© CC BY-NC-NDPardon me to use biblical languages for effect and emphasis. Rejoice O ye Federal University goers, your time of salvation is here. Crieth not, for your victory is nigh. Twenty-five years ago, the Private University syndrome was non-existent. It was either you go to a Federal University or stay at home. The population in the Federal Universities was commensurate with the facilities available. I salivate every time I’m being told stories of food they ate then; chicken and the rest served in the cafeterias upon presentation of their coupon. Their bedspreads were changed weekly. Yes!! In Nigeria. Mum and Dad can confirm all these as they both finished in 1984. As time went on, the population applying for university admission increased as more people embraced university education. Private university system was first launched with the formation of Igbenedion University in 1999. This set precedence as we have up to 50 private universities presently in the country and counting. The private university initiative is a brilliant idea which helped reduce the strain on Federal Universities. The learning condition and facilities, at least for the ones I know, is better and can in no way be compared to that of the Federal Universities. The universities are staffed mostly with professors who may have retired and Ph.D holders on sabbatical. The hands available are capable and the institution is strike-proof. Graduating as at when due is absolutely guaranteed. But I have a little problem with them. Good enough, I’m attending a Federal University and may be a little bias in my view as I’ve never stepped into any Private University prior to writing this but I’ve had the privilege of interviewing few of their students. It pricks me whenever I talk to a Private University attendee and the first thing they are fast to remind me is how expensive their school fee is. They say this not to complain but establish it in my head that we are not on the same level. They seem to exalt the school fees more than anything. I wouldn’t’blame them but the poor mentality of Nigerians who are made to believe that the higher the cost of a product, the better the value. Try asking any of them how the school is and out of 2000 words spoken, 1888 of it will be about school fees. I find this uneasy and annoying. Ask about the academic performance and they’ll be fast to remind you about the numerous first-class products they have. I wouldn’t’t doubt the credibility of their results but I have always viewed Private Universities as first and foremost a business organization and secondly an academic institution. The business organization aspect naturally will be the driving point of the owners given how capitally intensive it is to run them. Therefore, everything required to maintain a business model is utilized to the bones. It includes selling their products and monitoring to check for conditions to improve profit and minimize losses. Their academic result is their means of advertising and telling the world they are doing well. You get my point. Graduating with a “Pass” is rare to find. How dare you pay half a million naira and not get a good result?? Woe upon you. I was lost for words when the student of a popular Private University which proclaims to the world that the use of phone is banned, perhaps not to corrupt the students, said he takes his phone to school and uses it. I laughed annoyingly at such stupid hypocrisy. What baffles me most is that those who say they want to produce students with moral excellence actually have the most corrupt students I’ve seen. Don’t get me wrong here, environment never spoils a child. A child only expresses the evil he/she always had. When a school says it wants to curb immoral living and the likes, it makes me laugh. Only God can change a man. No school can. I stand to be corrected but most of the students who end up in Private Universities do so to avoid the rigors of entering Federal Universities as they may not have the mental ability to practice the “survival for the fittest” life found in Federal Universities. The Private Universities are very willing to accept them as more students translate to more cash. This is not to paint the Federal Universities as being saintly or free from the above. We all know the tons of vices found there because of the limitless freedom available, the dilapidated infrastructure borne from years of usage and the lecturers who don’t do the job as it’s meant to be. I really want and hope to eradicate the low self-esteem which ravages the Federal University students at the sight/stories of their counterparts in the Private Universities. By the way, if you have the cash as a parent, send your kid abroad.
