NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES would climb world ranking says TETFUND

Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro

The Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, has predicted a better ranking profile for more Nigerian universities.This came as he noted that many of the institutions lagged behind in rankings because they failed to meet the accreditation requirements in infrastructure and human capacity development.ADVERTISEMENTA group, Journals Consortium, in a recent research, rated the University of Ibadan as the eighth best university in Africa and first in Nigeria.Bogoro made his view known when he unveiled some projects sponsored by the organisation at the Kogi State University, Anyigba.Some of the projects include blocks of building to serve as the Department of Anatomy in preparation for clinical studies at the institution’s School of Medicine.Others are the Anatomy complex, Administrative Block and the Entrepreneurial Skills Development Centre.According to Bogoro, now that the Federal Government intervention has improved, brighter prospects await Nigerian universities.He said, “I am excited that the rankings of Nigerian universities are coming up positively. Before now, the major challenge of the ranking of Nigerian universities had to do with their inability to meet two-third of accreditation requirements, particularly on infrastructure and human capacity development.“We have been addressing that largely through aggressive intervention in respect of infrastructure in both federal and state universities. Before I assumed office about a year ago, less than 50 per cent of higher institutions in the country were able to access TETFUND grants due to their low rating, I am glad to say that there is a reversal in that trend.“Now that there is improvement in the rankings of our universities in Africa, there should be efforts to also improve their ranking at the global level and TETFUND would continue to strive towards achieving this objective.”Kogi State Governor and Visitor to the university, Capt. Idris Wada, said TETFUND had lived up to expectations, especially in its support to public tertiary institutions.