Inadequate funding of public universities

“YOU will see development coming up wherever it will and everywhere unfortunately, the government is not doing this and it takes ASUU’s fight before funding attention is given to tertiary education”. These were the words of Dr. Benjamin Ugheoke, the chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU), Abuja chapter, when he spoke to journalists on the challenges confronting tertiary education in the country. He made this statement about two years ago and sadly nothing has changed. The problems we have then are still the problems we have now. The fact still remains that Nigerian public universities are inadequately funded. Earlier this month, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, was announced as the highest ranked university in Nigeria according to the Times Higher Education Rankings. The University of Ibadan ranked second in Nigeria but the fact still remains that public universities are inadequately funded. Citing Covenant University as an example, the university has adequate facilities, well ventilated classrooms, uninterrupted power supply, and a well-stocked library. These are things that most public universities cannot boast of. Why? The universities are inadequately funded.

Just recently, students of Federal University, Oye-Ekiti , Ekiti State, staged peaceful protest over the poor power supply in the community. This came four months after they protested over the same issue. Three years ago, University of Lagos (UNILAG) students protested the erratic power supply in the university. We have also heard many other cases like this. Talking about the classrooms we have in the universities, they are nothing to write home about. Some classrooms do not even have fans, let alone air conditioners. The chairs and tables are old and spoilt. Some classrooms don’t even have proper lighting. Some are not properly ventilated. Some are not spacious. If one does a tour of some public universities, especially during lecture hours, one would see over 200 students packed into small, dirty classrooms. There would not be any space for anyone to move. The whole classroom would be smelly and stuffy. The hostels in the public universities are porous. There lack good and clean toilets and bathrooms. They suffer from dirty surroundings, over population in the hostels, inadequate space, lack of proper ventilation, lack of clean water and congestion in the rooms. The list is endless.

The libraries contain old and outdated books. Apart from the books being inadequate, they do not keep in touch with the educational syllabus we have now. The current chairman of ASUU, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, recently stated that: “the state of public universities’ libraries is worrisome is what we saw coming. This was why we have been raising the alarm over the years that the enabling environment for academics to function in Nigeria has not been created.” This goes a long way in showing that inadequate funding is also the responsible for the poor state of libraries in the public universities. According to him, the poor state of libraries is one of the reasons public universities always recycle old and outdated ideas. In the University of Abuja, students complain incessantly about the lack of adequate library facilities, and the gradual extinction of good books in the library. If one should go over the state of the libraries we have in all public universities in Nigeria, one would be close to tears.  The federal and state governments should properly fund their universities. This will go a long way in ensuring that the students are comfortable and well looked after. It will not only make the university environment conducive for learning, it will also improve the global ranking of Nigerian public universities.

• Adeniyi writes in from Ibadan.