This paper discusses the machinery for higher education policy formulation and implementation in Nigeria with particular reference to the university system. It identifies the goal of national unity and national integration as a new addition to the university's traditional roles of manpower production, research and teaching. An analysis of the implementation of measures aimed at achieving national integration with emphasis on student recruitment is attempted. Two features are apparent, both of which are counter-productive to national integration. First, universities recruit their students mostly from the states and geopolitical regions in which they are located. Secondly, inter-regional migration of students is a one-way traffic -mostly from South to North. Measures to improve the achievement of national integration are also suggested.
The development of higher education in Nigeria over the past quarter of a century has been characterized by a high degree of proliferation and dispersal. In the distribution of universities there exists a cautious state of balance among the former regional components of the country. Variation is much more marked in the distribution of other categories of institutions of higher education. Perhaps of greater significance is the concentration of these institutions in towns and cities. Economic, social, and political reasons are accountable for the observed pattern. There are also enormous benefits as well as problems resulting from the proliferation and dispersal of higher education institutions.
Rural development has attracted attention from many quarters. The present administration in Nigeria is particularly anxious to bring it about in the shortest time possible. But most of the discussions of rural development tend to neglect the vital link between it and administrative structure. This paper therefore stresses the role which an appropriate administrative arrangement can play in bringing about rural development. The paper reviews the various efforts that Nigeria has made since 1950 to derive a suitable local administrative structure. It focuses on the 1976 reform and shows how it has failed to provide a suitable spatial framework for rural development. Based on the experiences of the past and the realities of the present, some principles are put forward as guidelines for an effective local administrative structure. Finally, an administrative arrangement which is development oriented and comprehensive enough to cater for the interest of all communities is proposed.
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