Less Than 50% Of Nigerian Varsity Lecturers Have PhD – NUC

                           The National Universities Commission (NUC) yesterday disclosed that less than 50 per cent of the nation’s university lecturers have doctorate degrees and the teaching personnel in the rank of senior lecturers and professors are also less than 50 per cent.

Deputy Director in charge of Special Duties at the NUC, Mr. Ashafa Ladan, made this disclosure in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, while delivering a lecture on the “Challenges of Private Universities’ Proprietorship in Nigeria” at the founder’s day ceremony of Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin.

The NUC director lamented that the inadequate teaching personnel at the nation’s universities is having a negative effect on performance.

Enumerating the challenges confronting the over 50 private universities in the country, he said, “Most of the teaching staff in private universities are either employed on sabbatical, visiting or adjunct basis due essentially to difficulty in attracting quality staff at this level.”

“The quality of teaching staff (senior lecturers and above) poses a greater challenge with regards to mentoring, research and research leadership, effective linkages, journal publication and the general evaluation system of the university,” he said.

Ladan also said poor administration was one of the challenges of private universities, saying they fail to put in place good management structure. He added that proprietor ended up being bursar, giving honourary degrees and being registrar.

Also speaking at the event, Kwara state governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, who was represented by the commissioner for Tertiary Education, Science and Technology, Alhaji Abdulwahab Opakunle, urged private universities to identify innovative ways of overcoming challenges confronting them.