INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB), Benchmark Journals eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo The Establishment and Deregulation of University Education in Nigeria: A Historical Overview Ugochi Onya Department of Arts and Social Sciences Early Childhood Education Unit Federal College of Education, Akoka, Lagos [email protected] & Ikenna Ukpabi Unya (Ph.D) History Unit College of General and Communication Studies Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, [email protected] Abstract The role of the university education is to provide the much-needed manpower in accelerating the growth and development of the economy, and to acquire both physical and intellectual skills that will enable individuals to be self-reliant and useful members of the society. The demand for university education by Nigerians, which the government alone cannot provide led to the deregulation of the system to enable private sectors participate. The objective of this paper is to assess and evaluate the historical development of university education in Nigeria. The findings of this paper reveal that deregulation enhances diversity and accessibility to university education. The paper concludes by recommending that private and corporate bodies should increase their involvement, while the federal and state governments should adequately fund the public schools to increase the rate of intellectual collision in Nigerian universities. Key words: Establishment, Deregulation, University, Education, and Overview Introduction The role of university education as an instrument for promoting the socio-economic, political and cultural development of any nation cannot be over-emphasized. Higher education contributes to human resource development in many ways. For instance, Kinbrough (2013) observes that the university is a place where intellectual collisions can occur. A place where students learn and grow through intellectual collisions in and out of class, with professors, staff, and peers, and where the community comes for similar experiences. Kinbrough goes ahead to say that the university provides an intellectual foundation for a chosen profession, a great place to make lifelong friends, meet a spouse, develop professional networks and discover mentors. University education according to Martin (2013) is a place for preparation for complexities of a world that needs rigorous analyses of its problems and synthetic approaches to Vol. 7(1) 2017 www.benchmarkjournals.com Page 54 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB), Benchmark Journals eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo solving them. University education is for learning how to think clearly, write beautifully, and put quantitative skills to use in the work of discovery. Good universities according to Wise (2010) find a balance where students are free to form their long view of the world while at the same time acquiring the knowledge and skills to pursue a rewarding profession. A place for students to decide what and how they want to contribute to society, to the economy, to their communities, and to the well-being of their families. The National Policy on Education (2004) highlighted the aim of university education thus: 1. To contribute to national development through high-level relevant manpower training; 2. To develop and inculcate proper values for the survival of the individual and the society; 3. To develop the intellectual capability of individuals to understand and appreciate their local and external environments; 4. To acquire both physical and intellectual skills which will enable individuals to be self- reliant and useful members of the society; 5. To promote and encourage scholarship and community services; 6. To forge and cement national unity; and 7. To promote national and international understanding and interaction. The belief in the efficacy of education as a powerful instrument of development has led many nations to commit much of their wealth to the establishment of educational institutions at various levels. The funds allocated to higher education should not be considered a mere expense, but as a long-term investment of immense benefit to the society (Ajayi and Ekundaya, 2008). University education is expected to directly engage in the creation, transmission and evaluation of knowledge. Its purpose according to Opatola (2003) is to ensure the continued pursuit of academic scholarship and intellectual inquiry in all fields of human understanding through research and teaching. The aim of this paper is to assess and evaluate the development in university education in Nigeria, especially in this era of deregulation of university education. To achieve this objective, the paper has been divided into sections. With this introductory overview, the paper will proceed to discussing the historical development of university education in Nigeria. The third section will conceptualize deregulation of education; the fourth section will discuss reasons for the deregulation and problems of deregulation of university education. The final section is the conclusion which briefly discussed the implications of deregulation and finally makes policy recommendations. Historical Analysis of University Education in Nigeria. The history of university education in Nigeria started with the Elliot Commission of 1943, which led to the establishment of University College, Ibadan (UCI) in 1948. UCI was an Vol. 7(1) 2017 www.benchmarkjournals.com Page 55 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB), Benchmark Journals eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo affiliate of the University of London (Ike, 1976). In April 1959, the Federal Government commissioned an inquiry (the Ashby Commission) to advise it on the higher education needs of the country for its first two decades. Before the submission of the report, the Eastern region government established its own university at Nsukka (University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1960). The implementation of the Ashby Report led to the establishment of University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) in 1962 by the Western region, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1962 by the Northern region and University of Lagos (1962) by the Federal Government. Babalola et al (2007) posited according to Ajayi and Ekundayo (2008) that the University College, Ibadan became full-fledged university in 1962. This meant that UCI, Ibadan and University of Lagos became the first two federal universities in Nigeria – the other three remained regional until the federal government took them. In 1970, the Mid-Western region which was carved out of Western region established the Mid-West Institute of Technology (MIT). The Institute converted to a university status – the University of Benin. The six universities established during this period 1960 – 1970 are still referred to as first generation universities. The Third National Development Plan (1975–1980) made provision for the establishment of seven more universities to be located in States where there were none at that time. This gave birth according to Ogunu (1990) to the ‘Seven Sisters’ or Second Generation Universities in 1975. The universities were established as follows: 1. The University of Calabar, which began as Calabar Campus of the University of Nigeria in 1973 2. The University of Jos, founded as a Campus of University of Ibadan in 1971. 3. The University of Maiduguri, 1975. 4. The University of Sokoto, 1975 5. The University of Ilorin, which was former Campus of the University of Ibadan but became a full university in 1977 after becoming a University College in 1975. 6. University of Port Harcourt which took off initially as a University College in 1975 and affiliated to the University of Lagos. It became a full-fledged university in 1977. 7. Bayero University, Kano, which started as Northern Government owned Abdullahi Bayero College in 1961, became Bayero University College of Ahmadu Bello University in 1962 and a full university in 1975. The 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria placed university education on the Concurrent Legislative list. That meant that, apart from the Federal Government, State Governments who wished could establish their own universities as was the practice before 1975 when university education was put on the Exclusive Legislative list by the then Military Government. Between 1979 and 1983, the following eight State universities were established: Vol. 7(1) 2017 www.benchmarkjournals.com Page 56 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB), Benchmark Journals eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo Bendel State University, (now Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma, 1980 Anambra State University of Science and Technology (now Enugu State University of Science and Technology 1980 Imo State University (now Abia State University, Uturu) 1981 Rivers State University of Science and Technology 1981 Ondo State University, Ado-Ekiti (now University of Ekiti) 1982 Ogun State University (now Olabisi Onobanjo University, Ago-Iwoye) 1982 Lagos State University 1983 and Cross River State University, Uyo, 1984. In 1988, the Federal Government announced the establishment of the University of Abuja. Other federal universities established since then are: 1. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi 1988 2. Federal University of Technology, Owerri 1980 3. Federal University of Technology, Akure 1981 4. Federal University of Technology, Minna 1982 5. Federal University of Technology, Yola (now Modibbo Adama