Deregulation policies in theory, privatization in practice: a case of Nigerian universities

This paper was designed to capture how deregulation policy has been introduced into the Nigerian university system. The study finds that, although the Nigerian government is assumed to have deregulated the system in theory, by putting forward the policy, actively this was not the case. The study highlights the reasons why the government thinks the university system should be deregulated but is yet to properly deregulate the sector. The study found that, on many occasions, policies like deregulation are misinterpreted as privatization or even commercialization. This is due to the interpretation of those who are responsible for the implementation of the policy. Likewise, the study observed that the sector has allowed private investors to directly create their own institutions, instead of participating in existing businesses. The policy is assumed to have been wrongly interpreted by those who should implement the policy properly. Rather than deregulating the system, it was privatized and partially commercialized. That is, the sector was not deregulated nor privatized, but rather private investors were allowed access into public business. This approach took the universities another step towards business which is market led