Nigeria has enough varsities to meet West Africa’s needs, says Pro-Chancellor

Nigerian universities have the capacity to absorb the applicants in the country as well as the entire West African sub-region, the Pro-Chancellor of Lead City University, Ibadan, Prof. Jide Owoeye, has said.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan that many Nigerian universities were not meeting the admission quota allocated to them.

`` I can assure you that as we speak, apart from the first and second generation universities, there is no university that meets 60 per cent of its quota.

`` Some government universities don’t even meet 40 percent of their quota, it is as bad as that.

`` We have all those vacancies and yet, people imagine that we don’t have enough universities in Nigeria. We have enough. I think that is part of the misinformation that people get.

`` Nigeria has enough spaces in its institutions for everybody in West Africa that wants to study,’’ he said.

Owoeye, who is also the Chairman of Lead City Governing Council, further expressed support for the post-UTME being conducted by each university, saying there would be rigour in choosing the best candidates.

``When one is asked to sit for any examination, I don’t think one should complain. The rigour must be there in choosing the best candidate. The institutions have to take those who can sustain the academic rigour of the university.

`` In that regard, the candidates should be able to take the two examinations, UTME and post-UTME,’’ he said.(NAN)