Professor Abdullahi Yusuf Ribadu has succeeded Ambassador Chris Maiyaki as the 9th Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), pledging comprehensive reforms, particularly to the commission’s establishing law
Professor Ribadu at the handover ceremony held at the NUC Headquarters in Abuja Nigeria said as a regulatory body that oversees Nigeria’s citadels of learning, NUC must also look inward to determine the relevance or otherwise of its extant laws.
“We will thus revisit the laws that govern our commission and its interactions with other stakeholders with a view to identifying areas of improvement in order to strengthen and reposition it for better service delivery,” he said
Staff Welfare
Professor Ribadu said staff welfare and training would be prioritized as well as ensure academic calendars are strictly adhered to by universities nationwide.
According to him, “in the coming weeks and months, he will be working closely with the management team to develop a comprehensive strategy for the commission.”
He said access to university education still remains a challenge in the country as well as funding.
Professor Ribadu said; “About 2 million candidates sit for the JAMB UTME examinations annually with only about 0.5 million admitted. We hope to increase access through expanding existing infrastructure and resources in public universities, e-learning and distance education as well as private provisioning.
“Enhancing funding and external support channels aims to maximise internal and external support and funding opportunities for Nigerian universities. We will work towards improved funding for university education.
“There is an urgent need to undertake NEEDS assessment in order to make informed decision on the quantum of funds required for quality university education. We will build strong partnerships with international organisations and donor agencies and create a centralised platform for managing and tracking external support and ensure its effective utilisation,” he said
Professor Ribadu highlighted that Digitisation drive would also be a major focus, as he aims to transform the activities of the NUC to conform to the demands and challenges of the digital age.
He said; “We will work towards digitalising the activities of the commission for easy operations, transparency, accessibility and ease of doing business. We will collaborate with various stakeholders to ensure the actualisation of this goal. Furthermore, we will streamline approval processes (resource verification, accreditation, monitoring, etc) with clear guidelines and timelines to ensure a swift and transparent process.”
Professor Ribadu noted quality assurance would strengthened to ensure that all academic programmes meet high standards of quality and relevance, emphasizing that research and innovation will also be given extensive attention.
“We will therefore ensure that the regular audits and assessments of academic programmes become more robust, transparent and in tandem with global best practices. We will also ensure that Nigerian universities establish a robust framework for continuous quality improvement, including academic staff development programmes, curriculum reviews and student feedback mechanisms.
“Promoting innovation and research aims at fostering a culture of innovation and research excellence within universities. We will encourage collaborative research projects, recognise and reward ground-breaking research and encourage establishing innovation hubs. We will also promote the commercialisation of research findings to benefit both the researchers and the potential end users. We will collaborate with TETFund’s National Research Fund (NRF) to achieve this goal,” he said
Professor Ribadu said the commission will ensure that academic calendars for universities are stabilised and adhered to, as it will work towards conforming to global best practice regarding commencement of sessions and other academic endeavours that are time-specific.
“We will collaborate with universities and university based unions across the country to achieve this,” he said
Professor Ribadu said that by focusing on these goals, he hopes to recalibrate the core functions of the commission, while driving improvements in the university education in Nigeria.
“I want to reiterate my optimism about the future of the National Universities Commission and our collective ability to effect positive change in the university education sector. Together, we will work diligently to achieve our goals and make significant strides in achieving success,” he said
The former acting ES, Ambassador Maiyaki, said the appointment of Ribadu marks a new era in NUC as the commission needs innovation to achieve its objectives,
Maiyaki emphasized on the need to reform the laws guiding the commission.
“Many of the enabling laws of the commission are outdated and in need of legal reform. These are obsolete laws that limit the ability of an institution to adapt to new trends.
” In the case of the NUC, our outdated laws impede the commission’s capacity to control the proliferation and activities of illegal degrees, unauthorised or unapproved degree-awarding institutions,“‘ he said.
Despite challenges, Maiyaki said the commission has been able to expand the University system to above 270, accredited more than a Thousand courses. It has also opened the University landscape to Transnational education as well as implementation of the a new curriculum, the Core Curriculum Maximum Academic Standards, CCMAS among others.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
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