Illegal institutions

• This menace must be conclusively dealt with

The recent declaration that nearly 150 illegitimate tertiary institutions are currently operating in the country is a harsh reminder of the crisis of access plaguing Nigeria’s higher education system and the urgent need to expedite action in resolving it.

Speaking in Abuja, Mallam Adamu Adamu, the Minister of Education, claimed that the fake schools included 66 illegal universities, 68 illicit polytechnics and several bogus colleges of education. Some are physically resident in the country; others operate online. Many have unapproved linkages and affiliations with sub-standard foreign institutions, and have not been accredited by recognised regulatory bodies in Nigeria or their home countries. The minister has ordered that all of them be shut down and their officials prosecuted.

The repetitive regularity with which illegal educational institutions are exposed in the country is troubling. The National Universities Commission (NUC) publishes a “List of Illegal Universities in Nigeria” to alert the unwary. In 2015, it identified 65 illegal degree-awarding institutions operating within the nation’s borders. In 2016, there were 57 fake universities and eight so-called degree mills.

It is difficult to see how illegal educational institutions can establish themselves in Nigeria with such apparent ease. Given that they actually have to advertise their services, set up physical locations and recruit staff, these fake schools should have been identified and shut down much more quickly than is presently the case.

Publishing lists of illegitimate schools is clearly an ineffective approach to the problem. It has not substantially reduced the menace, as prospective students keep falling victim to these unscrupulous operators who seem determined to perpetrate their nefarious activities in the country.

Regulatory bodies like the NUC must enhance their capacity to detect such schools and make it less easy for them to set up shop. It might be possible to work with state and local governments to create effective reporting systems that would enable the commission to be immediately apprised of the situation the moment the signage of a fake university goes up.

The process of interdiction must be swift and comprehensive; it makes no sense to allow an obviously illegal entity to continue to operate even after it has been identified as such.

A major reason why fake schools are able to make significant inroads in Nigeria is the utterly inadequate number of spaces in genuine tertiary institutions. In the 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), 1.736 million candidates contested for 850,000 slots in Nigerian tertiary institutions. The situation is even worse when it is realised that there is far greater pressure on public schools as opposed to privately-owned ones where relatively high fees restrict entry for many applicants.

In the immediate interim, the admitting capacity of legitimate schools must be expanded. This can be done by boosting their distance-learning capabilities to enable them to cater to more non-residential students.

Given the path-breaking developments in information technology, there is really no reason why the country’s universities cannot make greater investments in distance learning. It would offer a viable alternative to candidates who fail to get conventional admission and would also enable workers to undertake university studies without having to give up their jobs.

Another plausible step would be to introduce the concept of multi-campus universities. The University of California operates a 10-campus system located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and other cities.

Rather than establish new universities that clearly lack the requisite managerial experience and staffing to perform competently, creating new campuses of older schools would help them to reap the advantages of proven ability and accelerate their growth.

Fake schools are a cancer to Nigeria’s educational system. The sooner they are eliminated and replaced by authentic alternatives, the better it will be for the nation.