Professor Is-haq Oloyede, Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has urged that public universities be granted greater autonomy. Speaking on the Sunday edition of the socio-political programme Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television, Oloyede proposed that the National Universities Commission (NUC) be allowed to manage university budgets in addition to its role as the regulator responsible for accrediting courses, adding that Nigeria doesn’t need more establishment of Universities, rather the existing ones should be equipped and more industries built to create job opportunities.
In his address, the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin highlighted that the current system forces each public university to approach the National Assembly to defend its budget, a process he described as heavily influenced by personal connections and political leverage. “Now, every university goes to the National Assembly for their budget, for their defence and the more you can pull the weight, the more will determine,” he said. According to him, this approach has led to inconsistencies in funding and inefficiencies in university management, ultimately undermining the potential for institutional autonomy.
Oloyede stressed that university education is exceptionally sensitive and that the government should allow experts to administer these tertiary institutions. “We can still re-engineer the situation to have the things we need,” he asserted. “We need to look at the funding mechanism. The National Universities Commission (NUC), for example, should be left alone to run the universities. Hold the National Universities Commission responsible for the management of the universities.” His remarks pointed to a vision where specialized academic administrators, rather than politically connected officials, would determine funding allocations based solely on objective criteria.
Drawing from his own extensive experience, Oloyede recalled his role as chairman of the Committee of Vice Chancellors and his involvement in reorganizing and retooling the NUC. “When the NUC was in charge, things were done well. I strongly believe that the autonomy that we are talking about for our universities can be better achieved if we allow the NUC to coordinate the affair,” he explained. He further elaborated that under the NUC’s former management, the Universities Annual Review System was employed to assess the number of candidates across disciplines, thereby objectively determining the next year’s budget allocations. “Whether you know anybody or you don’t does not come in. The NUC will determine the parameter number of students and so on. And it is the NUC that will defend at the National Assembly and the Ministry of Education,” he stated.
Oloyede also lamented the shift in funding priorities over the years. He noted that when the NUC was at the helm of budgeting, significant funds were directed toward capital development. However, with the current system, funds earmarked for infrastructural improvements have declined, partly because universities are now burdened with an excess of support staff. He envisioned a funding model based on enrollment numbers: “I believe that the way we are running and the way we are funding, it could get to a level that we will say: University of Abuja, you are producing XY medical doctors, what does it take to train one medical doctor? This is the quota we have given you. So, we now calculate (the amount). Both your capital and your recurrent expenditure won’t be our business. And we would have built research into it to ascertain the amount.”
The Registrar’s call for reform goes beyond mere financial adjustments. Oloyede also argued that Nigeria does not need additional universities, but rather the expansion and better equipping of existing ones. He criticized the trend where politicians establish new universities in marginalized communities as a form of compensation, arguing that such measures are a poor substitute for establishing robust industrial and economic infrastructures. “Instead of compensating communities with universities, we should be setting up factories and industries that create sustainable jobs and development,” he asserted.
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Oloyede’s proposals are being received with cautious optimism among academic circles and policymakers who have long debated the optimal funding and management models for Nigerian public universities. Advocates for reform argue that entrusting the NUC with budget management would not only ensure more equitable and transparent allocation of funds but also allow universities to focus on academic excellence and research rather than political maneuvering.
As Nigeria continues to grapple with the challenges of rapid expansion in higher education and the need to foster innovation and research, Oloyede’s insights provide a compelling blueprint for how university autonomy can be reinforced. His comprehensive approach calls for a shift from politicized budgeting to a merit-based system that rewards productivity, efficiency, and academic achievement. If implemented, this reform could potentially transform the landscape of tertiary education in Nigeria, ensuring that public universities serve as true engines of national development and innovation.
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