I am not a government agent. I am a concerned Nigerian who passed through the Nigerian educational system. I am as disturbed as other people are, about the lingering strike embarked on by the Academic staff union of universities(ASUU).

In light of recent events in the polity. I have a few questions which I am sure everyone concerned will be interested in knowing.

1. The subvention given to Federal universities, how are they utilized and when last was a full audit conducted? and how often are audits conducted?

2. Educational trust fund(ETF) projects executed across the nation by previous administrations, was there 100% delivery on set targets? were projects monitored to ensure delivery of actual contractual terms in project execution?

3. The post jamb fees and sundry charges by this institutions, how are they utilized and is there any body dedicated to monitoring the efficient usage of these funds that accrue seasonally? are the auditors regularly invited to balance the financial books of the universities? If yes, are this records accessible to the common man to scrutinize?

My reasoning is that Nigeria has spent too long splashing money at projects without getting or seeking value for money because of our perceived oil wealth.

With the precedent of the Oduahgate events in mind. Civil society, parents,concerned individuals,ASUU and NANS should seek to know that revenues which accrue to the universities are properly utilized and details documented in an accessible form for the general public.

It is common knowledge that ASUU have circulated a paper on the dire state of equipment in Nigeria universities. However as a person who has witnessed the level of corruption in Nigeria, and how government funds had often been diverted to serve different purposes, I think it is right to look into the books of this universities and if any wrong doing is spotted the appropriate government agencies such as ICPC and EFCC should take up the matter seriously.

I call on patriotic Nigerians to make use of the Freedom of Information act,ask these vital questions at this point.

This may not bring an end to the strike, but it will lead us into the knowledge that government must do better than the past. It will give us hope that subsequent funds when released will have the intended impact. It will also ensure that universities operate with a culture of transparency.

History of subventions to Nigerian universities

Table 6
Recurrent Grants Actually Paid to the Universities by the N.U.C.: 1963-64 to 1968-69 (in
thousands)

UNIVERSITY 1963-64 1964-65 1965-66 1966-67 1967-68 1968- 69 TOTAL
University
of Ibadan £1,525 £1,900 £2,000 £2,250 £2,306.7 £2,301 £12,282.7
University
of Lagos £430 £901 £900 £920 £988.02 £2,102 £6,241.52
Ahmadu Bello
University £210 £450 £500 £550 £554.4 £1,140 £3,404.4
University
of Ife £195 £218 £210 £250 £253.44 £357 £1,483.44
University of
Nigeria Nsukka £200 £388 £485 £500 0 0 £1,573
Total £2,560 £3,857.5 £4,095 £4,470 £4,102.56 £5,900 £24,985.06
Before 1963/64 the Universities' affairs were conducted by the Federal Ministry of
Education.
Source: Fafunwa, A.B. (1971), A History of Nigerian Higher Education, Macmillan & Co. (Nigeria)
Ltd., p. 225.


Table 8
Subvention to Federal Universities

CAPITAL RECURRENT
1979/80 N150.000.000 N200,000,000
*1980 N183.879.000 N261.381.000
1981 N382.218.725 N320,000,000
1982 N199.575.000 N334,000,000
1983 N-40,600,000 N433.380.480
1984 N-45,549,881 N433.380.480
1985 N150.000.000** N443.810.630

* Subvention for nine months (April - December 31).
** N100m was allocated once and for all, for rehabilitation only.
Source: Adamu, Mahdi (ed.) (1989); University Education: Its Standard and Relevance to the
Nigerian Community, p. 49

[url]http://www.unilorin.edu.ng/journals/education/ije/dec1990/THE%20DEVELOPMENT%20OF%20UNIVERSITY%20EDUCATION%20IN%20NIGERIA%20%20A%20STATISTICAL%20ANALYSIS.pdf[/url]

Recent figures

Table 1: Funding of federal universities from 1990-2008

Year Budget (N) Appropriation (N) Released (N)
1990 1, 216, 601,329.00 # 748, 345, 040.00 # 734, 770, 950.00
1991 1, 453, 291,051.00 # 779, 342, 391.00 # 783, 816, 895.00
1992 3, 653, 212,945.00 # 2, 989, 030, 126.00 # 2, 985, 237, 346.00
1993 5,075, 859, 925.00 # 4, 532, 229, 830.00 # 3, 801, 529, 278.00
1994 7,342, 861, 713.00 # 5, 469, 345, 420.00 # 4, 370, 880, 770.00
1995 11, 328, 520, 905.00 # 6, 392, 648, 852.00 # 6, 056, 784, 806.00
1996 12, 442, 699,358.00 # 7, 535, 594, 539.00 # 7, 535, 594, 529.00
1997 15, 820, 155, 501.00 # 7, 059, 178, 565.00 # 5, 348, 173, 942.00
1998 22, 767, 539, 158.00 # 8, 196, 511, 292.00 # 9, 798, 392, 523.00
1999 40, 884, 109, 125.00 # 10, 507, 388, 580.00 # 11, 831, 930, 271.98
2000 65, 579, 997, 692.00 #33, 788, 940, 311.00 # 30, 143, 004, 497.91
2001 68, 911, 759, 219.11 # 31, 844, 324, 846.42 # 32, 646, 410, 861.00
2002 62, 155, 484, 641.00 # 33, 778, 450, 500.00 # 30, 351, 483, 193.00
2003 78, 762, 123, 727.00 # 34, 411, 319, 280.00 # 34, 203, 050, 936.33
2004 216, 622, 706, 206.00 # 53, 024, 557, 482.61 # 53,466, 287, 486.01
2005 N/A # 62, 215, 631, 536.00 # 58, 275, 967, 608.72
2006 N/A # 82, 376, 685, 198.00 # 82, 376, 684, 290.00
2007 N/A # 90, 565, 259, 337.00 # 90, 565, 259, 337.00
2008 N/A #105, 751, 671, 988.00 # 105, 751, 671, 988.00

Source: Adapted from National Universities Commission, Abuja



Table 2: ETF Allocations to HEIs (N million) (2001 – 2006)
Year Universities Polytechnic Colleges of Education Monotechnics
2001 1, 794 # 968 # 1,116 # 345
2002 3, 244 # 1,643 # 1,743 # 448
2003 1, 441 # 635 # 679 # 290
2004 1, 516 # 61 # 740 # 285
2005 2, 025 # 1,658 # 1,259 # 348
2006 45 # 1,122 # 1,240 # 649
Total 10, 064 # 6, 085 # 6, 776 # 2, 365
Source: Bamiro and Adedeji (2010)


Student Fees / Levies
Although there is a general government embargo on payment of tuition fees for undergraduate
programmes, most of the universities have devised other methods of fee collection, for services such as
accommodation in the halls of residence, sports, medical registration, departmental registration, library,
examination, non-refundable admission deposits, etc. These fees vary in amount paid from one university to another.
Student contributions according to Hartnett (2000) for the period 1986 – 1994 increased from 0.28percent to
3.89percent of the total internally generated revenue. Also, between 1988 and 1998, the total locally generated
income from students’ fees in the universities increased from 4percent to 10percent. Currently, undergraduate
student registered in the various federal universities pay between N30, 000 ($193.54) and N50, 000 ($322) as fees,
which is still relatively cheap (Bamiro and Adedeji, 2010).

In addition to fees, many non-degree/diploma courses have been introduced at exorbitant fees. For
example, the Masters in Business Administration (MBA) programmes and the Computer Diploma courses in all
federal universities among other programmes have recorded financial success. Saint et al (2003) indicated that over
80percent of the universities’ internally generated revenue are derived mainly from fees for the different
programmes. Although attempts by federal universities to increase levies have always met with stiff opposition by
students, it still remains the major source of internal funds.


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