Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said there is a need for governments to partner with the private sector to meet the educational needs of Nigerians.
He also called on the regulators of the sector to ensure they sustained standards so that Nigeria and the African continent would not be disconnected from the rest of the world.
He stated these during the weekend at the 20th convocation ceremony of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State.
Osinbajo, who was represented by the Minister of Transportation, Muazu Sambo, said, “You will recall that the first government university in Nigeria, the University of Ibadan, was founded in 1948. Today, there are 43 federal universities and 48 state universities in the country. This shows that it has taken both the federal and the state governments 74 years to establish 91 universities. Whereas, it has only taken the private sector 23 years to establish 79 universities. This reaffirms the need to deepen our partnership with the private sector.
“Speaking of educational standard and quality, it is no longer news that the world is a global village, universities across Africa must align with international best practices to deliver standard and qualitative education to their students. Anything short of this will make our continent uncompetitive.”
Earlier, the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea, Kabine Komara, delivered the convocation lecture titled, “The role of universities in promoting socioeconomic integration in Africa.”
