Private varsities aiding academic corruption, decadence – JAMB Registrar
Doosuur Iwambe, Abuja
Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, has accused proprietors of private universities in Nigeria of aiding academic corruption and decadence in the country.
Mr Oloyede while speaking during the opening ceremony of a two-day summit on Nigerian private universities organised by the National Universities Commission (NUC), said private university operators violate several laws guiding university operations in Nigeria.
He explained that the purpose of opening up the university space by the Federal Government to private operators seems to be defeated because of some of the sharp practices operators of private universities undertake.
He said: “Government opened up the space few years ago for private operators to come complement government effort in providing university education to Nigerians, but it seems like the aim is gradually being defeated.
“When you visit some private universities, you will be ashamed for Nigeria. From the structures, you will know that something is wrong.
“If you take a deeper look, you will discover more decadence and rot in their operations. Some of the proprietors choose to run the universities like a family business and it ought not to be so,” he stated.
He reminded the proprietors that only the Vice-Chancellor is recognised by law as being in charge of the day-to-day running of the university, while every other person with ceremonial titles play supportive roles.
“If I were to be university proprietor, I will prefer to take the position of Chairman of the Council because of the control power attached to that office,” he stated.
Mr Oloyede challenged the university owners to use the opportunity of the summit to exchange knowledge, ideas, expertise so they could collectively assist government to provide quality and affordable university education.
The summit has as its theme: ‘Private university education delivery in Nigeria; challenges and opportunities.’
Proprietors and vice chancellors from across 79 private universities in Nigeria and other stakeholders participated in the summit.
