MKPAT ENIN
A business and human resources stragegist and guest lecturer at the third distinguished registry lecture of Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU), has said that Nigeria loses billions of dollars yearly to other countries in school fees on foreign students.
The guest lecturer, Mr Usen Udoh, stated this when he presented the 3rd distinguished registry lecture of the Institution, which took place at the Tertiary Education Trust fund (TETfund), auditorium, Ikot Akpaden, Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.
Speaking on the topic, “The Future Of Universities in Nigeria: The Paradigm Shift in Funding”, Udoh, stated that Nigerian students were found all over the world in countries including United Kingdom, South Africa, Ghana, Ukraine, Australia, Russia, Canada and the United States of America (USA).
He explained that the mass rush by Nigerian students abroad to pursue university education, was caused by the fact that the nation’s university system with the attendant challenges such as poor funding, strikes, lack of facilities and infrastructure, seemed not to have anything to offer to secure academic excellence to graduates.
Mr Udoh , explained that the Institute of International Education, in the US, puts it that Nigerian students spent about $514 Million, about N4.0 trillion, on school fees in the United States of America in 2021.
He noted that about 19.000 Nigerian students in neighbouringGhana, spent over N250 billions on school fees in 2021. MrUsen Udoh, told the gathering that while a Ghanaian student paid an average of $280, as fees, a Nigerian student in same country, paid about $4.700, a development he said made the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN,), to come up with a report that between 2010 to 2020, Nigeria, spent the sum of $28.66 billion on the payment of fees by Nigerian students studying abroad in the last ten years.
The guest lecturer, noted that there was no way Nigerian students could appreciate the nation’s university system, pointing out that in the last ten years, the federal government has funded university education between 6 to 7 percent of the budget, and except for 2012, 2013 and 2014, when the budget went above 8 percent and 9.94 percent in 2014.
He said in 2021, the nation’s budget for university education stood at 5.5 percent, being the lowest ever. Udoh, maintained that there had never been a year that the budget for education, has ever been disbursed fully, and alleged that where figure were budgeted, universities remained starved of funds even for basic services.
The guest lecturer said that in bid to solve this challenge of poor funding in the nation’s university system, there was need to grant full autonomy to universities to run effectively as they could, while government should limit itself to the provision of guidelines and standards needed and force compliance.
He said all universities should be run as a business that has to preserve and keep itself as a “growing concern”, having the discipline to plan and project it’s budget based on its specific circumstances and as well employ staff based on their terms and condition of service suitable and specific to the university.
Udoh advised that in achieving a paradigm shift in funding the system, alumni were strong supporter of the university, and developing a deep level of connection with alumni, would generate invaluable words of mouth marketing among their social and professional networks.
He said to the host communities, universities could profit transportation business, a bakery to produce bread, hire out facilities, provide primary health services, bottled water, engage in large-scale farming where there is land, run primary and secondary school with tutorial centres and provide business consultancy services.
The vice chancellor of the institution, Professor Nse Essien, said the theme for the third lecture “The Future of Universities in Nigeria: The Paradigm Shift in Funding”, was very apt as all the challenges in the nation’s tertiary education system, has to do with funding.
Essien, explained that the reason was couple with the fact that public universities were funded by federal and state government even as unions were of the believe that government had all the resources to fund the sector.
The vice chancellor said that while there was no money from oil to fund university education, there was need to re examine how university system should be funded as it contribute significantly to development of the country.
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