013 and is recognised by the South African Department of Higher Education and Training.
It is also a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics, the Directory of Open Access Journals and African Journals Online.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, said the workshop was made possible with support from Electronic Information for Libraries.
Olarinde said the event would teach participants how to properly manage open-access journals, follow research ethics, and make African research more visible and respected.
NAN
