The role of higher education in national integration in Nigeria

Abstract

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.

Learn History, think unity: National integration through History education in Cameroon, 1961-2018

“…While the above answers find credence especially within the context of Africa's return to democracy in the early 1990s, research in history education demonstrates that in the majority of cases, frantic efforts to maintain national unity could be attributed to concrete educational policies and strategies employed by states in the governance of diversities (Peshkin, 1967;Clignet, 1975;Wang, 1978, Akpan, 1990Ndlovu, 2009;Kohl, 2010;Egbefo 2014;Njeng'ere, 2014). Within this theme, research on Cameroon is to say the least, unavailable-a fact from which the current engagement draws value.…”

The Igbo and Educational Development in Nigeria, 1846 -2015

“…43 It is note-worthy that the Asquit and Elliott Commissions gave rise to the establishment of the first university in Nigeriathe University College, Ibadan in 1948. 44 Four 45 new universities established in Nigeria in the 1960"s also followed the reports of the Ashby Commission and Harbison"s High Level Manpower Study for Nigeria. Both reports, like the previous ones, emphasized the role of the university in manpower development in the country.…”

Educational Development and Nation Building in Nigeria, 1842-2015

“…We thus observe that the first stated objective of the educational programme of the Third National Development Plan 1975 -80 was: to expand facilities for education aimed at equalizing individual access to education throughout the country. 70 Introducing yet additional role for the universities, the Implementation Committee on the National Policy on Education, 1978 advocated that measures to be adopted for the achievement of national unity through the universities. It therefore recommended that each university should recruit students from every part of the country.…”