Abuja -Prof. Julius Okojie, the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC) has urged the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) to include insurgency in its curriculum.
Okojie, who made the call when the Senior Course 37, Study Group 5 of NIPPS visited him on Wednesday in Abuja, said that the creation of programmes relevant to the ongoing challenge would help to curb the menace of insurgency in the country.
“We must create programmes that are relevant to the recent challenge of insurgency.
“How do we talk about conflict resolution, how do we talk about human rights violations. These are issues that are attracting our attention.’’
Okojie said that the quality of the Nigerian university system and their graduates were high as many of them were discharging themselves creditably around the world.
He said that funding had been the challenge of the commission as this had affected its ability to properly carry out its functions.
“We are looking forward to benefitting from Course 7 on these issues because for a regulatory body to be effective, it has to be stronger than the institutions it regulates.’’
Okojie said that universities should be serious about quality assurance, adding that he was worried about the governance structure of some universities.
He said that Nigerian universities could fare better with the Diaspora; they had proved to world that they were competitive.
According to him, most of the medical doctors in America and professors in other African countries are Nigerians.
“There was a flight of top flight academics some time ago; most West African countries are parading Nigerian professors; some even become vice-chancellors.
“We encourage our professors abroad to come home and stay one year, some even stayed back.’’
According to him, NUC has no input in the appointment of vice-chancellors as councils of these institutions appoint them with the advent of university autonomy.
“The teachers and students quality is a problem to the Nigerian university system as it draws new entrants into the system from the secondary schools.
Okojie called for the establishment of an education bank as was before where students could go and obtain loans, while calling for the boarding system to come back.
He also called for the return of missionary schools to their original owners, and the introduction of free education up to the age of 18.
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Earlier, Prof. Celestine Bassey, the Director of Studies of NIPSS, said that they were in NUC to find out what it was doing to sustain quality assurance in universities.
According to Bassey, the theme of study is “Repositioning Nigerian University System Global Competitive’’.
He said that regulatory bodies played critical roles in university education which were the foundation of quality education.
“NUC must extend its capacity to the activities of governing councils of universities.
“What we have now is a real disaster under the 2007 Act; which under the so-called autonomy handed the university system to politicians.
“Since many of the vice-chancellors are products of these politicians in council, they are incapacitated; something needs to done to return the quality of our universities.’’
Bassey condemned the corrupt practices going on in the universities where students paid money to withdraw their scripts and rewrite their examinations and then submit the re-written scripts.
NIPSS draws participants from public and private sector organisation to perfect the policy conceptualisation capacity of middle-level executives as well as preparing them to assume strategic leadership roles. (NAN)
NUC advocates for programmes relevant to insurgency challenge
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