The former President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief John-Nnia Nwodo, has expressed serious concern over what he described as “a drastic decline” in the quality of education in the country.

He said, “It pains me that children of our contemporaries in the university cannot get the quality education that we received during our time.

Nwodo made the remark at the 2nd Matriculation ceremony of Maduka University, Enugu, on Friday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the university, founded by Dr Samuel-Maduka Onyishi, the owner of Peace Motors, matriculated 664 new students at the ceremony.

Speaking in a keynote address, Nwodo recalled that while at the University of Ibadan, their taps ran 24 hours and showers had cold and hot taps.

“They ran all day and night,” he said,
adding that the hostel had an airconditioned room, where they could entertain themselves and their guests with cold drinks, biscuits and cakes as well as tea or coffee.

He also said that the university laundry washed ten items of clothing for each student every week.

According to him, food was subsidised and breakfast was 20 kobo, lunch and dinner were 25 kobo, respectively.

Nwodo also recalled that the university buses left from the Main Campus to the Teaching Hospital Campus every 30 minutes, carrying students and staff members, who had lectures.

“We had departmental libraries as well as a Central Library.

“Any book published in Europe or America was available in our reference section of the library within one month of its publication. So were journals.

“We patronised the international literary traffic.

“We hardly experienced any power failure in the three years I spent in Ibadan.

“Photocopying machines were available at the departmental libraries and General Library.

“We had access to topical and contemporary knowledge,” Nwodo said.

He further said that the Faculty of Medicine had many lecturers, who came from Europe, while their Nigerian counterparts went on sabbatical, teaching in the universities in Europe, Canada and America.

“Notwithstanding that I was an Igbo man, I ran election against a Yoruba candidate and defeated him and became President of the Student Union without any bias of ethnicity.

“It pains me so much that you, as our children, cannot get the quality of education we, your parents got but those of you in Maduka University are privileged.

“You have good buildings, power and water supply and lecturers hungry and anxious to teach in an institution with facilities,” Nwodo said.

He, therefore, commended Onyishi for establishing the university, which many students were now benefiting from.

In a speech, Onyishi, who is also the Chancellor of the university, said that  university remained the pact he made with God to improve his community and society significantly in a positive way through the instrumentality of agriculture, education, healthcare and technology.

He said the school was established to fill the gap and solve the education needs of society, describing the institution as a fast growing private university in Nigeria.

“It is gratifying that within our first one year and five months, we have been blessed with close to 1,300 students.

“These figures testify to the acceptance of our brand of education at the tertiary level,” he said.

While thanking parents and sponsors for founding the institution worthy to send their children and wards, Onyishi said the university was committed to providing quality education and entrepreneurship skills to its students.

The Chairman, Board of Trustees of the university, Sen. Mohammed Daggash, urged the students to strife for excellence and take their lectures seriously.

The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Azuka-Mbata, also extolled Onyishi for establishing the university.

Azuka-Mbata called on other wealthy Igbo sons and daughters to emulate him by investing at home. (NAN)

The Rector of Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Uwana (AIFPU), Dr Felix Attah, has called on the Federal Government to end the existing dichotomy between university and polytechnic graduates in Nigeria.

The Rector made the call on Friday in Uwana, Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi during the 44th matriculation ceremony of the institution held at the polytechnics’ matriculation arena.

Attah, who decried the imbalance said that the most challenging issue in the polytechnic sector was the continuing dichotomy between university and polytechnic graduates and certificates issued to them.

He noted that the disparity had persisted in spite of the federal government’s pronouncements abrogating the dichotomy.

“It is globally acknowledged that the polytechnic is central to technical and vocational education, therefore, polytechnic education should be accorded its priority for national development.

“The only solution is for the federal government to grant polytechnics permission to be awarding degrees in technology; once that is done, the dichotomy will be over because while university is awarding their degrees, we will be awarding ours.

“I believe that with God on our side, the willingness of federal government and the cooperation of the National Assembly, the ongoing processes to amend the Polytechnic Act to expand the scope of polytechnics and create a separate regulator for the sector will be achieved,” he said.

The Rector added that the polytechnic sector in Nigeria was bedeviled with challenges from different quarters as the Nigerian economy struggled to beat negative headwinds caused by dwindling resources for sustainable developments.

“The intervention lines for infrastructure developments in polytechnics are getting leaner in spite of the best efforts of the Tertiary Education Trusts Fund (TETFUND) and other agencies,” he added.

On the recent clamour for the abolition of TETFUND, the Rector noted that without TETFUND that tertiary education would be in ruins and called on President Bola Tinubu not to give ascent to any bill that would seek to abolish the programme.

Attah explained that matriculation ceremony was an important academic ritual to formally induct new students into the hallowed chambers of the institution.

He congratulated the 2,524 matriculants on their admission.

“It is in the matriculation ceremony like today that this polytechnic formally acknowledges to our parents and guardians that the polytechnic has formally taken responsibility of training their children in technical education as well as moulding their characters.

“I earnestly admonish our matriculating students to strictly adhere to the noble principles guiding the conduct of students in the polytechnic.

“These noble principles include honesty, good character and serious mindedness in pursuit of academic excellence.

“We guide our students to be of good behaviours; any student that exhibits anti-social behaviours such as dishonesty, examination malpractice, forgery, cultism among other anti-social activities will be rusticated from the institution.

“We congratulate our parents and students for deeming us worthy partners to the future of their children,” Attah said.

The institution matriculated no fewer than 2,524 students in the 2024/2025 academic session.

They included 1,248 in National Diploma (ND), 1,249 in Higher National Diploma (HND) and 27 students in part time programme. (NAN)

The Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Mr Sonny Echono, on Saturday urged both federal and state governments to grant full autonomy to universities.

Echono made the call during a convocation lecture titled, ‘University Autonomy and the Challenge of Quality Tertiary Education in Nigeria,’ held at Federal University, Oye-Ekiti.

He stated that universities, as ivory towers, have three core mandates: teaching, research, and community service.

The TETFUND Executive Secretary argued that to carry out their functions, both federal and state-owned universities must be granted full autonomy, allowing them greater operational freedom.

Echono explained that university autonomy and academic freedom are separate but fundamental aspects of university operations, crucial for maintaining quality education and fostering academic growth.

He highlighted that the government’s current policy on university autonomy does not fully guarantee freedom, as it retains ultimate control through university governing councils.

Echono urged the Federal Government to grant universities more autonomy to enhance infrastructure and foster collaboration with industries, alumni, and other educational institutions.

He emphasised that autonomy enables universities to build stronger networks, improve infrastructure, and collaborate globally to exchange ideas, experiences, and best practices in education.

“University autonomy also provides opportunities for global collaboration, allowing universities to share ideas, research, and effective teaching methods, benefiting the learning process,” he said.

Echono added that university autonomy would lead to enhanced operational efficiency and improved performance, ultimately fostering the development of quality education for national growth.

In response, the Vice-Chancellor of Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Prof. Abayomi Fasina, commended the guest speaker at the university’s 9th convocation ceremony.

Fasina expressed gratitude to TETFUND for its continued support in promoting the university’s development, despite economic challenges.

He assured university stakeholders of his administration’s commitment to improving and promoting quality education at the institution. (NAN)