The National Chairman of the Conference of Alumni Associations of Nigerian Universities (CAANU), Prof Yakubu Ochefu says government can never stop funding universities and government can never be the main funder of universities as well.
Prof Ochefu who stated this while speaking on if Universities are ready for financial autonomy after the CAAN delegates meeting with a theme “How to support young Alumni association to grow” at Bingham University, Karu on Saturday, said everyone has to understand funding of university education.
He said: “What government does is to say I am interested in sponsoring XYZ number of students as far as my development agenda is concerned between now and the next five years. I need a thousand engineers, I need a thousand doctors, a thousand teachers, etc, and it is going to cost me XYZ, and I will share it with universities and universities will bid to accept the students I want to train.”
“When the federal government has done its share, state governments can say I also need this capacity in manpower development and write a cheque to the vice-chancellor of the university to train them for him, Local government, Alumni, big multinational companies and local companies are also in the pictures so it is a mix of all these factors that constitute an aggregate of funding as far as university education is concerned not one person.”
He said: “We cannot say we are not ready, it is a case of shifting balance in thrust sharing between the federal government and other stakeholders. So if you find yourself outside the loop of all the people who can provide, then your fallback will be the student loan, if you are not able to qualify for it, then you go back to the good old family and friends to support.”
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In his remark, the Vice Chancellor of Bingham University, Prof. Williams B. Qurix said looking at their alumni, who are young women and men, in years to come he knew they are going to be bigger and more prosperous.
The vice chancellor, represented by Jerome Ihuma, said Bingham University takes immense pride in its role as a nurturing ground for future leaders, entrepreneurs, thinkers, and chain breakers.
“Our commitment to excellence in education is reflected in the accomplishment of our alumni who have gone on to make substantial contributions to their respective fields,” he said.
To the delegates, he said: “Let us continue to embark on a journey of continued growth, excellence and service to humanity.”
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