A global higher education ranking organisation, The Times Higher Education (THE), recently named the University of Ibadan as the 600th best university in the world in its 2016/2017 ranking of the world’s best 1000 universities. The ranking was based on teaching, research, citations of scholarly publications, industry income and international outlook, amongst other parameters.
Given that no Nigerian university made the elite list of universities in recent times, we welcome the modest achievement of the nation’s premier university. We believe that more of the nation’s universities should strive to make the grade. Nigeria’s numerical strength and vast human capacity are not in doubt, but the standard of education in the country is not what it should be.
We have sadly prioritised quantity in our educational system rather than quality. We have moved from one university in 1948, to five in the early 1960s, and now have over one hundred government-owned and private universities. While the increase in the number of higher institutions is not bad, standards have often been compromised.
We cannot afford to compromise the standard of university education in the country. The institutions need to be properly funded, manned and equipped to meet global standards if we want to compete and be well placed on global higher education indexes.
Unfortunately, this commitment to adequate funding and administration of higher education has been missing in the country, especially since the incursion of the military into governance. The much needed autonomy of the universities was eroded and adequate funding denied the sector. Our universities, which at inception favourably competed with the best anywhere in the world, gradually surrendered their competitive edge and regressed.
We commend the University of Ibadan for its ranking among the world’s best universities. Its performance is a testimony to the commitment and hard work of its personnel. Other Nigerian universities should strive to emulate the institution, so that they can get a place on this index.
As we have noted earlier, the nation ought to be doing better on this index. Some smaller and less endowed African countries have consistently been on the global elite universities’ list. South Africa, for example, weighed in with three institutions. Its University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University and University of KwaZulu Natal were all ranked ahead of UI in the 148th, 401st and 501st positions, respectively. Egypt, Kenya, Ghana and Uganda have at least one of their universities listed. Efforts must, therefore, be directed at improving the performance of our universities on the index.
A good first step is to ensure that the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) carries out a proper audit of all the universities in the country and ensures that they meet minimum standards that are consistent with the universal goals of tertiary education. Universities are so called because those who pass through their portals show evidence of learning and character commensurate with that level of education. Nigerian universities should not be an exception. Let our educational authorities consider all the indices that are universally accepted and used for global universities rankings and work hard at improving our performance in each of them.
Let all owners of universities and other relevant stakeholders team up on this lofty goal. The ranking indices are well known and articulated. It is for the concerned stakeholders to work assiduously at improving the capability of our universities to excel in them.
Research and development, as well as publication of scholarly papers, are critical responsibilities of universities, globally. Sadly, the reality today is that many of our university teachers are saddled with so much teaching responsibilities that they are left with little or no time or energy for research.
This, and many other negative indicators, have to quickly change if we are to take our place in the league of elite universities.