My experiences working with Ghanaian universities have convinced me that Nigeria can change if it chooses to. The reforms may be difficult, and they will certainly face resistance from those who are used to the old ways. But if we continue on the present path, we will condemn generations of students to wasted years and deny our country the kind of innovation and research that can solve pressing problems like climate change, health crisis, food security, energy poverty, insecurity, etc.
For decades, Nigerian universities have been trapped in a cycle of recurring strikes. Students lose months and sometimes years of their academic lives to these stoppages, while lecturers complain about poor salaries and a lack of support. At the heart of this problem is the refusal of our universities and their academic unions to embrace genuine independence. Many academics in Nigeria want the government to shoulder one hundred per cent of the burden of running universities, while resisting the idea that universities should be free to operate as autonomous institutions. This has left us with institutions that are neither competitive nor sustainable, and has reduced the once-proud profession of teaching and research to one in which professors are openly lamenting poverty and hunger.
I was recently in conversation with a friend from Ghana, and his reflections helped me see why the story is different there. Ghanaian universities faced similar challenges in the past, but they had Vice Chancellors who took a bold step in the opposite direction of what Nigerian academics continue to demand. These leaders believed that universities needed to chart their own course, and they worked to reduce the dependence on government by encouraging public-private partnerships and by allowing universities to set tuition fees at levels that would sustain quality teaching and research.
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This decision changed the trajectory of Ghana’s universities. Instead of treating higher education as a charitable service that could only survive on subsidies, Ghanaian universities repositioned themselves as serious institutions that deserved both public and private investments. The result is that today, Ghanaian academics enjoy greater respect and better conditions of service. Their universities are able to attract external research grants and international collaboration. Importantly, being an academic in Ghana remains a decent and dignified job.
I have witnessed this transformation personally. Through my work on climate change mitigation, I have partnered with Ghanaian universities and their academics. Together, we have carried out research on methane emissions and we are implementing projects such as an organics diversion pilot that puts their scientific studies into practice. I have seen how their academics approach research with enthusiasm and professionalism, knowing that their institutions are backed by a system that works. The quality of engagement is striking when compared with the situation back home in Nigeria, where endless strikes and inadequate funding cripple the spirit of both staff and students.
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The global respect Ghanaian public universities command is also evident in how top universities from the United Kingdom have reached out to me about collaborating with them. Interestingly, these British institutions are not simply looking at Nigeria, despite our larger population and number of universities. Instead, they are eager to work with Ghanaian universities because they see functioning systems, credible partners, and a future of mutual benefit. This should make every Nigerian pause and reflect. How did we get it so wrong?
Ghana, on the other hand, decided that if its universities were to survive and thrive, they needed to be free to innovate. To achieve this, they embraced tuition-setting and partnerships, which created universities that could compete regionally and globally. This was not an easy path, but it has proven to be the right one. Today, Ghanaian universities are not perfect, but they are functional and relatively stable.
The Nigerian story is one of missed opportunities. At independence and even into the 1970s, Nigerian universities had global recognition. Institutions such as the University of Ibadan and Ahmadu Bello University produced scholars of international standing. But as the oil wealth grew, our universities slipped into a culture of dependence, relying almost entirely on government allocations for their funding. Rather than demanding autonomy to raise their own funds and shape their futures, academics organised around the idea that the state must continue to bear every cost associated with their existence. Successive governments also reinforced this model, turning universities into extensions of the civil service. The inevitable result has been chronic underfunding, coupled with endless wage disputes and deteriorating infrastructure.
Ghana, on the other hand, decided that if its universities were to survive and thrive, they needed to be free to innovate. To achieve this, they embraced tuition-setting and partnerships, which created universities that could compete regionally and globally. This was not an easy path, but it has proven to be the right one. Today, Ghanaian universities are not perfect, but they are functional and relatively stable. Nigerian universities, by contrast, remain stuck in a quagmire.
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What needs to be done to fix this? First, Nigerian universities must embrace autonomy in practice, not just on paper. True independence means that universities can set their tuition fees, generate and manage their resources, and enter into partnerships without waiting for government approval. It also means that academics must rethink their relationship with the government. Rather than holding out for endless government bailouts, they must accept that sustainable universities are built through a mix of government support, private investment, tuition contributions, and external grants.
Second, leadership matters. Ghanaian universities were fortunate to have Vice Chancellors who took bold steps that many thought impossible. Nigerian universities, by contrast, have too often been led by Vice Chancellors who are local in their thinking, unexposed to global ways of running modern universities, and still stuck in the outdated mindset of socialist Russia, where everything is demanded from government and labour is rewarded in a cold war manner that stifles human progress. This model is anti-modernity and anti-development. What Nigeria needs now are leaders with vision and courage, who can break away from that backward template and focus on building universities that can stand on their feet.
The truth is harsh but also simple. Nigerian public universities have insisted on surviving as charity institutions, and as a result they are doomed to collapse into irrelevance. They will continue producing, in the majority, half-baked graduates, impoverished professors, and research that no one respects. I make this point while acknowledging that there are exceptions; but as the saying goes, exceptions only prove the rule and do not make the overall picture false.
Third, government must change its role from sole funder to enabler. This involves creating an environment in which universities can raise funds by setting competitive tuitions and attracting partnerships without bureaucratic hurdles. Government can still support universities by offering them targeted grants, scholarships for disadvantaged students, incentives for research in national priority areas, the introduction of tax incentives for private companies that invest in universities, etc. But the days of carrying the entire system on the national budget must end.
Finally, there is need for a cultural shift among Nigerian academics themselves. Professors in Nigeria must stop treating the profession as charity work and instead embrace the idea of being part of competitive, globally relevant institutions. The complaints about hunger and poverty among Nigerian professors are tragic, but they are also a reflection of an outdated model that has left them dependent on government stipends. If Nigerian universities are freed to compete and to earn, then academics could take pride again in being well-compensated professionals.
My experiences working with Ghanaian universities have convinced me that Nigeria can change if it chooses to. The reforms may be difficult, and they will certainly face resistance from those who are used to the old ways. But if we continue on the present path, we will condemn generations of students to wasted years and deny our country the kind of innovation and research that can solve pressing problems like climate change, health crisis, food security, energy poverty, insecurity, etc. Universities should be the engines that generate solutions for these challenges, but our current system leaves them unable to fulfil this vital role.
The truth is harsh but also simple. Nigerian public universities have insisted on surviving as charity institutions, and as a result they are doomed to collapse into irrelevance. They will continue producing, in the majority, half-baked graduates, impoverished professors, and research that no one respects. I make this point while acknowledging that there are exceptions; but as the saying goes, exceptions only prove the rule and do not make the overall picture false. Only bold leadership and sustainable funding can rescue these institutions from slow death. Ghana has already shown the way, while Nigeria unfortunately continues to wallow in excuses and outdated thinking. If we refuse to act now, our universities will remain nothing more than factories of frustration, breeding grounds for ignorance, centres of poverty, and incubators of corruption where Vice Chancellors emerging from long careers of impoverishment seize their positions as opportunities to steal, rather than to serve, and exporters of unemployable graduates in an economy that is already unprepared to absorb even the best of its graduates.
Mohammed Dahiru Aminu ([email protected]) wrote from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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