Nigerian Universities Have Produced 720 Vice Chancellors Since 1960 – Prof. Ochefu

Out of the 720 Vice Chancellors, 38 of them have been women.

The Secretary-General of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), Prof Yakubu Ochefu, says 720 individuals have held the position of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities since independence in 160

Prof Ochefu, stated this at a news briefing ahead of the 60th anniversary of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities in Abuja

He said even though a number of them are deceased, many are still serving in various universities across the country.

The Secretary-General said the Committee, is composed of Vice-Chancellors of Federal, States, and Private Universities in Nigeria.

Prof Ochefu listed some of the achievements of the Committee to include harmonization of academic calendar, NYSC , JAMB, improvement of welfare of university staff, predatory journals to promote good journal practices in university system and the minimum academic benchmark and core curriculum of university.

He said the university system went through so many challenges ranging from funding and access but was able to overcome some and that celebrating 60 years was a milestone achievement as water had passed through the bridges but was able to overcome.

Prof Ochefu however, blamed poor research funding on the reason why Nigerians, especially from the intellectual community don’t win the Nobel Laureate prizes, saying, for Nigerians to feature in Nobel prize nomination, there must be a major breakthrough in cutting-edge research.

“To win a Nobel prize is a product of sustained and rigorous research in the academic discipline, it is not a one-off thing. 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 scheduled to hold on Monday in Abuja would have 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.