Giving the Best of God and Education

Abstract

Quality education and religious disciplines are the core missions of many faith-based universities (FBUs) in Nigeria. In the context of proliferation of private universities in Nigeria, how do FBUs persuade or convince their potential students to choose their institutions on their websites and how do they project themselves as institutions with a competitive edge in terms of delivering quality education while enforcing religious disciplines? In line with these questions, this study engages an appraisal network to analyse the data drawn from the websites of 20 FBUs in Nigeria. Findings show that the “About Us” texts largely deploy appraisal resources to project their institutions as balanced in terms of giving the students opportunity to acquire the best education in the best religious environment. The study also reveals that FBUs believe that the existing societal challenges can only be solved when young people are exposed to spiritual disciplines while studying.