Over 40 bills seeking the establishment of new universities in the country are before the House of Representatives.
The high number of the bills made lawmakers to express fears on Wednesday over the proliferation of universities that ended up being poorly funded.
The Chairman, House Committee on Rules/Business, Mr. Orker Jev, gave the figure as members debated a ‘Bill for an Act to Provide for Establishment of the Federal University of Technology, Ogoja and for Related Matters’ for second reading.
The bill was sponsored by a member from Cross River State, Mr. Jarigbe Agom-Jarigbe.
But, no sooner had Agom-Jarigbe opened the debate than members disagreed over the relevance of another federal university in Cross River.
Jev rose to draw the attention of the House to the increasing number of bills seeking the establishment of new universities without addressing the cost implications.
He recalled how the Minister of Education, Mr. Adamu Adamu, wrote to the House to advise that the lawmakers should slow down a bit.
The Chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions, Mr. Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, while raising similar fears, observed that more disturbing was the fact that states which already had universities, were asking for more.
“In the spirit of fairness, why can’t we say, okay, let states that have no universities take one. Cross River already has about two; now we want to add a third university for one state.
“There are states where none exists. That is in addition to the funding question, which has not been addressed,” Nkem-Abonta stated.
But the Chairman, House Committee on Army, Mr. Rima Shawulu, argued that the number of universities in the country was not enough to accommodate eligible students on a yearly basis.
Shawulu claimed that over 80,000 Nigerians were in Ghanaian universities because they could not secure space in Nigeria.
He said, “The universities we have in Nigeria are not enough. Every year, over 1.5million admission seekers don’t enter the universities because there is no space to take them.
“That is why I will support this bill for second reading. It is a serious issue that we must not overlook.”
A member from Ebonyi State, Mr. Igariwey Iduma-Enwo, agreed with Shawulu.
Iduma-Enwo stated that schools were hardly enough to support the growth of education in a country like Nigeria.
“Let us support the bill because we cannot have enough schools and education in Nigeria.
“Section 18 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) makes a provision for government to provide adequate education for Nigerians. So, adequate education is a constitutional matter, particularly education in pursuit of science and technology,” Iduma-Enwo told the House.
Despite the different views expressed, the lawmakers still passed the bill in a majority voice vote.
The session was presided over by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara.
Source: Punch
