Do you think Nigeria’s present education curriculum can lift Nigeria out of its present poor state?
The present state of education in Nigeria leaves much to be desired. That is why we must start looking at education now from the indigenous perspective. We should try to develop a kind of education that will suit our contemporary society. The nation has been living under a borrowed educational system for a while and we have seen that it has not helped us as much. So, with the current stride by the NUC towards the indigenisation of our educational principle, philosophy, and theories, the system in the country should get better in a couple of years. In terms of funding, the budget allocation to education is grossly inadequate. All over, there has been a clamour for increased budget allocation to education. There is much to be desired in terms of funding education in Nigeria. However, the educational policy of the country is trying to moderate the educational system, especially the intellectual competence and ability of our resource personnel. For instance, the professorial cadre is globally rated. You cannot become a professor in any university without your papers being accessed globally by at least three professors. This is an attempt to ensure that there is standardisation. Other academic cadres too have a common rating arrangement so that before you become lecturer 1, 2, and senior lecturer, associate professor, or a professor, there is a standard rating that you must pass through as far as the academic community is concerned.
When it comes to students’ appraisal, three points are very relevant. Before you gain admission, some criteria are set for nationality to be attained. We have WAEC, JAMB, and JUPEG to monitor educational policies that are set. To a large extent, the university and education system generally tries to follow a unified system to ensure the acceptability of all levels of academic attainment. If you are a first-class candidate of Wesley University, for instance, it is expected that certificate should compete favourably with other first-class materials globally. You are aware that Nigeria certificates are rated highly, anywhere in the world. There is standardisation when it comes to educational policy globally, and Nigeria is highly rated when it comes to academics.
The NUC is doing its best. When they go for re-accreditation, they go as low as checking the standard of the questions and marking schemes. They even check the script that has been marked. The monitoring and the standardisation instrument are in place. It is expected that somebody who is a first-class product in Wesley should perform as a first class in any other university in the country.
Some federal varsities are increasing their fees because of the recent development in the education sector, how do you think this will impact private varsities?
Instead of increasing school fees, one would have thought that federal universities through their appropriate unions would have addressed the issue of fuel subsidy removal and the realities of the proposed palliative measures first which the government has aimed at alleviating the suffering of the masses. The implications of this on private universities are obvious as it would increase their student enrollment figures. Many students may start to prefer these varsities because they lack distortions in their academic calendar and timely graduate students. Secondly, there may be possible adjustments in the school fee structure of some private universities because human wants are insatiable. The possibility of an over-bloated student population in some private universities due to the lack of space is likely to happen due to an exodus of students from some federal universities since the previous advantage of low school fees is about to disappear. Consequently, poor management, environmental sanitation, and hygiene, and even epidemics may ensue due to greed on the part of some private universities.
Does this mean private university students should expect an upward review of their school fees?
I can’t speak for others, but for us, it is a no. We have resolved to identify with the masses. to retain the school fee structure as approved before the removal of fuel subsidy.
Many private universities have been pleading with the Federal Government to extend the activities of TETFund to them, but the FG seems to have turned deaf ears to them. What is your reaction to this?
We have discussed this matter a lot at our national and international meetings. One of the disservices a country can do to its tertiary institutions is to segregate universities based on ownership. TETFund concentrates only on the universities that were established by the federal and state governments, neglecting those that are privately owned. We will continue to appeal that the federal government extends and expands TETFund to private universities too.
Your university was a university of science and technology, but it has now evolved into a conventional one, can you explain the reason for this?
The Methodist Church, owners of the university, thought it wise to expand the frontier of education in Nigeria and established this university as a university of science and technology. But as time evolved, the church decided to expand beyond science and technology. We became a full ledge conventional university and changed our name to Wesley University, Ondo.
What has been the relationship between the community and your university?
The Ondo community has maintained a cordial relationship with Wesley University. For instance, at governing council levy, the community is well represented. In terms of scholarship, sons, and daughters of this community are engaged in our programmes across the board. From time to time, we host the community in various high-level management meetings. Recently, we met with some community leaders to interact on how to continue to uplift the university. I am glad to also inform you that the Osemawe of Ondo Kingdom and the entire community donated a very large portion of the land to the university. A certificate of occupancy signed and sealed by the governor was presented to the university. Methodist Nigeria and Wesley University have maintained a very robust relationship with the people of Ondo.
All you have said is about community impacting the university, what has the university done for the community?
The university too has done a lot for the community. It has empowered farmers in this environment. Ondo State, being an agrarian state, brought in a national network for organic agriculture and we were able to train farmers, for free. They were taught how to produce crops using the organic method. At the same time, we had a programme called ICT Challenge. Secondary school students in the community were taught how to use ICT tools. Likewise, we organised a quiz competition to enhance their interest in science. Quite a good number of Ondo indigenes have been employed by the university.
What has the school done to enable Methodist church members to send their children to the university without facing the challenge of high school fees?
In the Methodist Church of Nigeria, we have a robust scholarship scheme for all our members. The church has a percentage reduction for all her members. We have a lot of them from all the dioceses across the country and even beyond. In the past four years, we have had a good number of students come from far and near to attend the university because of the scholarships that the church has given to its members.
How does the university generate funds apart from students’ enrollment?
As a faith-based university currently managed by a bishop, we know that the bishop also commands the goodwill of colleagues. The church also has dioceses across the country, and we have what we called WUO support collection and that is done in all Methodist churches in the conference areas. We also have some support from international agencies. They support us willingly, knowing that this is the only faith-based university owned by Methodist Church Nigeria.
What are other challenges facing the varsity?
The challenges so far are the usual challenges of all universities, that is, the challenges of inadequate funding. But we are trying our best based on the available resources at our disposal.
Many youths are leaving the country after graduation from university. What do you think can be done to stop the exodus?
The issue of brain drain is a national problem that needs the proper attention of the stakeholders. For me, I will only advise the government to improve the condition of workers in the country. They also need to improve the welfare package of the citizenry so that the level of brain drain and the exodus of the youths out of this country can be minimised. Also, I would like to appeal to the parents too to be patient. The state of the nation cannot continue like this for too long as we are praying to God to intervene in the affairs of this nation and things will stabilise for good.
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