Dare Babalola
The National President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Comrade Mohammad H. Ibrahim has disclosed the reason universities in the country will continue to produce graduates unfit for the labour market.
According to Ibrahim, the inadequacy in the country’s labour market is a result of the insufficient funding of Nigerian universities.
“There will continuously be complaints by the employers of labour about the quality of graduates, as long as our universities are underfunded. The direct effect of poor quality education in Nigeria will always be evident in the quality of graduates, the main products of the universities,” Ibrahim told the Tribune.
He also blamed the underfunding of universities for the economic challenges the country is presently going through, saying that Nigeria doesn’t have skilled workers to strengthen the economy.
“A university should be like an industry producing skilled workers for the economy. If you invest in staff welfare, modern infrastructure, quality learning materials, and secure environments, you will produce high-quality graduates. The input determines the output.
“To bridge the gap between academic training and workplace readiness, we need better funding for infrastructure and equipment. Improved welfare for teaching and non-teaching staff. Modernised curricula and training facilities, and security of the university community. Also, stronger industry–university collaboration to ensure training aligns with workplace needs.”
Ibrahim called for more investment in education, lamenting that Nigeria is below the world standard when it comes to funding the critical sector.
“Digital and other relevant skills are in high demand today across the world. Going by Nigeria’s dire need for development, jobs and economic growth, how on earth will the universities begin a thorough and sustainable curriculum that inculcates requisite skills in our varsity education without proper and adequate funding? We have been shouting that the government must galvanize stakeholders and be ready to lead by example. If our education system must produce graduates that are fit to transform the country’s economy, the education sector is among the chief sectors that would provide Nigeria with what it really needs to be what it desires. And massive investment and proper management must be put in place. This is the only way out for Nigeria. Fund the education sector, get it right, sit and watch our economy boom, infrastructure development will automatically come on board, and every other thing will follow suit,” he added.
