Inadequate quality manpower bane of education sector, says don

The Founder and Chancellor, Gregory University, Uturu, in Abia state, Prof. Gregory Ibe, has said that the lack of quality manpower is inhibiting educational growth in Nigeria.

Prof. Ibe, who stated this in Abuja, declared that the country’s tertiary institutions lack the quality manpower to compete favourably with foreign institutions.

“For Nigeria’s universities to be anywhere close to its counterparts the world over, we must have the necessary manpower and equipment. We must put everything in place to get the needed results.

“To meet the target, you should have equipment for studies. Once you have the equipment, the next thing is manpower.

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has always insisted on this and appreciates seriously where manpower is lacking,” he said.

The don called on the managements of tertiary institutions to pool resources together to ensure that there is the needed equipment and manpower to boost the standard of education in the country.

The chancellor expressed sadness over the fact that many federal universities were facing accreditation challenges due to their inability to update infrastructure.

“The NUC is no brother or sister of anybody in this country as far as regulation is concerned, it does not spare anyone. Accreditation is done twice in a year.

“Gone are the days where university managements borrowed equipment because the NUC has known enough over time and would not be deceived by such games.

“Now, universities must inscribe their names on equipment that will be seen and can’t be washed away. The name of the university is embossed on every equipment.

So there is no need to borrow from anybody. That era of manipulation has gone,” the academic added.

He said that the NUC is doing its best to curtail the manipulations in the system, adding that there is no way out for institutions that are poorly funded, hence the constant withdrawal of accreditation.

Prof. Ibe regretted that managements of most government-owned universities at state and federal levels have often taken things for granted and called for more training for such administrators.

“Government must train the administrators to administer the institutions the way private owners handle theirs so as to ensure efficiency,’’ he said. (NAN)