Why Satellite Campuses Produce Poor, Half-Baked, Unemployable Graduates in Nigeria – Okebukola

A former Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Peter Okebukola has said that satellite campuses were responsible for producing poor, half baked and unemployable graduates in the country.

Okebukola said this while delivering the 4th and 5th convocation lecture of the Elizade University, llara- Mokin, in Ondo state.

He spoke on: ‘Does Nigeria’s Development Cap fit the Nigeria University System?

According to him “the severe financial handicap inflicted especially on state-owned universities made them literally sell their certificates through running poorly delivered courses in poorly-resourced campuses far from the main campus.

” The institutions ended up admitting all manner of persons into the satellite campuses to make up for the shortfall in revenue thereby bringing the quality of education down.

“Those are places we are the demeaning quality of our university education. Graduates from satellite campuses are less than half baked.”

Okebukola added that if he had the ways he would close down all satellite campuses as he did 20 years ago when he held sway at the NUC.

The Professor said universities would respond in greater measure to the needs of the society if adequately funded.

Nigerian Universities, according to him were faced with challenges, militating against their contribution to better the country.

He highlighted the universities challenges to include lack of adequate funding, research capacity deficit, poor curriculum delivery, and policy incoherence and implementation inconsistency.

Okebukola said the country must rethink its investment model in university education as sell as provide sustainable funding for the universities.

Prof. Okebukola however commended the management of Elizade university for setting a global standard among other tertiary institutions.

He specifically congratulated Elizade university on the NUC accreditation of all 24 programmes in Administration, Agriculture, Arts, Engineering, Law, Sciences and Social Sciences.

In a remark, the Vice-Chancellor, Elizade University, Prof. Olukayode Amund described the non-establishment of Vocational schools as a major flaw to the implementation of the 6:3:3:4 system of education.