Nigerian universities require innovations, funding to remain resilient to challenges, says CVCNU

By Ola Taiwo

Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) said that  universities in the country require innovations and proper funding to keep them resilient to phases of challenges and remain rightly functional.

The committee stated this at its 37th Annual General Assembly and Confeeence held at the university of Ilorin with the theme “Building Resilient Universities for Nigeria”

Chairman of the CVCNU, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, while speaking at the event said Nigerian universities had survived several challenges over the years but must now focus on remaining relevant to a young population with rising expectations.

Ezemonye, who doubles as the Vice-Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Okada, said the universities had, to an extent, overcome test of survival and that present challenge before them was  to strive to succeed in the test of remaining relevant to young, restless and expectant generation of the country. 

“We meet at an hour when the Nigerian university is being tested as it has seldom been tested since the years immediately after independence. The test is not of our survival, for we have survived much. It is of our relevance to a young, restless and expectant nation,” he stated.

The CVCNU leader said universities must develop the capacity to withstand funding instability, industrial disputes, demographic pressures, technological disruption and the migration of skilled academics while maintaining excellence in teaching, research and community service.

He identified governance and financial sustainability, the development of AI-ready universities, stronger partnerships among universities, government, regulators, industry and labour, as well as human capital development and staff and student welfare as critical areas requiring urgent attention.

Ezemonye urged university leaders to have frank conversations about the problems confronting the sector and move beyond resolutions that often fail to translate into concrete action.

“The challenges before us are too grave and too urgent to be obscured by politeness or deference. We must speak plainly about the failures of the past and the demands of the future,” he said.

Delivering the keynote address, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin and former Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, urged universities to redefine resilience as the capacity to anticipate risks, adapt intelligently and transform institutions.

Oloyede said the sector could no longer afford to regard recurring shortages, insecurity, funding challenges, technological disruption, industrial disputes and changing labour market demands as normal features of university life.

“Resilience is therefore not stubborn endurance. It is structured adaptation and disciplined renewal,” he said.

The former JAMB Registrar described leadership as “the first infrastructure of resilience”, warning that no amount of physical infrastructure or technology could compensate for weak governance and poor accountability.

He called for leadership development and succession planning, saying university strategic plans must be linked directly to budgets, appointments, infrastructure, partnerships and performance evaluation.

On artificial intelligence, Oloyede urged universities to stop relying on outright bans and instead develop responsible policies governing the use of AI in teaching, research and administration.

“In the age of generative artificial intelligence, universities cannot protect academic integrity simply by banning tools that students can access outside the classroom,” he said.

He advocated assessment methods that test reasoning, creativity, application, evidence and ethical judgement, while urging institutions to equip graduates with digital competence, data literacy, communication, entrepreneurship, problem-solving and lifelong learning skills.

Oloyede also cautioned universities against mistaking digitisation for transformation.

“We cannot digitise disorder and call it transformation,” he declared.

He called for stronger research partnerships focused on Nigeria’s pressing challenges, including food security, healthcare, energy, climate adaptation, education, governance, conflict prevention, manufacturing and digital inclusion.

He also advocated sustainable funding through predictable government investment, endowments, alumni support, competitive grants, executive education, professional programmes, consultancy, intellectual property and research partnerships.

“The most valuable source of sustainable support is trust. Alumni and partners give more readily to institutions that explain their priorities, publish audited accounts, demonstrate results and recognise contributors,” he said.

Also speaking, Chairman of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of Nigerian Federal Universities, Prof. Ahmed Yayale Ahmed, urged vice-chancellors and governing councils to end rivalry and embrace cooperation.

Ahmed said effective university administration required trust, transparency and a shared sense of responsibility between governing councils and management.

“Governing Councils are supervisory and advisory organs constituted by Government to support good governance and ensure the smooth and effective running of our institutions,” he said.

The Kwara State Government, on its part, said efforts to build stronger universities must begin with deliberate investment in basic education and the preparation of future leaders from an early stage.

Representing Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq at the conference, Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Dr Lawal Olalekan Olohungbebe, said tertiary education remained a major priority of the state government.

He said the state was addressing challenges across the education chain because universities could only produce quality graduates when students received a strong foundation at the basic level.

“On behalf of the state government, we understand how important tertiary education is, and we continue to invest heavily, not only in tertiary education, but we will start from the bottom,” he said.

Olohungbebe highlighted community engagement, service learning and local impact as important components of a resilient university system.

He also cited KwaraLEARN, an education monitoring initiative, as part of the state’s efforts to strengthen supervision and accountability in basic education.

“With KwaraLEARN, we are able to supervise every teacher in the class, who is in the class and who is not in the class. And not just being in the class; what are you doing in the class?” he said.

The commissioner urged participants to ensure that the conference produced practical reforms rather than recommendations that would remain on shelves.

“We look forward to having a fruitful celebration, and not just the ones that will end up on the shelves, but the ones that will end up in our programmes, making local impact and international relevance,” he said.