The Vice-Chancellor of Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa State, Prof. Mohammed Kyari has described Nigerian Universities as business outlets.
The VC during an interview with Punch Nigerian universities are now selling bottled water and opening bakery to keep themselves running.
Kyari while responding to a question on whether Nigerian universities have been creative enough to survive the difficult environment stifled by poor funding said the universities cannot be creative when they don’t have the resources.
”How creative can they be and what else can they do? Nigerian Universities literally have become business outlets. Universities are selling table water, running bakeries and commercial bus services or guest house services. This is no way to run a university. It can never fund universities. The bottom line is that as long as universities are not sufficiently funded to do basic teaching and research, they cannot function.
”Creativity will be constrained because you cannot be creative when you don’t have the resources. Sometimes we switch off electricity because we can’t pay for electricity. There would be public electricity supply, but we’ll have to switch off simply because we cannot afford the cost. We require about N20m per month to maintain the university on the public power supply. But, whatever government gives me may be sufficient for only three months of the year, not for 12 months. So you have to be creative. But creativity is in how to run the university with limited resources”, he said.
Nigerian students are not receiving quality education- VC
Another Vice-Chancellor also took a swipe at the Nigerian University system and its effects on the Nigerian students education.
The Vice-Chancellor of Crescent University, Abeokuta, Prof Ibraheem Gbajabiamila recently admitted that Nigerian students are not receiving quality education.
The VC says this while speaking at the 70th anniversary of Anwar-ul-Islam College Agege on Thursday, September 6, 2018.
Speaking on the topic: ”Quality education and national development”, Gbajabiamila said Nigeria used to be a Mecca of sorts for other African countries seeking quality education, adding that the county had lost its glory to countries like Ghana, Tanzania and Gambia.
(pulseng)