By; AMOS TAUNA, Kaduna
The Secretary-General, Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigeria Universities (CVCNU), Professor Yakubu Ochefu has said that over 720 individuals have held the position of vice chancellor in the Nigeria University System (NUS) since 1960.
He said out of the 720 individuals that have held the position, 38 of them were women.
Speaking in Abuja at an event to unveil the 60th anniversary committee, Prof Ochefu explained that many are still serving in various universities across the country, while a number of them are deceased.
He said the committee held its first meeting in 1962 which composed of Vice-Chancellors of Federal, States, and Private Universities in Nigeria, adding that they are set to celebrate 60 + 1 years of their existence and has been been working very quietly in the background in improving the university system.
According to Prof Ochefu, “The major initiative of policies the education system has today are from the meetings and inputs of the CVC such as harmonization of academic calendar, NYSC , JAMB, improving of welfare of the staff of the university staff, predatory journals to promote good journal practices in university system and the minimum academic benchmark and core curriculum of university.”
He observed that the university system went through so many challenges ranging from funding and access but was able to overcome some, saying that celebrating 60 years was a milestone achievement as water had passed through the bridges but was able to overcome.
The don blamed poor research funding on the reason why Nigerians, especially from the intellectual community don’t win the Nobel Laureate prizes, believing that for Nigerians to feature in Nobel prize nomination, there must be a major breakthrough in cutting-edge research.
He noted that to win a Nobel Prize is a product of sustained and rigorous research in the academic discipline, it is not a one-off thing, pointing out that the average age for a Nobel prize winner is from 50 years, which means that the person would have been doing research for at least 10 years to make a major breakthrough in his area of specialization.
The 60th anniversary, according to him, is scheduled to hold today in Abuja, with President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima as distinguished guests of honour, while the President of Nigerian Academy of Science, Prof. Ekanem Braide is billed to be the Keynote Speaker.
