US embassy cable - 03LAGOS1196

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 001196 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR AF/W (DEPSTEIN); AF/PD (AAMIRTHANAYAGAM); 
ECA/A/E/AF (WBELL, AMARTIN, JCOTTON) 
 
 
ABUJA FOR CPAO, CAO, CAS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SCUL, CMGT, CVIS, SOCI, PGOV, EAID, ECON, EINV 
SUBJECT: THE BIRTH OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN NIGERIA: 
A NEW HOPE FOR THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM? 
 
Background: 
 
 
1.   Nigerian universities, once among the best in 
Africa, deteriorated badly under 30 years of military 
rule.  Nor was their plight alleviated during the last 
four years of democratic governance.  They remain 
overcrowded, poorly funded and decrepit. Currently, 
there are 42 universities: 25 federal, 12 state, and 7 
private.   The universities are supervised by the 
National Universities Commission (NUC), a coordinating 
body that sets academic standards and allocates 
budgets. 
 
 
2. Plagued by insufficient funds, student and faculty 
strikes, and leadership crises, public universities are 
in constant turmoil.  Students continually strike over 
payment of small annual fees for housing and meals. 
Faculty members protest late salary payments, poor 
teaching conditions, and low budget allocations for 
education (1.85 percent of the 2003 budget).  A 5-month 
strike called by the academic staff union in December 
is finally ending as universities gradually re-open. 
 
 
A New Challenge to Universities: Student Cults 
 
 
3.    Over the past decade, student cults have caused 
a breakdown of law and order on university campuses and 
are now endemic.  A perverted form of terrorism, 
disruption seems to be their only goal.  Cultists 
engage in murder, anarchy, arson, rape, and ritual 
killings that often force universities to close. 
 
 
4.   The Obasanjo Administration has cracked down on 
cults, and several students, lecturers and  Vice- 
Chancellors have been expelled or suspended for 
participating in cult activities.  Anti-cultism 
billboards are erected on every campus and in nearby 
towns.  Students and community groups organize 
theatrical productions and other public events to 
campaign against cults. Still, the problem persists and 
is one more challenge for public universities. 
 
 
Private Universities: An Alternative System in the 
Making? 
 
 
5. Five years ago, the NUC approved eight private 
universities.  Supporters hailed their arrival as a 
"renaissance" in higher education while critics saw 
their existence as "cheapening and commercializing" 
higher education in Nigeria.  Nonetheless, the 
perennial disruption of public universities has made 
private universities a much sought-after alternative 
for parents and students. 
 
 
6. Four of the five private universities are church - 
affiliated, and all are located in southern Nigeria. 
Predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria has yet to open a 
private university although Heritage University in 
Kaduna, sponsored by former military dictator General 
Ibrahim Babangida, was one of the first private 
universities approved. 
 
 
7.    All but one of the universities offer moral 
teachings along with academic courses and an emphasis 
on community service.  These universities are much 
better equipped than their public counterparts and more 
advanced in technology, administration and academic 
development.  They have plans for an annual meeting and 
a joint sports and cultural festival.  Though gradually 
increasing, enrollments in these private universities 
represent less than one percent of the total population 
of university students. 
 
 
8. Tuition at private universities ranges between 
$3,000 to $5,000 -- an enormous sum of money in a 
country where the average annual income is $300. 
Still, many wealthy parents, when unable to send their 
children abroad, are now turning to private 
universities as the only institutions where a student 
can complete a Bachelor's degree in four years. 
 
 
8.   The number of private universities may grow in the 
  future.  On May 28, one day before the Obasanjo/Atiku 
  inauguration, the NUC awarded a license to ABTI 
  University in Adamawa, the home state of Vice President 
  Atiku. Three additional universities are already 
  approved, and applications for seven new universities 
  are pending.  Thus, there are potentially ten new 
  private universities that could eventually join the 
  five currently operating universities. 
9.   Following are brief descriptions of the private 
universities currently functioning.  Note that the NUC 
lists two other universities besides the following five 
on its list: The Pan-African University, an extension 
of the prominent Lagos Business School, yet to 
officially open; and the Benson Idahosa University in 
Benin City, about which PAS was unable to find 
substantial information. 
 
 
Private Universities: A Description of the Big Five: 
 
 
10.   Igbinedion University in Edo State was the first 
private university to be established.  It matriculated 
the 3rd set of students (about 2000) in May 2003 and 
plans to establish a Postgraduate School in the near 
future.  Igbinedion's College of Medicine is the first 
in a private university to be accredited by the Medical 
and Dental Council of Nigeria.  In addition to its own 
resources, the university receives financial support 
from foreign individuals, organizations and 
foundations. 
 
 
11.   Bowen University in Osun State developed from the 
Nigerian Baptist College(a teacher training institute). 
Barely a year old, it has over 500 students and three 
faculties. It is funded by the Nigerian Baptist 
Convention and operates on a shoe - string budget.  It 
has yet to establish substantial ties with Baptists 
elsewhere.  Located in a rural Muslim community, Bowen 
has been well received. 
 
 
12. Babcock University in Ogun State is affiliated with 
the Seventh Day Adventist church.  Like Bowen, it has 
three major faculties.  But, it has more facilities, 
courses and teaching faculty than Bowen.  Babcock has 
established links with several local and international 
foundations and agencies that have contributed 
generously to its development. Founded in 1914 by 
American Missionary David Babcock, Babcock is modeled 
on American universities and has Nigeria's only known 
work-study program.  Students run its highly developed 
agricultural plantations, food services program and 
maintain its attractive campus grounds. 
 
 
10. Madonna University of Science and Technology 
in Anambra State is affiliated with the Catholic 
church.  The Catholic faith is practiced by over 80% of 
Nigerians in the East and dates back to the 
establishment of Catholic churches, convents and 
schools in the post-slave trade era.  Madonna is a 
product of its regional surroundings, reflecting not 
only the predominant religion but also the preference 
of indigenes for technical and industrial subjects. 
 
 
11. Covenant University, just outside of Lagos, is 
funded by Pentecostals.  The campus is built on 
"CanaanLand" and attached to its enormous chapel. Like 
the chapel, Covenant was built entirely by volunteer 
labor and took only a year to construct.  Affiliated 
with Oral Roberts University in the U.S., Covenant held 
its first matriculation ceremony early this year and 
has over a thousand students in three faculties and 
twenty departments. 
 
 
Conclusion: 
 
 
12. Whether or not they represent the future of 
Nigerian higher education, a sort of Nigerian Ivy 
League or just something entirely different, private 
universities are on the rise and are attracting 
international attention and support.  Right now, a 
degree from the University of Ibadan or Amadou Bello 
University is more prestigious than a degree from any 
of the private universities.  However, if upheaval 
continues in the public universities this may change. 
Private universities are not perfect -- they have their 
own administrative problems, and there is a report of 
cultism at Babcock -- however, their emergence has been 
a positive development in Nigerian higher education 
that bears watching. 
HINSON-JONES