Experts propose creative ways of funding Nigerian universities

Section of a hostel undergoing renovation at Abia State University, Uturu

Olabisi Deji-Folutile and Dayo Oketola, in this third and final part of the report on government houses costlier than Nigerian universities, highlight experts’ opinions on how to bring the Nigerian university system out of the woods

Poor infrastructure and inadequate funding have continued to trouble many state and federal universities in Nigeria. In spite of the huge federal allocations particularly accruing to the states, Saturday PUNCH investigation revealed that little physical impact has been the lot of the education sector especially in terms of structures on the campuses.

Rather than funding their universities adequately, many state governments are injecting huge money into building expensive government houses amid other bogus projects.

According to a document obtained from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation by Saturday PUNCH, the Federal Government, states, and local governments shared N3.81trn in the first half of 2014.

While Akwa Ibom State got N134.21bn in the first six months of the year, Rivers got N97.38bn; Delta, N93.27bn; Bayelsa, N80.97bn; Lagos, N54.9bn; Kano, N42.66bn; Ondo, 34.66bn; Borno, N33.13bn; Katsina, N33.12bn; and Sokoto, N29.06bn. The sum of N362.2bn was allocated to the oil- producing states based on the 13 per cent derivation principle. Six states with least allocations received a total of N130.09bn. These include Osun, N19.21bn; Ebonyi, N20.81bn; Ekiti, N20.93bn; Gombe, N22.29bn; Kwara, N22.95bn and Nassarawa, N23.90bn.

Though the figures appear enticing but the reality on the ground in most universities visited by our correspondents is appalling.

Of federal, state and private universities in terms of overall performance, experts say state universities present the poorest report card in terms of quality of programmes.

Some Nigerian universities

Since the funding burden of public higher education is still largely borne by government, the Chairman of Council, Crawford University and former Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, Prof. Peter Okebukola, said, “The effects of inadequacy of funds and the injudicious utilisation of the meagre funds have been non-salutary. In 2012, the Federal Government commissioned a nationwide survey of the needs of the university system.

“In the course of its assignment, the study team found that majority of the universities are grossly under-staffed; many laboratories and workshops are old with inappropriate furnishing; classrooms/lecture rooms are overcrowded and overstretched; equipment and consumables are absent, inadequate or outdated; kerosene stoves used as Bunsen burners in some laboratories; engineering workshops operating under zinc sheds and trees; in many universities, science-based faculties are running ‘dry lab’ for lack of reagents and tools to conduct physical/real experiments.

“Where major equipment exist, the ratio to student, in some universities, is as high as 1:500. It was also found that there are 701 physical development projects dotted across the universities in the country- 163 (23.3 per cent) are abandoned projects and 538 (76.7 per cent) are on-going projects. There is rapid deterioration of hostel facilities, overcrowding and undue congestion in rooms, overstretched lavatory and laundry facilities as well as poor sanitation.”

In view of the issues, members of the university community, including teaching and non-teaching staff have urged universities to respond creatively to the funding challenges to boost their survival.

They particularly urged universities to be prudent in spending funds assessed from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.

TETFund is an intervention agency set up to provide supplementary support to all level of public tertiary institutions with the main objective of using funding alongside project management for the rehabilitation, restoration and consolidation of tertiary education in Nigeria.

The main source of income available to TETFund is the two per cent education tax paid from the assessable profit of companies registered in Nigeria

The funds are disbursed for the general improvement of education in federal and state tertiary institutions specifically for the provision or maintenance of essential physical infrastructure for teaching and learning, institutional material and equipment, research and publications, academic staff training and development, and any other need which is considered critical and essential for the improvement and maintenance of standards in the higher educational institutions

The Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities, Abia State University chapter, Dr. David Chikezie, noted that if not for TETFund, infrastructure in ABSU would have deteriorated.

Similarly, the university’s Director of Works, Mr. Chidi Nna, said ABSU constructs an average of seven new structures annually courtesy of the N1bn annual TETFund allocation. The fund, he said, enables the university to sustain the tempo of infrastructural transformation currently ongoing.

According to him, projects currently under construction on the campus through TETFund include N40m Mathematics & Statistics Department block, N137m E- Library, N88m Entrepreneurial Study Centre, N300m new Faculty of Law building and a new students hostel, among others.

Also, the Vice-Chancellor, Akwa Ibom State University, Prof. Sunday Peters, stated that apart from the state government funding the university, the school also draws money from TETFund for capital projects. He explains that TETFund provides a veritable source of funding that universities in the country can leverage for growth.

The Vice-Chancellor, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Prof. Barineme Fakae, also emphasised the need for universities not just to access the TETFund for capital development, but to ensure that the fund is not diverted to other areas.

In a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, he said every dime benefitted by RSUST from TETFund had been spent to develop the university.

He said, “We benefit from TETFund and we are one of those that TETFund actually recognises because benefitting means that you must also spend the money at your disposal correctly.

“Our university was listed as one of the institutions that judiciously utilises its funds without any complaints of abandoned projects. What we do with TETFund is to make sure that we work according to guidelines.”

On dwindling funds from the state government, Fakae said, “What happens is that you make a budget and defend it, then anything the state government has, it gives you. So, you go and manage your own for the development of your institution.

“But if you decide to go and share the funds given to you with every other person and leave your school; that is your business. But for me, every Kobo meant for RSUST must be used for the growth of the university.”

He advised other universities on the need for proper management of funds available to them.

The Abia State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Mrs. Monica Philips, advised universities to increase their Internally Generated Revenue to augment whatever funding they get from the government.

Universities “should not be complaining of funds if they generate enough funds through IGR,” she said.

On the importance of IGR to the financial wellbeing of a university, Okebukola, in a paper titled: “Towards Models for Creatively Funding Higher Education in Nigeria” obtained by Saturday PUNCH, said that many universities in the country had yet to maximally explore their potential for internal generation of revenue.

He said, “The typical area of focus is on fees from sub-degree and postgraduate programmes. Over 80 per cent of the public and private universities depend on these sources to augment proprietor funding.

“Those that are in commercial ventures hardly make a success of it on account of weak management structures and corruption by the operators. Few creatively explore endowments as well as local and international consultancies involving university staff.”

Studies have confirmed that the Federal Government has been investing less than two per cent of GDP on education in the last 10 years. As such, Okebukola said, “The segment for university education is estimated to be in the region of 1.6 per cent. Since this apportionment has failed to deliver on quality, we need to re-calibrate the scheme to guarantee making the system more nationally relevant and globally competitive.”

The first prescription, according to him, is government at the federal and state levels to provide and release minimum of 25 per cent of national/state budget for education with minimum of 40 per cent of the education budget for universities.

“This is in alignment with the provisions of the operational plans of the country’s Vision 2020,” he said.

On the second prescription, he said, “Section 10 (150e) of the 2013 National Policy on Education directs that contractors, consultants and other service providers are to contribute minimum of 1.5 per cent of contract sum/fees to a Special Education Corporate Social Responsibility Fund for providing additional government funding support to education.”

On creative models of sustainably funding the Nigerian university system, Okebukola proposed four models: Access-Equity-Cost-Sharing Model, Contextualised Formula-Funding Model, Performance-Based Funding Model, and the Host-Proprietor-University-User-Funding Model. According to him, the Access-Equity-Cost-Sharing Model demands the lowering of financial barriers to higher education while ensuring equity in sharing of the funding burden by different stakeholders based on ability to pay.

The Contextualised Formula-Funding Model stipulated that universities should be funded based on a formula which factors in individual peculiarities and current state of physical development and a desire to encourage programmes in science and technology with potential to accelerate impact on Nigeria’s socio-economic development.

The Performance-Based Funding Model is aimed at rewarding universities for efficiency in teaching, research and community service and encourages competition among universities which will stimulate the evolution of centres of excellence. The model, according to Okebukola, makes funding allocation more transparent and more competitive through redistributive funding formulae mainly based on performance. The Host-Proprietor-University-User Funding Model implicates all beneficiaries of the location and service of the university in contributing to funding the university.

Commenting on the funding model for Nigerian universities, the President, Association of African Universities and Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Prof. Olusola Oyewole, ranks the Performance-Based Funding Model above the others.

He said, “I will go for the Performance-Based Funding Model, because it will help universities to be committed to their visions. It will also remove the current corruption that appears to be the hallmark of what we are doing now.”

Oyewole voted for a performance-based funding system that is based on research journal publication, number of post-graduate students, students’ population, number and quality of professors, teaching outputs, institutional outreach/ community engagements, amount of external grants attracted, and number of foreign students and staff in the university. He said the Contextual- Formula-Funding Model “will work if Nigerians will not corrupt the scholarship process.”

“I am not sure if we can sustain the no-tuition policy for a long time, except if we are not interested in improving the standard of our system,” he added.

Speaking on a creative way to fund universities, a former Chairman, Committee of Vice-Chancellors and former Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos, Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe, prioritised the Host-Proprietor-University-Funding Model above the others.

He said, “This model is excellent for the recurrent expenditure but university can only grow if sufficient funding is provided for capital. The 2012 Needs Assessment Survey testifies to the neglect of capital development.

“There must be more contributions to capital development to include direct contribution by the stakeholders such that the proprietors will contribute 30 per cent, host –30 per cent, university– 30 per cent and user (students)– 10 per cent” Ibidapo-Obe, the current Vice-Chancellor, Federal University, Ndufu Alike, added.

The Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Isaac Adewole, identified the Performance-Based Funding Model as the best for public universities in the country.

According to him, the model is capable of promoting competition and enhancing growth and development of the Nigerian university system

He said, “For all models, I admire the recurrence of this phrase: the universities are also to apply transparency, due process and budget disciplinary tools in the implementation of the budget and subject to external audit maximum three months after the end of the financial year.”

In the same vein, the Secretary-General, Committee of Vice-Chancellors and former Vice-Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof Michael Faborode, argued that the Performance-Based Model combined with the Contextualised Formula-Funding model would be the way forward for the country’s universities.

Former Bursar, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and currently Bursar, Crawford University, Igbesa, Oluwasogo Ajayi, picked Contextualised Formula – Funding Model as the most preferred.

According to him, the model will encourage growing IGR in deficient campuses, but requires commitment of all stakeholders especially the Federal Government, National Assembly and the state governors.

University stakeholders in the communiqué issued after the National Summit on Education organised by all staff unions in the Nigerian university system between October 27 and 30, 2014, called for an increase in the funding levels to universities to enable them improve on the provision of facilities and services. Universities were also urged to increase their internally generated funding levels.

According to the communiqué, all stakeholders should be challenged to share in the cost of education by paying some fees in order to attain and sustain a reasonable level of funding of higher education in Nigeria

They also urged the government to implement and sustain the provision of scholarships, bursaries and loans to ensure that all Nigerians with capacities to seek education at the tertiary level can actualise them. Funding for post-graduate training and research should be enhanced, according to them, while calling for accountability and transparency in the management of funds in the institutions.

They canvassed that mechanisms for checks and balances including internal and external audits must be strictly utilised by the universities while urging the governing councils to ensure adherence to this.

The Registrar, Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Mr. Omololu Adegbenro, said, “I think the success of a university has to do with honesty, truthfulness, and dedication. When you are honest with what you do and you have focus, and you know where exactly you are going, there will be success. When the vision and the mission are defined, then there is not going to be any problem.

“The things that tell the differences between private and government universities in this country start from the outset – when they were set up. Most private universities have objectives for setting the universities up. They have a purpose. For someone to have spent N7bn on such a project, you must know the person has a mission. They have something in mind for establishing those universities unlike the public universities where governments just wake up one day and establish universities, most of them for political reasons.

“Politicians play politics with institutions and that is why the Federal Government has not been able to announce that students of federal institutions should pay tuition fees. They still charge N90 per bed space in the hostels though some of them are now charging hostel maintenance fees. The government is paying lip service to education.

“The Federal Government sets only N2bn aside to set up a university. There is no serious university that will start up with that amount. You cannot have good facilities with that amount; you cannot employ professors with N2bn. At the end of the day, they will not be able to achieve anything and they will start operating from temporary sites and the N2bn will just go down the drain. No clear vision or mission because they are established for political reasons.

“No private individual will want to run universities that after five years, the NUC will come and say the programmes are not accredited. They know what they do. There is a plan and the management style is expected to follow such suit.”

The Vice-Chancellor, Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, Prof. Tolu Odugbemi, said if the government could deal with the issue of corruption first, the education and other sector would fare well.

He also suggested that the government should appoint people that are capable of leading public universities to great heights as most of the officials of supervisory bodies in the education sector were only selected based on political affiliations and not merit.

Odugbemi said, “Discipline is important in attaining any significant achievement in human organisation. There are supervisory bodies (School Boards, Governing Councils, Committees on education, science, health, technology etc.) set up to monitor growth and development of education in our schools and institutions of higher education.

“Some members of such supervisory bodies are generally uninformed about the responsibilities attached to their offices. While some work hard for excellence, others see membership of such bodies as opportunities to ‘make it’.

“Projects meant to be supervised by their supervisory bodies become personal ‘projects’ of self-aggrandisement they execute with nothing to show at the end of the day. Even the funds for execution of necessary projects are usually taken to be ‘for sharing’. Deceit, insincerity and abuse of office are rampant.

The don also emphasised the need for government-run institutions to be business-oriented.

He said, “For instance, in OSUSTECH, a public university, we have taken bold steps in establishing a university farm where students and members of the public are trained in practical agriculture. We have 91 fish ponds, (42 fibre tank ponds and 49 earthen ponds), poultry, goat and sheep rearing, snailery and a piggery. Apart from cassava and oil palm plantations, we have also established a fruit juice factory, water factory and a bakery and confectionery.

“The rationale for the establishment of these factories and other training facilities is that apart from their Internally Generated Revenue consideration, they offer the opportunity to train the students to be hard-working, self-reliant, job creators and positive contributors to the socio-economic and political development of the country after their university education.”

Prof. Toba Elegbeleye of the Department of Psychology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, said universities that are thriving were designed to be self-sustaining with an in-built mechanism that sustains them unlike in Nigeria where public universities only get funding from the government.

He noted that it was not ideal for universities to depend solely on government for funding, rather, they should devise means of raising funds and attract grants, adding that the government that releases money for the running of the institutions should demand accountability from them.

Elegbeleye said, “Universities should have an internal dynamism that ensures standard and builds into it a standard-maintaining paradigms. For example, university lecturers do not essentially depend on salaries. If you truly are good in your area, you should be able to attract funding and grant, and in attracting such, the university has a share in it, which is part of the funding.

“Apart from that, governments in better climes have the culture of patronising their universities. People are not just sent into the universities for the purpose of drumming ideas into the heads of youngsters, but rather to be able to put into a realistic use the evidences of their ideas. We have simply departed from the paths that can fund our institutions.

“Universities are supposed to have laboratories and equipment that hospitals outside can make use of and pay for, which is another way of funding. That will enable the university to be able to benefit from what it professes. If what you are professing does not go beyond the classroom, then it is wrong, and that is why the American education system is more pragmatic. Universities must be able to solve problems and make money from its services and output.”

Elegbeleye added that the federal and state governments should demand productivity and accountability from the universities they deploy huge resources to.

Additional reports by Chukwudi Akasike, Simon Utebor, Etim Ekpima, Stephen Uka, Jesusegun Alagbe and Tunde Ajaja

THEPUNCH.