It has been reported that a former executive secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof Peter Okebukola, has stated that the use of satellite campuses by many Nigerian universities is a major factor responsible for the production of unemployable graduates.
According to reports, Okebukola stated this at a convocation lecture he delivered at the Elizade University, Ilara Mokin, Ondo State.
Okebukola disclosed that, “The major reason some of our graduates turn out to be half-baked is, number one, the severe financial handicap inflicted, especially on the state-owned universities. In an attempt to meet their financial needs, especially for salaries, these universities literally sell their certificates through running poorly-delivered courses in poorly-resourced campuses affiliated to other private or public institutions far from the main campuses.”
He stated that, “ The double-speak of the governors in the states which own the universities is seen in the severe cut in subvention and the directive not to charge tuition beyond a ridiculously low rate. To make up for the shortfall in revenue, the authorities of these universities end up admitting all manner of persons into programmes in satellite or affiliate campuses, in large numbers.”
He made it known that, “Add the poor delivery of the curriculum at such campuses and what we end up with is graduates who are even less than ‘half-baked’. These are the persons giving the products of the Nigerian university system a bad name. The other factor, of course, is an interruption to the academic calendar brought about by endless cycles of strikes.”
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