Ribadu highlighted several challenges facing universities, including inadequate funding despite consistent federal government support through budget allocations and interventions.
The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, has advocated for a review of the commission’s establishment act to improve its operational efficiency.
Ribadu made the call during the NUC’s 2025 budget defense before the senate committee on tertiary institutions and TetFund, chaired by Sen. Muntari Dandutse (APC, Katsina south)
He said: “We need to review the act to enable the commission to perform its duties efficiently. We’ll see you on this one, because we already have a draft actually.
“The landscape has changed. Meanwhile, the law, the Act of 2004 remains. So for us to be able to perform our functions efficiently, we really need to look at this, at the NUC Act.”
Ribadu also highlighted several challenges facing universities, including inadequate funding despite consistent federal government support through budget allocations and interventions. He pointed out that this funding gap, along with poor infrastructure and facilities for teaching, learning, and research, remains a major obstacle, despite improvements in university access.
“In spite of the consistent financial support from the federal government to public universities over the years, through budgetary allocation and other interventions. Inadequate funding appears to be an insurmountable challenge to the delivery of quality education in Nigeria.”
In addition, the Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University Kano (BUK), Prof. Sagir Abbas, echoed concerns over the financial difficulties facing universities, particularly around overhead costs like electricity.
“We have issues to do with overhead, which includes electricity. Now, if you look at what is given as overhead, it doesn’t cover 2 per cent of what really overhead means”.
He decried that research by universities was never captured in the national budget. saying that “We are left on our own to find means and ways to run the university, to teach, and also to do research. I feel this is a very big gap. Any country that wants to develop must focus its attention on the university.
“This is because that is where knowledge is created and that is where we produce the manpower that comes and serves nationally for the national development of the country”.
Sen. Dandutse, while discussing the 2025 budget, emphasized the need for the NUC to present a sustainable strategy for integrating internally generated revenue (IGR) into its financial plan, given the growing demands on public resources. He stressed that IGR is essential for the long-term sustainability of universities and their competitiveness.
“With rising demands on public resources, IGR is a crucial mechanism for achieving long-term sustainability and enhancing the competitiveness of our universities,” he said.
