ARNU Identifies Poor Funding, Infrastructural Deficit as Bane of Nigerian Universities

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By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja

Association of Registrars of Nigerian Universities (ARNU) has identified poor funding and infrastructural deficit as major challenges and developmental bane of Nigerian Universities.

Dr Ife Oluwole, National Chairman of the Association disclosed this in an interview with newsmen at the end of a week-long ARNU Worksop held at Federal University Lokoja

Oluwole who is also the Registrar of Ekiti State University, said ARNU would soon engage the National University Commission (NUC) on the need to prioritize better funding and infrastructure development of the universities.

He held that funding, infrastructural development, training and retraining of staff were key to the repositioning and transformation of the “Ivory Towers” to enable global competitiveness.

“This more reason why ARNU hope to engage the National University Commission (NUC) for better funding and infrastructures for our Universities to be more conducive learning environment for our teeming youths.

“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to the Federal Government to consider adequate funding of the system , which is going to be at the benefit of the Universities and the generality of the nation.

“This is simply because it’s the products of the Universities that will be the leaders of the nation tomorrow. And if you don’t train them very well it will bounce back on the nation at the end of the day.

“We decided to come together as Universities’ Registrars to deliberate on developments in the Universities and also discuss happenings within our University system, and as administrators, to find solutions to some problems that we have”, he said.

Oluwole said that the workshop was organised to discuss contemporary issues with a view to finding ways of resolving them as times are changing with emergence of new challenges in the system.

He said that the participants were drawn from Federal, State and Private Universities to enable them table their varied challenges and experiences on the job for discussions and proffering of workable remedies.

“The advantage is that the experienced ones can advise the fresh incoming ones on how to handle the office.

“Just few days ago the Federal Government announced the establishment of 36 more Universities which means new Registrars are coming in and they need to be trained.

“Not only them, even those who are on the stable (old ones) also need to be trained.

“We are seeing the workshop we just had as a way of training ourselves so that we can perform maximally and effectively on the job to the benefit of the universities in Nigeria”, he said.

The ARNU National Chairman regretted that financing of the university system was unfortunately very low, adding that many of the members could not attend the workshop as a result of the dearth of funds.

Oluwole however, thanked the Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Lokoja, Prof Olayemi Akinwumi, the management and staff for the warm reception accorded the ARNU during the one week workshop.