The National University Commission (NUC) has expressed concern about the appointment of inexperienced individuals to the governing councils of both private and public universities.
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The commission stated that some appointees see the positions as opportunities for financial gain rather than as a call to serve the university community.
Dr. Noel Biodun Saliu, Deputy Executive Secretary of the NUC, made these remarks during the seventh annual registry lecture at Elizade University in Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State.
Dr. Saliu criticized the politicization of the appointment process for the chairpersons and members of university governing councils in Nigeria.
He also highlighted that some private university owners were persisting in running their institutions as family businesses, thereby undermining the authority of the Vice Chancellor.
He said the dissolution of governing councils by the president and governors on the assumption of office was inimical to the growth of the university system.
In his lecture titled: “The Nigerian University System and Its Many Challenges: The Way Forward”, Dr. Saliu stated that some Visitors to universities dictate the administrative operations of their universities without recourse to the law.
He called on private university owners to stop seeing their universities as profit-making ventures for the first 10 years of the commencement of academic activities.
Saliu called for a review of the NUC laws to allow for effective regulation of the universities.
He said: “Some Visitors to universities dictate the administrative operations of their universities without recourse to the respective University Law. This scenario is mostly common with private and state universities. It has manifested in the dissolution of governing councils by new administrations both at the state and federal levels, and the arbitrary suspension or removal from office of Vice-Chancellors in some instances without regard to extant regulations.
“It is more worrisome in most private universities where some proprietors are unrepentant in the decision to run their universities as family businesses thereby usurping the powers of the Vice-Chancellor. The appointment of inexperienced persons into university councils also calls for concern as most of the appointees, particularly for the public universities see such appointments as political settlement for money making and not a call to service.”
“There should be imported budgetary allocation and releases to public universities and improved subvention for private universities by their respective owners.”
The registrar of Elizade University, Omololu Adegbenro, expressed optimism that the lecture would inspire new perspectives, spark meaningful conversations, and foster connections.
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