AI, Governance, Autonomy Top Agenda as Nigerian Universities Seek New Path to Relevance

 

By Felix Ajide

Nigerian universities must urgently rethink their approach to governance, technology and institutional resilience if they are to remain relevant in a rapidly changing society, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) has said.

The committee said the future of the nation’s university system would depend largely on its ability to adapt to artificial intelligence, strengthen financial sustainability, protect institutional autonomy and build partnerships capable of addressing emerging challenges.

The CVCNU Chairman and Vice-Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Okada, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, stated this on Monday in Ilorin, Kwara State, at the 37th Annual General Assembly and Conference of the committee, themed, “Building Resilient Universities for Nigeria.”

Ezemonye said the Nigerian university system had moved beyond the question of survival, noting that institutions must now demonstrate their relevance to a youthful population whose expectations were changing rapidly.

He identified funding instability, industrial disputes, demographic pressures, technological disruption and the migration of skilled academics as some of the major threats confronting the sector.

According to him, resilience should not merely mean the ability of universities to endure crises, but their capacity to sustain excellence in teaching, research and community service despite the challenges.

“We meet at an hour when the Nigerian university is being tested as it has seldom been tested since the years immediately after independence.

“The test is not of our survival, for we have survived much. It is of our relevance to a young, restless and expectant nation,” he said.

The CVCNU chairman called for urgent reforms in university governance, greater institutional autonomy and improved financial sustainability.

He also advocated the development of AI-ready universities, stronger collaboration between universities and government, regulators, industry and labour, as well as increased investment in human capital and the welfare of staff and students.

Ezemonye stressed that universities remained critical to Nigeria’s development because they produce the professionals, innovators and ethical leaders needed to drive economic growth and social transformation.

He challenged stakeholders to move beyond conference resolutions and develop practical recommendations capable of producing measurable changes in the university system.

“The challenges before us are too grave and too urgent to be obscured by politeness or deference. We must speak plainly about the failures of the past and the demands of the future,” he said.

He warned that institutions that failed to prepare for a future driven by artificial intelligence, population growth and intense global competition could gradually lose their relevance.

Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, urged universities to comply strictly with newly introduced regulatory guidelines, particularly those relating to honorary doctorate degrees.

Ribadu said universities should not confer honorary doctorate degrees on individuals who do not possess a first degree.

He also disclosed that serving public office holders should not receive honorary doctorate degrees under the new guidelines.

“It has been bastardised in the past. So, for now, we say, please, you are doing well. When you leave office, the university will honour you,” Ribadu said.

The NUC executive secretary further reminded universities that they were not permitted to combine more than three convocations in a year, urging institutions to comply with established regulatory requirements.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of Nigerian Federal Universities, Prof. Ahmed Yayale Ahmed, called for stronger cooperation between Vice-Chancellors and Governing Councils to promote stability and effective administration.

Ahmed said the increasing complexity of challenges confronting the higher education sector required trust, transparency and a shared sense of responsibility among university managers and governing councils.

“Governing Councils are supervisory and advisory organs constituted by Government to support good governance and ensure the smooth and effective running of our institutions,” he said.

He urged both parties to set aside rivalry and work together to create a stable environment for academic excellence, effective administration and sustainable development in Nigerian universities.