A lecture room in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
A Professor of Economics at Webster University in the United States, Benjamin Akande, has urged the Federal Government to clarify further the terms of accrediting overseas institutions seeking to establish in Nigeria.
Akande, who has been appointed President of Westminster College, made the appeal at a stakeholders meeting in Lagos on Thursday.
According to him, many foreign institutions, including Webster University, prefer to operate in Ghana because its government simplified accreditation processes for foreign institutions.
The lack of clear policies and corrupt attitude among Nigerian public officials, he noted, were frustrating foreign education investors in the country.
Akande described Nigeria as the first port of call for investors interested in the West African sub-region for the purpose of expansion. But such institutions, he said, had often been discouraged by the lack of clear policies and corrupt attitudes of public officials.
He said, “Webster University wanted to open in Nigeria. Today, it still wants to open here. But what are the criteria? What are the policies that guide the process? We do not know. I am sure that Webster and others will meet the criteria, but that is if they know what it is.
“Nigeria is the most viable market in the region. The population is there. But the process is not easy. If we are going to be bigger than other economies, it needs to open up the education sector. The regulation and the process do not make it easy. There should be a new regulation that says we want to welcome institutions from around the world and these are the criteria.”
He said he could not stop the idea of opening the institution in Ghana because its government was receptive.
Despite the challenge in the sector, Akande said Webster would start an MBA programme in Nigeria next January.
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