JABU VC to FG: Stop further approval of License for private universities

THE acting vice chancellor of Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Professor Theophilus Olowokure, on Monday called on the Federal Government to stop further approval of private universities, saying it is not helping the standard of education in Nigeria.

Olowokure made the call during a press conference to herald the ninth convocation ceremony of the institution, saying apart from affecting the development of education negatively, approving more private universities now is dangerous for the future of Nigeria’s education.

The vice chancellor noted that private universities in Nigeria are currently battling with serious survival challenges, and that the Federal Government should allow the existing ones to stabilise and achieve their purposes before granting licence for the establishment of more private universities.

According to Olowokure, many of existing private institutions lack the required infrastructure while most of them have failed to meet their annual admission quota.

“Licensing new universities is not the answer. It will only sentence some private universities to bankruptcy later. If for political expediency government cannot increase fees in public universities, the clamour for the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) intervention in private universities is justified.”

“The continued approval of new private universities on the assumption that there are more students seeking admission has the effects of increasing the total admission capacities of private universities and decline in admission to popular programmes in existing private universities.

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“Parents who can afford the private universities’ fees are very few because of the level of poverty in the country,” he observed.

He noted: “Unless fees in public universities move closer to those in private universities or there is a phenomenal increase in the average income of the population, the admission problem will remain with us for many years.

“The high frequency which is necessitated by the need to cover high overhead costs has the effect of making parents of prospective students and their wards shun private universities in preference for public universities that charge relatively low fees.

“Government should stop issuing licences to new private universities until admission situation of the existing ones improves significantly.”

Professor Olowokure disclosed that 608 students from the seven colleges in JABU would be conferred with different degrees on Friday (tomorrow) January 25, 2019.

According to him, 593 graduating students will be awarded first degrees, 25 of them with First Class honours, 234 with Second Class honours (upper division), 249 Second Class honours (lower division), 84 with Third Class degree, and one with Pass degree.

Five will be awarded postgraduate diploma and 10 with Master’s degrees.

Emmanuel Alaba Oladunmoye from the Department of Accounting is the best graduating student with a CGPA of 4.78. Oladunmoye is also said to have qualified as a chartered accountant in his final year.

The vice chancellor disclosed that honorary doctorate would be awarded to the founder of Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF), Chief Mrs Titi Abubakar Atiku, and the chairman of GMT Energy Resources Limited, Mr. Seinde Fadeni-Oladapo.