By Odunayo Ogunseye
Professor Peter Okebukola, a former Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC), gave reasons universities should not be allowed to operate satellite campuses, The Nation reports.
Okebukola said this while delivering the 4th and 5th Convocation Lecture on: “Does Nigeria’s Development Cap fit the Nigeria University System?” at Elizade University, Ilara Mokin.
“Those are places are demeaning the quality of our university education. Graduates from satellite campuses are less than half baked”, he explained.
He added that the satellite campuses were responsible for producing poor, half-baked and unemployable graduates in the country, harping that he would shut down all satellite campuses like he did 20 years ago when he was the Executive Secretary at NUC.
Okebukola revealed that the financial stagnancy of state-owned universities has made them literally sold-off their certificates through poorly-resourced campuses far from the main campus.
These institutions, according to him, ended up admitting all type of persons into the satellite campuses to create revenue for the institutions at the detriment of the quality education expected to be given.
Okebukola said that the universities would respond to the needs of the country in greater measure if adequately funded, advising the country to rethink its investment in the university education.
“I say the Nigeria university system fit the development cap to the extent that it is delivering value for the quantum of money invested in it. The cap has some sectorial fit especially in human capacity development,” he said.
“The Nigeria university system also does not fit the development cap because its huge potential to better respond to the development agenda of the country is weakly explored owing to paltry investment.”
