Nigeria has 78 public and 51 private
universities. A strike by lecturers has
paralysed public institutions for the past
three months, while teaching at private
universities has continued. As a result,
there has been a rush by parents with
financial muscle to register their children
in private universities, whose proprietors
are laughing all the way to the bank.
Other factors have contributed to the
financial fortunes of private tertiary
institutions. They include weakening of
the local currency, the Naira, against the
American dollar, increasing the costs of
studying abroad; visa restrictions on
Nigerian students by Western countries;
and instability in the Middle East,
preventing students from studying there
in Islamic universities.
However, students in the applied sciences
– especially medicine, dentistry and
engineering – have to wait for public
universities to reopen, because these
capital-intensive courses are not offered
in private institutions.
The private sector
While public universities have remained
closed at the start of the academic year,
private institutions have opened their
doors and have reported many more
students – including refugees from the
public sector.
Parents have gone to the office of the
Joint Admissions Matriculation Board in
the federal capital Abuja, to change the
admission status of their children from
public to private universities.
“The current industrial strike in public
universities has thrown up a major
contradiction in Nigeria’s political
landscape,” said a leader of the Academic
Staff Union of Universities, who did not
want to be named so as not to jeopardise
ongoing pay negotiations.
Most of the children of the Nigerian elite
were in private universities. “Thus they
are not bothered if public universities are
shut down. It is clear that the proprietors
of these private universities made up their
mind not to allow academic staff to join
unions. What a pity!”
According to reliable sources, the income
of parents determines the choice of
private university, as does location and
religious affiliation. Some of the
universities are fashioned after well-
known tertiary institutions in Western
Europe and the Middle East.
They are well oiled by private funds, well
equipped and their Nigerian and foreign
staff are well salaried thanks to hefty fees
paid by parents who are members of the
well-remunerated political class. The
students are primarily children of top
military officers, top civil servants,
traditional rulers, private sector
executives and some lecturers from public
universities.
Among these private institutions – to
name but a few – are the American
University of Nigeria, founded by former
vice-president, Abubakar Atiku; Bells
University of Technology, Ota in Ogun
State, funded by former president
Olusegun Obasanjo; Baze University in
Abuja, founded by Senator Datti Baba-
Ahmed; Veritas University, Abuja, founded
by the Catholic Bishops Conference of
Nigeria; Covenant University, founded by
the Living Faith Church; and the Nigerian
Turkish Nile University, which is owned by
Turkish and Nigerian private investors.
Private universities market themselves as
assisting students to create networks of
international friends who will be useful to
them in future jobs in a globalised world.
Push factors no more
Most members of the establishment in
northern Nigeria are no longer willing to
send their children to study in Western
Europe, because of visa restrictions that
have followed the suspected involvement
of some Nigerian students abroad in
terrorism.
Images of violence and destruction in the
Middle East – especially in Egypt, Libya,
Syria and Sudan – have also persuaded
Islamic parents to send their children to
private Muslim universities in Nigeria.
Universities in the Middle East were once
the preferred destinations for Nigerian
students studying Arabic and Islam. This
is no more the case.
Nigerian embassies in the Middle East
have advised prospective students to stay
at home or go to Malaysia to study. “The
political situation in the Middle East is
volatile. We cannot guarantee the safety
of our students,” declared a senior
diplomat in the foreign affairs ministry in
Abuja, who did not want to be named.
Ibrahim Mikael, a Muslim cleric in Lagos,
said, “Authorities of the Islamic-based
universities [in Nigeria] have approached
Muslim clerics to make use of the Friday
prayers, appealing to parents to send
their kids to these universities.”
Some challenges
Most have recorded soaring enrolments
of new students. But they do have
challenges.
For example, the American University of
Nigeria is in a region that experiences
occasional attacks by Boko Haram, the
Muslim fundamentalist group fighting for
the imposition of sharia law in northern
Nigeria.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan,
with approval from parliament, has
imposed a state of emergency in the
areas where the university is situated – an
action criticised by AUN Vice-chancellor
Margie Ensign, who has said Yola is calm
and peaceful.
Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako,
however, pointed out recently that the
security situation had precipitated the
“massive” departure of foreigners from
Yola – an obvious reference to foreign
students and staff of AUN.
Ensign debunked this claim, saying
Nyako’s comments were “completely
inaccurate. Not only are we running our
regular summer school with very high
attendance, but no faculty member or
staff has left AUN because of the ‘state of
emergency’.
“In fact, over 4,000 people – including the
ambassadors of the United States, the
European Union, Rwanda and Ireland –
attended our fifth commencement
ceremony on 11 May, three days before
the state of emergency was announced.
We are also continuing our important
development work in the community in
literacy, IT and with the Adamawa
Peacemakers Initiative that the University
founded in January 2012.”
What about public university students?
While many of rich parents are willing to
send their children to private universities,
students who had been admitted to study
medicine, dentistry and pharmacy have
mostly decided to wait until public
universities open.
Private universities do not currently have
the infrastructure or manpower to offer
these courses.
“I have been given admission to a public
university,” said Agnes Okon, who has
been admitted to read medicine. “I will
wait until the strike is over. Government
should make more concessions so that
university teachers can go back to the
campuses. I am tired of staying at home.”
Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment