Varsities with satellite campuses produce poor graduates – Okebukola

A former executive secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof Peter Okebukola, has identified the use of satellite campuses by many Nigerian universities as a major factor responsible for the production of unemployable graduates.

Okebukola stated this at a convocation lecture he delivered at the Elizade University, Ilara Mokin, Ondo State, as part of the activities to mark the fourth and fifth convocation ceremonies of the university.

The lecture was titled, ‘Does Nigeria’s development cap fit the Nigerian university system?’

He said, “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.

“ 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.”

“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.

Peter Dada, Punch News