Grant full autonomy to universities – Registrars tell FG

The Association of Registrars of Nigerian Universities has called on the Federal Government to grant full autonomy to universities to salvage the soul of the Nigerian university system.

This was contained in a communique issued recently at the end of the 18th Annual Retreat and 74th Business Meeting of the Association in Benin City, Edo State and jointly signed by Ife Oluwole, Chairman and Yakubu Ayuba, Public Relations Officer.

The association said that there was an urgent need to rescue Nigerian universities from the stranglehold of Civil Service bureaucracies for efficient institutional governance.

While calling on proprietors of universities to invest heavily in ICT to conform with the trend of the industrial revolution, they noted that TETFund intervention in universities should be expanded to all sectors of the university system.

The communique reads: “There is an urgent need to rescue Nigerian universities from the stranglehold of Civil Service bureaucracies. Therefore, the University system, given its peculiarities should be formally excised from the Civil Service system and granted full autonomy.

“Government should keep a respectable and watchful distance by the Acts and Statutes which establish the institutions. Such autonomy must come with accountability and top-notch integrity.

“Universities should be free from excessive governmental control and interference. They should be at liberty to determine the contents of their curricula, determine their admission and recruitment policies and processes, as well as be allowed to full charge of their operations and governance.

“The principles of autonomy, when properly applied, should free the universities from over-dependence on the public treasury, by allocating block grants to universities and realising same on an annual or bi-annual basis, as well as allowing them to charge reasonable and realistic fees/charges to students. This would certainly make the universities more globally competitive.

“Proprietors of universities should invest heavily in ICT to conform with the trend of the fourth industrial/technological revolution and new methods of higher education learning and record management.

“TETFund intervention in universities should be expanded to cover all sectors of the university system, such as the Registry which plays a pivotal role in the operations of the university and is considered as the nucleus and hub of the system.

“Therefore, TETFund should provide needed support and committedly invest in the training and provision of modern technology facilities for Registry departments in Nigerian universities.”