Universities as citadels of learning are meant to equip individuals with positive-formal knowledge (both theory and practicals) with a view to exploring their physical and social environments. The society in the long-run perpetuates itself from the recreations of university-exposed individuals; the sophistication of the society is synonymous to the ability of the twin qualities of the acquired skills and the resultant patronage of the skills.

Thus, no nation makes progress without making university research play a cardinal role. This is the path undertaken by Asian tigers and developed economies. It should be noted that research here solely means research by home universities in response to social trends, domestic needs and global challenges; supported with appropriate policy and readily available public/corporate funding. The Asian Tigers-Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore have leap -frogged us today because we continued to look else where for solution that is not coming, we are inconsistent with our policy designs and implementations. Did we not start our economic recovery the same time with South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Brazil?

Hence, the missing link is the cardinal role which the university system is expected to play in the area of scientific research and technological Innovation, while social sciences and Humanities remain as in the back ground. In essence, the level of sophistication of every economy is predicated on her level of scientific and technological advancement. It is along this direction that the Federal Military Government in late 1970s, awaken by the thought of “a dawn” of Nigerian industrial revolution through Ajaokuta Steel Company converted all Colleges of Technologies to Federal Polytechnics through Decree No 33 of 1978. The main objectives of this decree was to give a legal teeth to technical education and encourage the steady supply of low level, middle level man power required for Nigerian Industrialization that never was.

My curiosity was heighten when I saw a telecast of the news that the Federal Government is about creating a six new Universities to be spread equally among the six geo-political zones with a view to creating more space in university admission for Nigerians. Some people reacted by proposing outright takeover of some state government-owned universities; others proposed establishing them based on political equity; while some are manufacturing many incomprehensible formular based on partisanship, ethnicity and primordial sentiment etc. All these to me are off track in-terms of national imperative, consistency and policy discipline.

It should be recalled that our past investment in universities education since 1960 to date has not correspond to synonymous development of jobs outlets. The planned and programmed phase out of National Diploma and Higher national Diploma is ongoing while the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has designed entrepreneurial schemes for job creation and polytechnic undergraduates. Along this line, the Obasanjo’s government between 2005 and 2006 had initiated a process of converting all the polytechnics to campuses of the existing contiguous universities. All these were to meet a common objective-increasing the admission space using the existing infrastructure for cost effectiveness. The Committee of Head of Technological Institution (COHEAD) responded with their insiders’ view: that it should be gradual; that each polytechnic in a geopolitical zone be selected as a model to award degree in a fashion that the elements of Technical Education will not be lost – Technical Universities; others will follow in due course. All these plans, recommendations and white papers are still within the reach of Federal Ministry of Education, House and Senate Committees on Education, and the office of the Secretary General of the Federation
In view of the foretasted backgrounds, I enjoined the Federal Government and the National Assembly to consider the following points and questions before establishing the proposed Universities:
Get the view of education stakeholders including the opposition parties;
What kind of university does a particular state in a geo-political region need – conventional, technological Agricultural or technical?
Have we come of age to have technical universities – for technical Education – as in Renssealleur Polytechnic University New York, Regent University U.K etc
Is a particular university to be created critical to Vision 20:2020?
What is the cost – effectiveness of these new universities in view of the unresolved challenges of the existing ones?
Is it wise to consolidate existing schools -relevant federal institutions- than to open new ones in the spirit of current national priority?
How feasible is it to get the bills of the proposed universities enacted compared to amending the extant laws of the existing ones in view of legislative rigorosity, bottlenecks and President Goodluck Jonathan’s urgent need to expand the admission space in our national universities?

Bye and large, in view of the noble objective of the federal Government, the spirit of Decree No 33 of 1978 – which establish the polytechnics -and the needs for scientific and technological advancement that constitute the boulevard to Vision 20:2020, I would recommend the following in the spirit of patriotism from the highway of logic, experience and national priority.

ZONE REQUIRED UNIVERSITY LOGICAL IMPERATIVE RECOMMENDED SCHOOL
North – Central University of Technology with specialization in Metallurgy and Material sciences Home to iron ore deposit; Ajaokuta steel company; to develop indigenous steel expertise The Federal Polytechnic, Idah Kogi State
North – East University of Technology To innovate and access the technological potentiality of the savanna Federal College of Education (Technical) Potiskum, Yobe
North – West Federal University of Science and Technology Only Zamfara and Kebbi states are without Federal Universities but with Federal Polytechnics. The federal Polytechnic Kaura Namoda has a better pedigree Federal Polytechinc Kaura Namoda Zamfara State
South – East Conventional University Ebonyi And Abia States are without federal University Akanu – Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana Ebonyi State.

ZONE REQUIRED UNIVERSITY LOGICAL IMPERATIVE RECOMMENDED SCHOOL
South – West Conventional University Ekiti is a fountain of knowledge; only state without a federal University in the South – West Federal Polytechnic Ado -Ekiti
South – South University of Petroleum technology Home to Petroleum and natural gas resources; Bayelsa and Delta States are without Federal Universities Petroleum training Institute Effurum, Warri – Delta State

Above all, the proposed recommendations if adopted, suffice to say will usher a novel-brand universities with technical mandates-technical universities to run both full time and part-time courses in technical, vocational and entrepreneurial disciplines. The polytechnic-turned -universities will be supervised by National Universities Commission (NUC) and National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) with inputs from Nation Directorate of Employment (NDE) and National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP). These technical universities will accommodate polytechnic graduates wishing to pursue post-graduate education as well as those from conventional Universities. No nation can develop without a coherent, sound, focus and deliverable technical education. This is because, technical education create self-employment and decimate poverty at the family, micro and macro economic levels. This is the roadmap taken by United Kingdom, the Asian Tigers, Brazil, India, China, Taiwan etc to their developmental Eldorado which many of our uninsightfull gladiators, politicians and those pursuing ethnic agenda do not know. Every system has a life cycle; Nigeria can not wait for the evolution of the proposed universities to meet the millennium development goal, and realizing Vision 20:2020

On this note, I enjoined the National Assembly and the Executive Council of Federation to withdraw the purported N9billion Naira released for site clearing of the proposed universities. The money is enough to transform the six technical schools to universities with adequate infrastructure and manpower.

Ambassador Moh’d Sani – Aji,
AG. Director of Programmes, Africa Int’l Foundation for Science and Technology (AIFST), No 31 Okemesi Crescent cark, II Abuja. Tel +234 07069508411, Email: Samoopenskyworld@yahoo.co.uk;
Founder, Mahionu Center for Democratic Studies, 1, GCAPPA Street, Apapa, Lagos.