THE Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, weekend, reiterated the need for increased investment in Open Universities and expansion of capacities of tertiary institutions in the country.
Osinbajo who was represented by the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, made this call at the 20th Convocation of the Igbinedion University, Okada
He also said the expansion of tertiary institutions would accommodate more youths who constitute 70 percent of the country’s population.
He said: “As a nation, we must invest in more Open Universities. With the number of youths accounting for about 70 per cent of our population, we cannot overemphasize the need to expand the capacity of our tertiary education landscape cost-effectively.
“According to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, in 2019, the carrying capacity across our Tertiary Institutions stood at 750,000 while no fewer than 1.9 million candidates apply yearly”, he added.
Furthermore, Osinbajo opined that there is need to encourage Transnational Education by deliberately attracting top foreign universities across the world to set up their campuses in Nigeria.
Referencing the former Prime Minister, Republic of Guinea, Sambo, said it is no longer news that the world is a global village and that universities across Africa must align with international best practices to remain relevant
“This will enhance quality and engender healthy competition with tertiary institutions around the world. This will help to deliver standards and qualitative education to students. Anything short of this, our continent would be uncompetitive,” he said.
The Vice President while commending the founders of Igbinedion University, called for strategic business partnership geared towards achieving sustainable higher education in Africa.
