University Education and Politics of Funding in Nigeria

Abstract

Funding is the engine every organisation needs to keep it moving even though other resources such as human and material resources etc., are also important in the university system. Funding in this context is the money to be used in running the affairs of the university. The aim of funding university education is to enable it to provide more facilities and add to the existing ones. Secondly, it aids in accrediting more courses and faculties. Also, funding contributes to producing qualified, skilled manpower who are turned out into the labour market as qualified products, self-reliant, and can think critically for themselves for sustainability. However, the recent trend in the country shows that universities are overwhelmed with politics from the federal to the state level. There is a political undertone from the government to the management of various universities in Nigeria. Issues of who is in power, the political party that is in position, and which party members are being voted and elected into the Senate, House of Representatives and the House of Assemblies in the states dictate how the various universities will be administered and managed. Thus, the aims, goals and objectives of university education are defeated. It was concluded that university education is the powerhouse of every nation, Nigeria inclusive. Therefore, if Nigeria wants to develop as a nation and increase its gross domestic product (GDP), it should remove politics out of the context of the university system. It was suggested that for the universities to achieve the goals and objectives for which they were set up, politics should be stamped out from the system and the universities should be adequately funded without political bias in whatever form and be allowed to function autonomously