FORMER Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, NUC, Professor Peter Okebukola, has urged the Federal Government to consider private universities’ inclusion in the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, adding that the gesture will enhance graduates’ capital development. Speaking exclusively with Vanguard during the convocation of Caleb University, Okebukola argued that many top ranking private institutions globally got grants from governments until they were able to stand on their own.


TETFund Okebukola who is also a consultant to UNESCO, noted that those got the grants because their governments believed that products from such institutions would add value to national development. While urging the government to extend the TETFund privilege to private universities, he, however, noted that the viable ones among them could be excluded.

Okebukola who disclosed that there were a good number of reasons why the Federal Government should reconsider helping some private universities, said: “Our position is that TETFund should be able to have a provision for private universities in its realm of intervention.


“TETFund is coming not from the public but from the private sector. Graduates from private universities will not only work in the private sector, nor in Lagos State, but are going to work everywhere in the country. They are commodities for the nation. “If you have a graduate from the public university being supported by TETfund and that graduate is to be deployed to the Nigerian economy and you have one from the private university not supported by TETfund and the same graduate will be deployed to the same Nigerian economy, there is no equity there.”


He said that steps should be taken for TETfund’s law to be amended in a way that will make some provision for private universities to support their capital development and other issues. Going down memory lane, he said that between 1921 and 1966, government was providing grant in aids to private schools, adding: “It was called grant in aids, so government will give you money to support your development with the understanding that the graduate they are producing will be available to the entire Nigerian citizenry.”


Citing examples of countries in the world where private universities enjoy government grants, Okebukola maintained that Harvard University did. He said: “Harvard University is a private university established 381 years ago. At the start of that university, it had support through endowment from the public and private sectors. It had support from the public through several instrument until the university was able to stand firmly on its feet.


Today, Harvard University’s one year budget is more than the combined budget of all the 153 universities we have in Nigeria. “Harvard, 381 years ago, in its early years as I said, had support from the endowment of public and private sectors until it was able to stand firmly on its feet. That experience is what we call milk from the feeding bottle.


So, when a child is growing, help that child and when it is matured, you just gradually phase that off. Throwing money at the private universities “It is not like just throwing money at the private universities. There are some private universities that do not care about government money, I know about eight of them, that’s fine. TETFund should not just throw money to all of them, it should be driven by performance. If you say there is a course you are doing that we know will benefit this country, then there should be a formula that will apply; that is performance-oriented.”


While proposing a stress test for all private universities, Okebukola said that those ones that are able to pass the stress test should be the universities that should be assisted. “When you do a stress test, you will find out that some of them are just appliers, they are not lifting their weights. The stress test has several dimensions. Let me give you two indicators of stress test.


One, if a private university without proprietor funding is able to pay full salaries for nine months, then it’s a healthy university. “If a university is able to have all its programmes fully accredited, it’s a healthy university because accreditation comes with so many elements, like staffing and research, to mention a few.”

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/01/okebukola-canvasses-private-varsities-inclusion-tetfund/

Lalasticlala

Okebukola is making so much sense. All you hear here is "they are making profit blah blah blah..". Unfortunately very few know that the majority of the qualitative private universities are not for profit.

However NUC should not exclude the Good private universities as Okebukola suggested but only the "For Profit" ones should be excluded. Any Private University that doesn't share profit for her proprietary base deserves Tetfund-this would ensure that the money doesn't end up in private hands or leads to proprietors taking more profit hoping for Tetfund to cover budget. Let's not forget that even Harvard is "Not For Profit".



Tetfund should also limit the aid to Competitive Research grants for now because the lecturers and students are Nigerians aiming to Solve Nigerian problems. Any private university that requires infrastructure support should better just close up.

I saw this develooment coming twelve months ago

Before the church haters arrive and spin this into a "church makes profit" discussion, let me state that most private unis are under some form of subsidy.
The NUC former sec is right.

Desyner:
Before the church haters arrive and spin this into a "church makes profit" discussion, let me state that most private unis are under some form of subsidy.
The NUC former sec is right.

Indeed you are right.
2% of Babcock University's annual Budget is provided by the Adventist Church. For a Church with top notch 116 Universities across the globe they are doing fantastic.

Crawford University gets at least 300 million naira annual subsidy from the apostolic church.

Covenant gets 2-5 Billion naira subsidy each year. Now many of these proprietors keep spending and they need to be supported because higher education is a fund consuming machine.

Now many of these proprietors are not profiteering from the Schools. But the issue is majority of the private universities don't even have such wealthy owners and are actually struggling to survive.
Lalasticlala

Statsocial:

Indeed you are right.
2% of Babcock University's annual Budget is provided by the Adventist Church. For a Church with top notch 116 Universities across the globe they are doing fantastic.

Crawford University gets at least 300 million naira annual subsidy from the apostolic church.

Covenant gets 2-5 Billion naira subsidy each year. Now many of these proprietors keep spending and they need to be supported because higher education is a fund consuming machine.
Lalasticlala

I keep saying it. If Winners (Living Faith) CU & LU was after profit it will admit more students into art and business faculty than the more expensive science or engineering faculty. These schools are there to address specific problems and are not after profits as a lot of haters potray it to be.

Desyner:

I keep saying it. If Winners (Living Faith) CU & LU was after profit it will admit more students into art and business faculty than the more expensive science or engineering faculty. These schools are there to address specific problems and are not after profits as a lot of haters potray it to be.

Exactly. Those universities are too small to generate profit for a church like LFC. Oyedepo I believe is a smart man. If he primarily wanted profit he wouldn't spend 100 million USD on building a University he would have tons of other viable, inconspicous and less controversial investments to explore.

Analysis had it some years ago that it would take them 32 years to earn the financial input they put into CU.

When I tell people that the wage bill of UI in a year is four times Ekiti's annual Igr they think I am exaggerating. In fact if you sum the Igr of Ekiti, Ebonyi and Yobe it is not up to the wage bill of UI, ABU or UNN - Meaning without federal allocations these three States put together can't fund one of those federal universities I mentioned.

Statsocial:

Exactly. Those universities are too small to generate profit for a church like LFC. Oyedepo I believe is a smart man. If he primarily wanted profit he wouldn't spend 100 million USD on building a University he would have tons of other viable, inconspicous and less controversial investments to explore.

Analysis had it some years ago that it would take them 32 years to earn the financial input they put into CU.

When I tell people that the wage bill of UI in a year is four times Ekiti's annual Igr they think I am exaggerating. In fact if you sum the Igr of Ekiti, Ebonyi and Yobe it is not up to the wage bill of UI, ABU or UNN - Meaning without federal allocations these three States put together can't fund one of those federal universities I mentioned.

People celebrate cheap service not minding the overall consequence. That's why an OOU grad will celebrate graduating with the same Kpali as a CU grad, while forgetting that some of the inferior service enjoyed by him/her was hugely subsidized by the FG and by proxy his/her private uni counterpart who pays heavier tax by reason of heavier spending.
I once suggested that FG give start up funds to all private uni grads because they go on to work for same employers with same conditions as public uni grads who have been heavily subsidized. The fact that the private unis are regulated by NUC makes it even more logical that govt funds part of private uni operation.