The Future and Relevance of Nigerian Universities and other Tertiary Institutions

Higher education is the bedrock of sustainable national development, which encompasses structural transformation of an economy, human capital development, technological innovation, forging of democratic citizenship, social cohesion, nation building, and preserving the earth. Like other countries, these were the reasons for the establishment of universities and other tertiary education institutions in Nigeria. However, over the past three decades, beginning in the 1980s, in spite of increases in the number of higher education institutions, the sector has been bedevilled with several challenges that have blighted its fortunes and raised serious questions about the role and relevance of Nigerian universities and other tertiary education institutions to national development. The contributors to this book offer authoritative and eloquent accounts of these challenges and explicitly draw out the policy implications on how the challenges can be overcome in order for Nigerian higher education institutions to regain relevance to the developmental imperatives of the country, especially in the 21st century and beyond. This book will be of great value to students, leaders of higher education institutions, and policy makers in government and the private sector to chart new policy directions to revitalise the Nigerian higher education sector in order to be responsive to the needs of the country and its people, especially the teeming population of restless youths