The Chairman of the Governing Board of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, has called for the urgent harmonisation of Nigeria’s dual regulatory system for university education across the country.
Ogundipe made the call while delivering his lecture at the 16th convocation ceremony of the Osun State University (UNIOSUN) on Thursday in Osogbo.
He described the existing system as structurally necessary but operationally dysfunctional while it required better regulation rather than less regulation.
According to him, the regulatory system must place the interests of students and the public at the centre of its operations.
He added that the NUC and professional regulatory bodies had overlapping mandates which must be looked upon thoroughly.
” Quality assurance must remain non-negotiable but could become counterproductive when multiple regulators imposed inconsistent requirements and duplicated processes, leaving universities and students to bear the consequences.
” The two systems had co-existed for decades until the rapid expansion of universities from the 1990s exposed structural tensions and increased the cost of regulation,” he said
The board chairman further identified some major challenges as conflicts over curriculum ownership, uncoordinated accreditation timelines and costs, as well as gaps between NUC minimum academic standards and professional practice standards.
He noted that some departments had been forced to restructure programmes to meet NUC benchmarks only to face additional requirements from professional regulatory council and such has resulted in repeated restructuring, financial pressure and diversion of academic staff time.
He urged university authorities to move from reactive to proactive engagement with regulators.
“As Vice-Chancellors, Pro-Chancellors and members of governing councils, we are not passive recipients of regulatory policy. We have both the opportunity and the duty to lead its transformation.
“We call on the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVC), in partnership with the Association of Private Universities and the Committee of Pro-Chancellors, to adopt coordinated advocacy for system-wide regulatory reform,” he added.
Ogundipe proposed a six-point implementation agenda, including the establishment of a national task group comprising the NUC, professional regulators and university representatives to identify overlapping programme requirements.
He called for the development of unified regulatory matrices for affected disciplines and the enforcement of student-protection protocols through early public disclosure of accreditation status and enforceable remediation plans.
Other proposals included institutionalising regulatory intelligence through dedicated quality-assurance structures linked to the Senate, Management and Governing Council; using collective advocacy to make regulatory harmonisation a national higher-education policy priority; and strengthening proactive institutional planning.
Ogundipe, however, said accreditation preparation should become part of routine university operations rather than a crisis-management exercise.
He praised the graduating students and described UNIOSUN as evidence that a state-owned university could secure rigorous accreditations and produce graduates capable of making meaningful contributions to society.
Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of UNIOSUN, Prof. Clement Adebooye, appreciated the NUC board chairman for his positive contributions to the growth and development of universities across the country.
Adebooye also commended Gov. Ademola Adeleke for his support and contributions to the development of the university, saying the institution had continued to expand under successive administrations.
He said UNIOSUN had grown from 66 academic programmes at inception to 128 programmes, while its student population had increased from 14,680 to 42,780.
According to him, the number of postgraduate programmes had also increased from 99 to 299.
He added that the university had secured 75 international grants which is an indication of the institution’s growing academic and research profile.
Adebooye expressed appreciation to all stakeholders who had contributed to the university’s growth, urging the university community to sustain its commitment to excellence.