PUBLIC AND PRIVATE TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS.
The Nigerian educational institution consists of both public and private schools. The public tertiary institutions are properties of either the state or federal government. They are fully funded by the government and fees are subsidized. The private tertiary Institutions are owned by private investors, religious institutions, business mogul and seasoned academia who have keen interest in education, hence placed their resources in developing international competing institutions. Private institutions are very expensive. Their tuition is very high and in most cases cannot be afforded by the ordinary man on the street. They have little or no assistance from the government.
From the inception of university education in Nigeria with the then Ibadan College known today as the University of Ibadan. Education had a whole new meaning because people could then study to become professionals in various fields of life unlike what going to college of education could offer them as at then. Many persons who went to school ended up becoming teachers. However, from the university of Ibadan, other universities were built, some of them include the first indigenous university “University of Nigeria” with it campus in Enugu. Other giants in the university of Lagos, University of Benin and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife were established to raise enough manpower for the upcoming industrial boom.
With time, more public varsities were built and today there is at least two universities in each state, one federal university and one state university. As time went on, demand for university education increased and the there came the need for private universities to help reduce the shortcomings of the public varsities. Initially, private varsities never posed a threat as many of them were underfunded and never came close to competing with their government owned counterparts. Some employers saw the worthiness of private varsities certificate as inferior to their government counterparts.
There is the presence of private universities in almost all the states of the country with Ogun state topping the list. Private universities over the years have shifted from being an expensive pie to being an utility. Little wonder the likes of “Covenant University”, “Afe Babalola University”, “Babcock University” and a host of others have stepped up their games such that Covenant University is the best private university in Nigeria and it pose to becoming the best university in Nigeria.
The public varsities have lost a bit of credibility as a four year course could cost an additional year or more as a result of it perennial industrial action. Their private counterparts do not engage in industrial action and a student completes their course at the stipulated time with little or no delay.
Private universities have come to stay, this is evident in the number of aspirants that vie to school there every year. The figure is on a geometric progression. Besides offering qualitative education, they also come in to reduce the shortcomings of public varsities in offering students admission.
These days, once parents can afford a private university, they don’t mind sending their children there. It’s indeed right to say that private varsities are here to stay.
Nice article
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