CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background to the Study and Statement of the Problem
Higher
education in Nigeria can be traced to 1932 when Yaba Higher College was
established for the purpose of producing assistants who would relieve the then
colonial administrators of menial tasks. Thus in 1940, the University College,
Ibadan was established but the programmes offered there and then were narrow
because the agenda of the colonial administration did not include the training
of high-level manpower for many of the professions. The Ashby Commission in
1960, recommended the establishment of regional universities in the then three
regions of Nigeria. Three universities were established: the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka (1960) in the Eastern region; the University of Ife, now
Obafemi Awolowo University (1961) in the Western region and Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria (1962) in the Northern region, while the existing University
College, Ibadan was granted full-fledged University status in 1962. Also, the
University of Lagos, Akoka came into existence in 1962 and as a city
University, it provided courses in law, social sciences, medicine, humanities,
engineering and part-time programmes for working students. Lastly, the
University of Benin was established in 1970, making the sixth of the Universities
that have come to be known as Nigeria’s first generation
Universities
(Adesina, 1988).
Today
the higher education system in Nigeria is composed of universities, polytechnics,
institutions of technology, colleges of education that form part of, or are affiliated
to, universities, and professional, specialized institutions. They can be
further categorized as private, state or federal owned institutions. Federal universities
categorized as first, second, or third generation universities, are owned and funded
by the federal government, while state universities are owned and financed by
the states (there are 36 states in all), and private universities are owned and
funded by individuals or religious organisations. As seen from above, the first
generation universities are the six universities established in the 1960s and
early 1970’s; second generation universities are seven universities established
in the mid 1970’s; while third generation universities refer to the eleven
institutions, including the universities of technology, established in the 1980’s
and 1990’s (Hartnett, 2000).
According
to the National Universities Commission (NUC)’s report on the results of the
November 2005 System-Wide Accreditation Exercise, there are twenty-five (25)
federal universities including three (3) universities of agriculture, twenty
(20) state universities, twenty (23) private universities, five
(5)
degree-awarding colleges of education, sixty-nine (69) National Certificate in
Education (NCE) - awarding colleges of education, one (1) military university,
four (4) inter-university centres. This gives a total of one hundred and
forty-two (142) higher education institutions excluding the polytechnics and the
ten (10) newly approved private universities in 2006.
Higher
education in Nigeria can be further divided into the public or private, and the
university or non-university sectors. Public universities, owned by the federal
and state governments, dominate the higher education system. The nonuniversity sector
is composed of polytechnics, institutions of technology, colleges of education,
and professional institutions. There is no sharp distinction between the
university and the non-university sectors; most of the institutions in the
latter sector are affiliated with universities.
1.1.2
Access to Higher Education in Nigeria
There
are three levels of university education in Nigeria. The university level first
stage offers a Bachelor’s degree after a minimum of three years and a maximum
of six years study (e.g. in medicine). The university level second stage offers
a Master’s degree following one year of post-Bachelor’s study or one of
post-graduate diploma study and a year of post-Bachelor’s study in the relevant
discipline. The university level third stage offers doctorate degree of two to
three years duration after the Master’s degree. To gain admission into the first
level of university education, a potential student has to pass the competitive University
Matriculation Examination (UME).
In
Nigeria and in fact most nations of the world, the University is the highest citadel
of learning for the production of high-level human resources for the labour
market. In recognition of this and the role of higher education in perpetuating
national unity, the Federal Government of Nigeria took appropriate
steps
to ensure equity with regard to access to university education. The Joint Admissions
and Matriculation Board (JAMB) was created by Act No. 2 of 1978 of the Federal
Military Government (JAMB, 2004). The main aim for the establishment of the
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) was to provide an opportunity
for eligible Nigerians to have access to university education, and to diversify
the intakes, and achieve a high rate of national spread in the placement of
applicants into Nigerian universities (JAMB, 2004). In addition, the JAMB was
to place suitably qualified candidates into the existing tertiary institutions
after taking into account the vacancies available in each
tertiary
institution. Placement was to be done on the basis of merit, catchment area, and with a special focus on females and
the Educationally Less Advantaged States (Omoike and Aluede, 2007).
The
Federal Government controls the universities and other higher education institutions
through the following organs: the Federal Ministry of Education; the National
Universities Commission, which among other things allocates funds to federal
universities and also prescribes the spending formula; and the Committee of
Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, which acts as a coordinating body and
offers advice to government and universities’ governing councils on matters of
general and specific concern to higher education. Individual university
administration is the joint responsibility of the university’s Governing
Council and the Se nate. Although the Governing Council remains the highest
policy-making body in the university, an appointed Vice-Chancellor acts as the
Chief Executive Officer, coordinating both academic and administrative
functions. Within universities and colleges, the institutes and centers are
more or less autonomous. The university system polity consists of three
distinct categories of staff viz: administrative, academic and technical, each
having a union that protects the interest of members. For instance, the Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) safeguards the interests of the academicians
in the Nigerian university system. Most universities operate the semester
system, where a session comprises of two semesters. The university academic
year begins in October and runs through to July.
The
Federal Government in order to make education relevant to the needs and aspirations
of the people and so bring about the desired development reviewed her educational
system by introducing the 6-3-3-4 system of education (Maduewesi and Imhanlahimi, 2006). By this
system, before reaching university entrance
level, students undertake 12 years of school education, the first six years of
which are spent at primary school while the remaining six years are split
between junior and senior secondary school education. Then the last four years
of the education system are spent on an average four–year course in the university.
Generally,
students are 18 years old at the start of their university education, though
some students are able to gain admission at the younger age of Students may be
admitted into the first year of a four-year degree course based on results
achieved in the Universities Matriculation Examination (UME) conducted by the
Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). Entrance to the first year of
a three-year programme is based on results obtained in the West African School
Certificate (WASC) O level, in addition to either the General Certificate of
Education (GCE) A level, or equivalent examinations such as the Interim Joint
Matriculation Board Examination (IJMBE), and the National Diploma (ND)
certificates.
Admission
is through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for both UME and
direct entry applicants. For UME, interested applicants purchase the JAMB form
and subsequently write the University Matriculation Examination (UME). Based on
the score profile of applicants and the recommended enrolment figure for the
admission year, a minimum cut-off score is usually proposed for UME admissions.
For instance, for the 2005/2006 session, a total enrolment figure was proposed
as follows: ARTS (2139) and SCIENCE (3210)
for Ahmadu Bello University, and the proposed merit cut-off score was 234 for
that session.