Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Osogbo — Executive Secretary of the National
Universities Commission (NUC) Professor Julius Okojie yesterday accused
some state governments of sponsoring students to sub-standard foreign
universities where they are likely to go and cause problems for Nigeria.
Okojie made specific reference to the recent award of scholarships by
the Kano state government to 500 students to study in Ukraine, Jordan
and other countries, as well as similar sponsorships by the Osun state
government.
The NUC chief spoke in Abuja while delivering an address of welcome
at a roundtable on cross-border higher education organised by NUC and
the British Council.
Okojie said the decision of the Kano state government to send about
70 per cent of the students to Ukraine was not good as the worry was
that "they would export cultism from here."
"We should send students to the best places in the world," Okojie said.
"I know there is a university in Ukraine where they have 800 medical
students and some of them don't have basic sciences. Osun State
government also did the same thing. In five years' time we would find
that all doctors are from Ukraine," he added.
He said states that have funds to send students abroad should sponsor
them to "proper places" so when they return they can come and enrich
the education system.
Okojie also said even the highly-regarded British education system is
slowly being bastardised as their universities now admit all sorts of
students who may not necessarily be qualified.
He said UK citizens are finding it hard to get placements in British
universities because of international students, and cross-border higher
education would help check all the irregularities.
Deputy Director of the British Council said because of the high
demand for tertiary education in Nigeria and lack of access, the UK
could help increase academic collaboration and international research.
Britain is among the best 10 countries in delivering higher
education, according rating agency Universitas 21. Many of its
universities have also remained among the best in the world.
In 2011, two Ukrainian universities made it into world's top 700
universities in the QS World University Rankings of 2,919 universities.
No Nigerian university ever made it into this list.
Kano, Osun fire back at Okojie
In his reaction, Kano State Commissioner for Higher Education, Alhaji
Umar Haruna Doguwa, said the state government had done its homework
very well by contacting relevant regulatory agencies within and outside
Nigeria before selecting foreign universities for the students.
He said his ministry first approached the department of higher
education in the Federal Ministry of Education, where it obtained
authentic list of universities in the world, before contacting
regulatory bodies of such institutions in their respective home
countries, in order to be sure they are accredited.
"Professor Okogie is somebody I respect for his interest in
scholarship, so I doubt if he will make such a comment. However, if that
is true, I will then point out here that his reference to cultism does
not apply to Kano, because none of our students is a cultist. And there
is no way we can export what we don't have. Another thing is, we
obtained the list of accredited universities in the world, before we
start talking of sponsoring our students there," Doguwa said.
"In Ukraine, their regulatory agency guided us as to the universities
that are accredited and the ones that are sub-standard and we tried as
much as possible to secure placement for the students in the accredited
universities. The state government is not just interested in sponsoring
students to foreign universities, but it is equally concerned about the
quality of the education they will get out there at the end of the day."
Also, Osun State Information Commissioner, Akinrogun Sunday Akere,
defended the government's decision to sponsor students to Ukraine.
He said the Ukraine University where Osun students are going to is a reputable institution founded in 1804.
"We wish to appeal to the Executive Secretary of the National
Universities Commission (NUC) Professor Julius Okojie not to play
politics with educational issue because if concerned lives of children
who are leaders of tomorrow," Aekere said.
"The NUC boss should not subject Osun State government to disrepute
with such comment. Our students are not involved in cultism and we are
surprised that the NUC boss is saying that the students will export
cultism to Ukraine.
"Nothing (is) wrong with the university we picked. Therefore, Okojie
should be patriotic and put politics apart in the interest of the nation
and the future of our children."
Seasoned educationist Professor Adamu Baikie, in his reaction, said
taking students abroad for studies might not necessarily make such
students to get qualitative education.
"The same reason that makes us to go to India for medical treatment
is what is making some states and individuals to take their students
abroad. Nobody is sure that the quality of education these students
would get in abroad would be better than what they would get here in the
country," Baikie told Daily Trust yesterday.
"However, three reasons force parents or state governments to take
their students abroad for studies. One, our universities cannot
accommodate all the students that are qualified to enter into the
university. Some parents also don't believe on what our universities do
here in Nigeria and lastly, sometime students spend longer time studying
here in Nigeria unlike abroad where they respect the time stipulated
for different courses.
"The issue of sending students to substandard universities may be an
opinion, but in the final analysis, it is the decision of the parents or
governments to take their students abroad for studies largely because
of the three reasons I mentioned above. So, the solution to taking
students abroad is to effectively handle the problems facing our
universities. There is also the need for us to change our attitude and
begin to believe in ourselves; we should know that we have the brains
that are even better than what we have abroad.
"If NUC is able to identify some universities abroad and classify
them as substandard, the implication is that students that graduate from
those universities would not be recognised by the Nigerian government
and they cannot therefore be employed by the federal government except
the states that sent them for studies in those universities."
Source Daily Trust Newspaper
A
Nigerian, Professor Ilesanmi Adesida has been appointed as the Vice
Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost, University of Illinois (U
and I), Urbana-Champaign, United States.
Amidst Nigeria’s struggle for relevance
in the global technology sphere, some Nigerian undergraduates have
imprinted the country’s name on the stone by clinching the title for the
Best African representative and Best New Comers at the July 2012
Formula Student Competition where they were charged with the task of
designing and constructing a formula race car.
Students of the Computer 
Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), Professor
Chinedu Nebo, a first class scholar and renowned university
administrator, made waves as Vice Chancellor of the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). Nebo, a geologist of international repute and a
venerable of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, shares his
experience so far at the newly-established FUOYE in this interview with
Sam Nwaoko. Excerpts:
