The Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, has reiterated the Federal Government’s resolve to improve funding to university education over the next six years as contained in an agreement signed with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Wike made the statement , Monday when a team from the World Bank and the African Centres of Excellence (ACE) paid him a courtesy call in Abuja, noting that over N1.3 trillion will be disbursed over this period.
He said the Federal Government was making huge investments in research, infrastructure and improvement of quality teaching in the university system. Wike said this was because the government realised the potential that could be harnessed in an effective university system.
He said the allocation of 10 slots out of 18 ACEs to Nigeria by the World Bank was a proof that such investment was beginning to yield dividends.
The minister said that it was the duty of Nigerians to ensure that they played their own part by contributing to the development of the sector. He said Nigerians should also shun all vices that often portrayed the country in negative light.
The minister assured the World Bank that the $80 million grant to the ACEs would be judiciously applied to achieve the goals for which the centres were established.
He commended the leadership of the National Universities Commission, NUC, for achieving such a feat and expressed the belief that it had the capacity to supervise and monitor the implementation of the funds.
Responding, the Vice- Chancellor of the University of Jos, Prof. Hayward Mafuyai, on behalf of his colleagues, gave an assurance that the ACEs would be made into models the world would copy.
Mafuyai said the ACEs were aware of the fact that the success or failure of the project in Africa was largely dependent on Nigeria. He said this was why the universities would ensure that they lived up to expectation.