Legal luminary and elder statesman, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), has warned the Federal Government to stop mass approval of licenses for new universities and return to the era of Prof. Peter Okebukola as the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission to prevent mushroom universities.
Babalola, who is the founder of the Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), said that approving the establishment of universities without consideration for quality and infrastructure could adversely affect the country in future, if not stopped immediately.
The senior lawyer gave the warning at the High Impact Research and Journal Advancement Workshop, organised by ABUAD on Monday in Ado-Ekiti.
He said that during the era of Okebukola, the NUC had a reputation for careful, meticulous and painstaking approval process for the establishment of universities.
Babalola said: “Not only was the visitation and accreditation process rigorous, it was also impossible for anyone to obtain approval to commence degree programmes, especially in Medicine, Engineering and Law, especially in the first few years of establishing a university.
“But what do we have today?
“Mass approval of mushroom and substandard universities, with some lacking in even the basic learning facilities and infrastructure.
“As a result of this anything goes syndrome, approach to university licensing and accreditation, NUC’s ability to ensure quality control and to stamp out substandard institutions have been seriously compromised.
“We currently have over 270 universities in Nigeria, and proposals for the approval of another 200 new institutions are currently under consideration by the National Assembly.”
According to Babalola, the focus now seems to be on quantity, not quality, licensing more universities without adequate plans for monitoring their standards.
He added: “The end result is a rapid decline, and rot of our educational system, and in the quality of our graduates.
“What we need is quality education, because poor education is worse than illiteracy.”
Babalola said that Nigeria could not seriously speak of advancing sustainable development through high impact research unless it first addresses the menace of proliferation of substandard universities.
“If we are really serious about accelerating national development, through research, the starting point will be for the process of approval for university licenses should be thorough,” he said.
Also Read
Also, Okebukola, in his lecture titled: “Promoting High-Impact Research Publications for Sustainable National Development in Nigeria: Opportunities, Challenges and Future Directions,” called for increased partnership with international researchers in order to boost the ranking of institutions in Nigeria.
This, he said, would attract international bodies to ABUAD and make it surpass other universities in the country.
Speaking, the Editor-in-Chief of the ABUAD Journal of Sustainable Development, Law and Policy, Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, explained that the purpose of the workshop was to instill an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset in the approach to research, publication, and journal management.
He noted that the Journal, which started in 2013, was an accredited Journal by the South African Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), a member of the Committee on Publications Ethics (COPE), UK; Directory of Open Access Journalists (DOAJ); and African Journals Online (AJOL).
Earlier in a welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of ABUAD, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, said the organisation of the workshop had been made possible through the generous support of Electronic Information For Libraries (EIFL).
According to Olarinde, participants would be equipped with practical knowledge on managing and sustaining Open Access Journals, Ethical Research Publishing, and Improving the Visibility and Credibility of African Academic Outputs.
Post Views: 7
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
