The Vice-Chancellor of Baze University, Abuja, Prof. Abiodun Adeniyi, has called for greater government support for private universities, arguing that they contribute to the same national human capital development objectives as public institutions.

Prof. Adeniyi made the call on Monday in Abuja when executives of the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ECAN) visited the university in Abuja.

He noted that private institutions face enormous financial demands in providing quality education, developing infrastructure, recruiting qualified personnel and meeting regulatory requirements.

He said the perception that private universities were primarily profit-making ventures was misplaced, stressing that the cost of running quality academic programmes and sustaining modern facilities was increasingly high.

“Anybody who thinks it is a profit-making organisation is just making a mistake. Look at what it entails to hire staff, buy facilities, provide utilities and execute huge capital-intensive projects. It is difficult,” he said.

The Vice-Chancellor argued that graduates of private universities ultimately join the same workforce as their counterparts from public institutions and contribute to the development of the Nigerian economy.

“We are all citizens of this country. I don’t mind if TETFund wants to support us,” he said, while commending the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for initiatives aimed at extending some research opportunities to private universities.

Adeniyi, however, urged the government to expand such interventions, saying increased support would enable private universities to strengthen their research capacity, improve infrastructure and sustain the delivery of quality education.

He also highlighted Baze University’s strategic location in Abuja, saying its position in the Federal Capital Territory had made it accessible to students from different parts of Nigeria.

According to him, the university was established about 15 years ago by its Founder and Chancellor, Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed, with the vision of redefining tertiary education in Nigeria and building an institution capable of competing with leading universities globally.

Adeniyi said the institution had deliberately invested in creating a serene and conducive learning environment while keeping its fees competitive, despite receiving no direct government allocation.

He added that the university had maintained compliance with the requirements of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the Federal Ministry of Education.

To further strengthen its academic standards, the Vice-Chancellor said Baze University was recruiting scholars from different parts of the world and planned to introduce external examiners from abroad to assess the work of its faculties and make recommendations based on global best practices.

On research and development, Adeniyi described research as the “hallmark of development”, saying the university was building partnerships and programmes to deepen its research culture.

He said the institution was also focused on producing graduates equipped to respond to the changing demands of the labour market by combining their core academic disciplines with entrepreneurship and other transferable skills.

According to him, the changing nature of employment means graduates increasingly work across disciplines rather than strictly within the fields in which they obtained their degrees.

He cited Baze University’s participation in the World Bank-supported IDEAS programme as part of its efforts to equip young Nigerians with practical and entrepreneurial skills, stressing that the institution was determined not to produce graduates without the capacity to navigate the realities of the modern economy.

Adeniyi also dismissed the perception that Baze University was primarily an institution for politicians, saying although some politicians and senior professionals had attended the university, its student population was diverse.

He said the university had students from Nigeria and other African countries, particularly within the West African subregion, while efforts were ongoing to deepen collaborations with institutions and stakeholders in countries such as Sierra Leone and Kenya.

The V-C said the institution would continue to grow steadily and systematically, guided by regulatory requirements and its broader commitment to contributing to the development of Nigeria, Africa and the global community.

The Guardian reports that Baze University is among a growing number of private universities that have called on the Federal Government to extend TETFund interventions to privately owned institutions.

Under the current TETFund Act, private universities are excluded from accessing the Fund’s interventions.