Olaopa seeks greater autonomy, new funding models for Nigerian universities
Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof. Tunji Olaopa, has called for new governance and funding models to address the challenges confronting public universities in Nigeria.
Olaopa made the call in Abuja on Thursday at the Federal University of Lokoja and Research Enterprise System’s Conference on “University Governance and the Corporate World: Towards an All-of-People Approach to Financing University Education in Nigeria”.
He said university education governance in Nigeria was at a critical juncture due to systemic and structural bottlenecks, particularly inadequate funding, which had complicated efforts to reform traditional governance structures.
Olaopa said the reforms must balance academic and administrative autonomy, operational viability and industry relevance. He noted that education funding remained below the UNESCO benchmark of 15 to 20 per cent of public expenditure, while Nigeria’s National Policy on Education targets 26 per cent.
He added that research funding accounted for less than 0.3 per cent of annual GDP, compared with the African average of 0.45 per cent and global benchmark of 1.7 per cent. “To break the barrier and to position higher education to take its place as a critical propeller of growth, it still requires significant investment,” he said.
Olaopa called for an “all-of-people partnership model” that would involve industry partners, community representatives, alumni and trade union leaders in university governance and move funding beyond reliance on government allocations and tuition.
He also proposed community-backed, equity-rooted endowment funds through which alumni, local enterprise networks and civil society organisations could contribute capital to projects such as renewable energy micro-grids, digital infrastructure and agricultural research centres.
He added that implementing the proposed governance and funding models would require the National Assembly, Federal Ministry of Education and National Universities Commission to amend existing university establishment laws to grant universities greater operational and academic autonomy.
