Prof Gregory Ibe, Founder and Chancellor, Gregory University, Uturu, in Abia, has said that the lack of quality manpower was inhibiting educational growth in Nigeria.
Ibe told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Abuja that the country’s tertiary institutions lacked the quality manpower to compete favourably with foreign institutions.
“For Nigeria’s universities to be anywhere close to its counterparts the world over, we must have the necessary manpower and equipment. We must put everything in place to get the needed results.
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“To meet the target, you should have equipment for studies. Once you have the equipment, the next thing is manpower.
“The National Universities Commission (NUC), has always insisted on this and appreciates seriously where manpower is lacking,” he said.
Ibe called on the management of tertiary institutions to pool resources together to ensure that there was the needed equipment and manpower to boost the standard of education in the country.
The chancellor expressed sadness over the fact that many federal universities were facing accreditation challenges due to inability to update infrastructure.
“The NUC is no brother or sister of anybody in this country; as far as regulation is concerned, it does not spare anyone.
“Accreditation is done twice in a year. Gone are the days where university managements borrowed equipment because NUC has known enough over time and would not be deceived by such games.
“Now, universities must inscribe their names that will be seen and can’t be washed away.
“The name of the university is embossed on every equipment, so there is no need to borrow from anybody. That era of manipulation has gone.”
He said that the NUC was doing its best to curtail the manipulations in the system, adding that there was no way out for institutions that were poorly funded, hence the constant withdrawal of accreditation.
Ibe regretted that managements of most government-owned universities at state and federal levels had often taken things for granted and called for more training for such administrators.
“Government must train the administrators to administer the institutions the way private owners handle theirs so as to ensure efficiency,’’ he said.
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