‘Decay’ behind failure to attract foreigners – Union boss

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has attributed the inability of Nigerian universities to attract students and lecturers from around the world to the decay in the country’s educational sector, writes Kanayo Umeh for The Guardian Nigeria.

The newly elected national president of ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, who disclosed this in an exclusive interview with The Guardian, noted that in spite of the huge growth in Nigerian students abroad, there are few foreign students in Nigeria’s higher education institutions. He also listed inadequate financing, deteriorated infrastructure and lack of university autonomy as some of the factors responsible for the lack of internationalisation of Nigerian universities.

Osodeke noted that attracting foreign students and lecturers would help to bring about competitiveness and improve the standard of education in the country. “This is what ASUU has been fighting over for 20-30 years now,” Osodeke said. “You can only attract international students if the facilities in your universities are up to date and comparable to others around the world.”
Full report on The Guardian Nigeria site