The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), has challenged Nigerian varsities to move beyond mere survival by taking advantage of persistent challenges and reposition themselves as engines of innovation, ethical leadership and national development.

Subsequently, the chairman of CVCNU, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, demanded urgent reforms in the country’s tertiary system, advising the institutions to build resilience and adapt to emerging technologies to remain relevant in a rapidly changing world.

Prof. Ezemonye, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, yesterday in Ilorin, Kwara State, at the 37th Annual General Assembly and Conference, themed: “Building Resilient Universities for Nigeria,” said Nigerian universities were facing critical test.

He noted that the challenge was no longer about survival: “but about remaining relevant to a young population with growing expectations.

According to him, resilience in the university system should mean the ability of institutions to withstand funding instability, industrial disputes, demographic pressures, technological disruption and the migration of skilled academics, while still maintaining excellence in teaching, research and community service.

He said: “we meet at an hour when the Nigerian university is being tested as it has seldom been tested since the years immediately after independence. The test is not of our survival, for we have survived much. It is of our relevance to a young, restless and expectant nation.”

He listed four critical areas, including governance, university autonomy and financial sustainability; the development of AI-ready universities; partnerships among universities, government, regulators, industry and labour; as well as human capital, academic excellence and the welfare of students and staff as due considerations for the varsities’ survival.

The CVCNU chairman also stressed the central role of universities in national development, describing them as key institutions for producing the professionals, innovators and ethical leaders needed to drive Nigeria’s progress.

The chairman also called for frank discussions on the challenges confronting the university system, urging vice-chancellors and other stakeholders to move beyond resolutions and develop recommendations that could be implemented.

“The challenges before us are too grave and too urgent to be obscured by politeness or deference. We must speak plainly about the failures of the past and the demands of the future,” he said.

He further warned that Nigerian universities must prepare for a future shaped by artificial intelligence, rapid demographic growth and increasing global economic competition.

Also, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu warned universities against new regulatory guidelines, particularly on the conferment of honorary doctorate degrees.

Ribadu reminded them that universities are not allowed to combine more than three convocations at a certain year, adding also that no one without first degree should be considered for honorary Doctorate.

He also warned that no serving public office holders should be recipients of such honours under the new guidelines.

“It has been bastardised in the past. So, for now, we say, please, you are doing well. When you leave office, the university will honour you,” he said.

In a related call for institutional stability, the Chairman of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of Nigerian Federal Universities, Prof. Ahmed Yayale Ahmed urged Vice-Chancellors and Governing Councils to end rivalry and embrace partnership in the management of universities.

Ahmed said the complex challenges confronting higher education required trust, transparency, and a shared sense of purpose between university management and governing councils.

“Governing Councils are supervisory and advisory organs constituted by Government to support good governance and ensure the smooth and effective running of our institutions,” he said.