If lawmakers in Nigeria had their way, every community in their constituencies would have a university, Polytechnic or other cadre of institutions and every roadside mechanic with a diploma in trial and error engineering would hold a degree.
It was therefore a relief on Thursday when the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, subtly blew the whistle on this madness which has seen legislators in both chambers flood the country with almost 200 bills for new institutions without a thought for how to sustain the ones we already have.
I’m almost drawn to believe that these lawmakers believe that federal Institutions are nothing more than vanity projects, the political equivalent of naming streets after oneself. Their obsession with creating new institutions while existing ones struggle to breathe is like a man who keeps building new houses while termites devour the ones he lives in.
What is the point of a hundred universities if they cannot even guarantee the basics—a proper library, functional laboratories, or lecturers who don’t have to depend on side hustles to survive?
The United States, the United Kingdom, and even some of our African neighbors understand that world-class education is not about having more universities; it’s about ensuring that the ones in place are properly funded, staffed, and maintained.
The best institutions in the world; Harvard, Oxford, and MIT did not become great because of the sheer number of universities in their country. They became great because of sustained investment in excellence. But in Nigeria, people praise lawmakers, Governors and even the President when he approves new institutions without thinking about its survival.
It is no secret that many political figures including Governors see new institutions as political trophies and tools for re-election campaigns rather than centers of academic excellence. A senator or Rep wants a federal Institutions in his hometown, not because the state needs it, but because it will look good on a campaign poster. The result? We have institutions with fewer than 1,000 students, classrooms with no lecturers, and institutions that have little research impact on solving national problems.
Nigeria does not need more Institutions right now, it needs functioning ones. The funds being wasted on new institutions should be redirected towards fixing the crumbling infrastructure of existing ones. We need world-class libraries, well-equipped laboratories, and better-trained lecturers, not ghost campuses that exist only on paper.
The lawmakers and other political figures pushing for this reckless expansion should be ashamed. If they truly care about education, let them pass bills that increase funding for research, improve lecturers’ welfare, and reduce the number of out-of-school children. But, of course, that would require real work, not just the ceremonial joy of sponsoring a bill.
