Stakeholders have expressed divergent views on the proposed establishment of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) University for Trade and Technology.
In separate interviews with journalists on Sunday, they welcomed the development but feared it could become like some other academies where admission is challenging.
NCS’ comptroller-general Adewale Adeniyi announced in January that the service had secured approval to establish the university in Badagry, Lagos, to enhance customs’ operational efficiency and service delivery.
According to him, the institution is expected to become a centre of excellence for customs and trade-related studies to strengthen capacity building in Nigeria and the West African region.
He said that operationalising the university was a top priority of the service`s 2025 strategic plan.
An education expert, Elvis Boniface, said the establishment of the university would help address the shortage of universities in Nigeria.
He lamented that despite Nigeria’s population of more than 200 million, the country had only 270 universities, resulting in a limited carrying capacity that accommodates just 20 per cent of applicants.
The expert said specialised universities require significant resources for their operation, including administration, physical infrastructure, personnel, and accreditation, among others.
He said that thorough consultations were necessary to validate the need for establishing such institutions, especially if they could be carved out of existing public universities.
“My concern as an educator is how well have we managed specialised universities or institutes? Have we maintained their quality over the years, like the Nigerian Maritime Institute and the Institute of Fisheries,” he said.
A public analyst, Bulus Dabit, welcomed the proposed establishment of the university but expressed concern that only selected children of a certain class may get admission into the school, similar to other specialised institutions.
“We have witnessed the upgrade and establishment of military and paramilitary institutions in Nigeria with very clear intentions and objectives. Examples of such are the preponderance of universities owned by the Nigerian Army and the police.
“Such universities seem to have been captured by the elites of that sector of our national economy. Many young applicants are under the impression that they can’t get admission in such schools,” he said.
Mr Dabit said that to allay such fears, a protectionist policy for children from low-income backgrounds in Nigeria should be established for its universal application in all public schools.
(NAN)
