Chris Maiyaki, Former Acting Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), has highlighted several critical challenges undermining the Commission’s ability to fully achieve its mandate of advancing university education in Nigeria.
Speaking at the formal handover ceremony to Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, the new substantive Executive Secretary on Monday, Maiyaki underscored issues such as inadequate funding, outdated regulatory laws, limited integration of information and communication technology (ICT) and weak governance as key hurdles facing the Commission.
BusinessDay states that he lamented that funding constraints have consistently hindered the NUC’s capacity to implement transformative initiatives and sustain quality assurance processes. According to him, this funding gap affects the Commission’s ability to regulate effectively and expand access.
Maiyaki also noted that many of the laws governing the NUC are outdated and have not kept pace with the evolving higher education landscape.
“These obsolete laws limit the Commission’s ability to adapt to new trends and to control the proliferation of illegal or unauthorized degree-awarding institutions,” he stated, adding that the lack of legal reforms has further weakened the NUC’s regulatory oversight.
Inadequate ICT penetration was another area of concern raised by the acting secretary. Despite the growing reliance on digital technologies in global education, he noted that the Nigerian university system is still lagging in integrating ICT into its academic processes.
The acting executive secretary further identified governance issues, disruptions caused by frequent industrial actions, and insufficient capacity-building programs for both academic and non-teaching staff as additional challenges stalling the growth of the Commission and the wider Nigerian university system.
Despite these challenges, he acknowledged the progress made under his leadership during the transitional period. These among his lists include the activation and implementation of core curriculum and minimum academic standards (CCMAS), approval of new universities, and improvements in quality assurance with 87% of accredited programmes achieving full accreditation status.
He also called for a concerted effort to address the highlighted issues through legal reforms, enhanced funding, and strategic integration of ICT to reposition the Nigerian university system for global competitiveness expressing confidence in the incoming Executive Secretary’s ability to tackle these challenges.
In response, Abdullahi Ribadu, the new Executive Secretary, emphasised that the NUC must introspect to assess its relevance in overseeing Nigeria’s universities.
This, he said, involves evaluating the Commission’s internal processes and structures to ensure they align with the changing needs of the education sector.
