Chief Ramon Adedoyin, the proprietor and founder of Oduduwa University, has advised the Federal Government to invest in the education of serious and brilliant but indigent students by offering them scholarship into private universities.

The proprietor, spoke on the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), which begins today, lamented what he called space constraints in many higher institutions.

He noted that most candidates don’t usually get into the public university they apply to and that most parents could not afford the average of N400,000 charged by many private universities.

Adedoyin noted that some of those not admitted by public institutions were forced to patronise sub-standard universities in Cotonou, Republic of Benin or illegal universities in Nigeria. Recently the NUC listed about 100 illegals varsities in Nigeria and Republic of Benin, where Nigerian students are studying.

In solution, Adedoyin then advised the government that rather than approving more private universities, they should provide access by sponsoring poor students in private institutions.

He said the government need not give cash directly to private institutions for such sponsorships, but channel the funds into building laboratories, libraries, hostels as well as other facilities, which will be equivalent to the school fees charged by the private universities.

“Private schools pay heavily on salaries and provision of facilities,” he said.
The educationist also advised the government to consider that approval of new universities was putting pressure on insufficient manpower needed to run them.

The minimum qualification to lecture in the university, he said, is a doctoral degree. With an insufficient number of PhDs holders, Adedoyin said many of the existing universities are understaffed.

“As a university proprietor outside Nigeria, I am able to compare and contrast ways universities are approved in Nigeria and outside Nigeria. New universities outside come first as colleges of well-established universities,” he said.