A former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Olufemi Bamiro, said given reasons why Nigerian universities fail to make the list of the best 100 universities in the world.
Bamiro, who spoke in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on Tuesday, a symposium organised by the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) Ibadan branch in honour of Engineer Emmanuel Olaniyi Oladeji, one of the pioneer modern engineers in Nigeria, said that Nigerian universities are not rated among the best 100 because academic staff to students ratio is too wide in all the existing institutions in the country.
Bamiro, who himself is an engineer, explained that Nigerian universities are overpopulated by students with few academic staff.
He said that this is one of the reasons why Nigerian universities are not rated among the best in the world.
The former Vice-Chancellor who delivered a paper titled “Engineering capacity building towards national development,” added that lecturers in Nigerian universities are too overburdened.
He said that this is the main reason why many lecturers could not know all their students.
Bamiro, whose paper was delivered by Professor Ayodeji Oluleye, said that the ratio of students to academic staff, number of facilities, number of accredited courses, students performance, employability and contribution to the economy are some of the yardsticks that being used to rate universities in the world.
He explained that the inability of Nigerian universities to meet these standards is responsible for their exclusion from the list of the best in the world.
“Academic staff in Nigerian universities are overburdened. We are overburdened. The ratio of academic staff to students is over 30 students to a lecturer. That is why we are not among the best 100.
“What is the ratio of academic staff and students in the universities that are rated as one of the best 100?
“The ratio in universities like Harvard, Oxford is ratio 1 to 5. Five students per lecturer. The class that has the highest number of students will be 20 students. So, why will they not know their students?
“But, what we need to do in Nigeria is to follow the pattern. All the stakeholders must work to achieve this. The critical stakeholders, NUC, NABTEB, BOI, ITF must be involved.”
Dignitaries present at the symposium themed “Engineering: A panacea for economic development” included former President of Nigerian Society of Engineers, Engineer Alade Ajibola, Engineer Wale Lagunju, Engineer Ade Ayileka and Chairman of NSE Ibadan branch, Engineer Adekunle Olaoye and engineering students from some tertiary educational institutions among others.
The late Emmanuel Olaniyi Oladeji, in whose honour the symposium was organized, was a foremost engineer who retired as Acting General Manager of Water Corporation of Western in 1976. He died on September 5, 2021, and will be buried on Friday.
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