The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday said tertiary education system in the country “is severely and dangerously lacking in capabilities needed to build a nation.”
He said a decline in the quality of scholarship and academic output and of the graduates coming out of tertiary institutions were the clearest confirmation that Nigerian tertiary institutions lacked the capacity to build a nation that would survive through the current moment of change and turbulence.
Gbajabiamila spoke in Osogbo, Osun State, while delivering the 1st Tunde Ponnle Annual Lecture titled, ‘Building a Tertiary Truly 21st Century University: Task Beyond Government,’ held on the main campus of the Osun State University.
Suggesting solutions to the problems, Gbajabiamila said issues of curriculum and teaching methods, as well as fair assessment, should be part of any reform considerations.
He called for a review of curricula and teaching methods with a view to situating Nigerian practices in the context of global labour needs.
Gbajabiamila said, “Collaborations between our higher institutions and the organised private sector is vital to carry out the essential work of engagement, research and review that is required at this time to bridge the gaps in our knowledge.
“We need to do this as a necessary precursor to focusing national attention on these issues so that we can jointly rise to the demands of the moment. This is an objective that we cannot, for the sake of our future, leave to government.”
