Then and Beyond: The Price of Knowledge

By: Oluseun FATOPE

As the popular quote by Nelson Mandela goes “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Higher education has always been described as the engine of national development—a tool introduced for empowerment, innovation, and societal progress.

The Nigerian higher educational sector is perhaps the largest in Sub-Sahara Africa both in the number of educational institutions and the population of students. Yet in Nigeria, access to this tool has long been a contested terrain, shaped by government policies, student struggles, and economic shifts.

Students’ struggles transcends the time when education was free and funded as a public good, to the current climate of fee hikes, protests, and exclusions. The journey of tuition in Nigerian universities tells the story of a nation grappling with its obligations to its youth.

Then: Education as a Right

Colonial and Early Post-Independence Era.

The Nigerian government inherited a system that was not fully aligned with the needs of a newly independent nation. Challenges included limited resources, disparities in access, and the lingering effects of colonial structures. During the period of colonial rule, access to tertiary education was a limited commodity, with only a few institutions; examples are Yaba Higher College (founded in 1934) and University College Ibadan (founded in 1948) which caters to princes and princesses likewise sons of learned elites. These institutions were heavily subsidised, and students paid minimal fees, mostly for boarding and academic materials

At independence in 1960, the Nigerian government saw education as central to national development. The founding of regional universities such as Ahmadu Bello University (1962), University of Nigeria Nsukka (1960), and University of Lagos (1962) directly reflected a deliberate act to democratise access to higher education for the native citizens. During this golden era, university education was essentially free. The Federal Government saw to provision of tution, accommodation, feeding subsidies, and bursaries through the Nigerian Students Loans Board (established in 1972).

However, during the oil boom in the 1970s, Nigeria’s revenue surged and so did investments in education. New universities were established rapidly. Government commitment to free education was solidified, most famously under Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Universal Free Primary Education program in the Western Region, setting a standard many other states emulated.

Public universities remained tuition-free, as education was viewed as a right and a driver of national progress. The Nigerian state, flush with oil revenue, assumed responsibility for full sponsorship of students. However, this model would begin to strain under economic realities by the late 1970s.

Now: Rising Costs and Shrinking Access

The turning point came in the 1980s with the introduction of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank-backed Structural Adjustment Program (SAP). As oil prices fell and economic recession set in, the government could no longer sustain free tertiary education. Subsidies were slashed across the board.

While outright tuition fees were not immediately introduced in federal universities, students began paying “charges” for registration, library use, exams, laboratory maintenance, hostel accommodation, and more. These charges would steadily rise, even if they weren’t officially labeled as tuition.The 1986 student protests—famously led by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS)—were ignited by a proposed N500 levy, which many students viewed as a veiled attempt to introduce tuition. The slogan “Education is a right, not a privilege!” echoed across campuses nationwide.

Privatisation and Rise of Private Universities

Only 57 per cent of adult Nigerians are literate, matching the rate for sub-Saharan Africa, compared with 71 per cent for all developing countries. The privatisation and commercialisation of higher education has occupied the minds of Nigerians over the years. For many, it simply means increase in the cost of education and for others, privatisation of education is a positive move which implies more resources for the educational sector and a much better quality education for students. The trend towards educational privatisation is strong and it is taking place in many other countries because the educational sector is a large expenditure item in government budgets, and they often face pressure to privatise.

Historically, Nigerians are familiar with the private schools that were operated by the missionaries, before they were taken over by the government. In general, the Nigerian government performed disappointingly in maintaining and managing those schools. Therefore, Nigerians prefer the private institutions and choose to forgo the free public educational system if they can afford it. Over the years, the Nigerian higher educational sector has suffered a lot of setback including inadequate student housing, poor funding by the state and federal government, poor technological advancement, poor educational planning for the preschool, elementary, secondary, and vocational schools, corruption in the Ministry of Education, non-restoration of autonomy for tertiary educational institutions, non-functional facilities, disruption of academic calendars by strikes, cultism, and so much more. To arrest the failures of the public higher educational system in Nigeria, the former Obasanjo administration issued licenses to private individuals and organisations to establish private polytechnics, monotechnics and universities. The number of private higher institutions has increased at the same time as increased fees have been introduced in some public institutions. This trend has emerged largely as a result of the incapacity of the government to satisfy the increasing educational demands.

The response to the new privatisation program in the educational sector has been mixed. Many Nigerians initially were generally opposed to the idea but there seems to had been an apparent support from the international community. The strongest opposition had emerged from the National Assembly and the labour unions. The privatisation crusade is, however, much more complex than a mere increase in private funding. It appears to be an answer to an increasingly diversified demand in terms of content, teaching methods, and to the desire of families to choose the school to which they send their children. The issue is not so much of money but rather the freedom of choice, flexibility, regulation, quality and accountability. In developed countries, privately managed and regulated schools are generally supposed to be more effective, efficient and produce better results than schools managed by the government. Privatisation may therefore mean that parents pay the cost of schooling rather than the government.

Emergence of Privatised Higher Educational Institutions in Nigeria

The recent emergence of private tertiary institutions in Nigeria is not a new phenomenon. They have evolved during two historical periods. The first period, during the period of Nigeria’s second democratic experiment (1979/1983), private universities emerged without any defined educational planning for their development and were later abolished by a military regime in 1984. Both prior to and during this period, official thinking followed mainly two presidential commissions on higher education in Nigeria, the Ashby Commission (1962) and the Cookey Commission (1981), that were very conservative about the proliferation of universities (public or private). The second period in the evolution of private universities (under the Obasanjo government, 1999 – 2007) occurred as part of a planned development project. Since 1999, Thirty-four (34) private universities have been licensed in response to over 110 applications received by the National Universities Commission, a federal government agency charged with the regulation, accreditation, and monitoring of universities (both public and private). Today, there are 34 private universities in the country and their establishment is seen by many as a positive development in our higher educational sector. Although there are 91 universities (federal, state and private) today in Nigeria, but their carrying capacity is abysmally low. Out of one and half million candidates seeking university admissions annually, only about 200,000 of them can be absorbed.

The proportion of funds made available to public universities in the last 15 years is still far from adequate to make these institutions regain a respectable place in the global ranking of universities. It is true that these institutions are now embarking on an aggressive drive to generate funds internally, but they still rely heavily on government subvention which is grossly inadequate. Regrettably, the bulk of these allocated funds (sometimes as much as 80%) are expended on salaries and emoluments of both academic and non-academic staff. Thus, the National Universities Commission (NUC) granted some private universities approvals to open up their doors, among these universities were ABTI – American University of Nigeria, Ajayi Crowther University, Babcock University, Benson Idahosa University, Bowen University, Cetep University, Caritas University, Catholic University of Nigeria, Covenant University, Igbinedion University, Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Lead City University, Madonna University, Pan Africa University, Redeemer University and Wesley University. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on June 1, 2005 approved the licensing of another seven new private universities in the country after receiving report of the stringent and rigorous screening exercise conducted by the National Universities Commission (NUC) through which they emerged. The new institutions were Bells University of Technology, Crawford University, Wukari University, Crescent University, Novena University, Renaissance University and University of Mkar.

The Nigerian federal government on December 11, 2007 issued two more licenses for the operation of private universities. The two new universities are Achievers University, Owo in Ondo State and African University of Science and Technology in Abuja, capital of the country. Furthermore, the Federal government had issued new licenses to the following polytechnics: Abuja School of Accountancy and Computer Studies, Grace Polytechnic, City Polytechnic, Our Savior Institute of Science and Technology, Imo State Technological Skill Acquisition Center, Universal College of Technology and Wolex Polytechnic.

Their emergence widened access, especially for students who could afford them, but also introduced a two-tier system, a system differentiating the wealthy and the poor. Meanwhile, federal and state universities continued to raise charges. In many cases, these costs surpassed N100,000 per session, excluding accommodation.

2020s: Spiraling Costs and Student Backlash

The economic fallout of COVID-19, subsidy removal, and inflation further strained university funding. In 2023 and 2024, several universities—including the University of Lagos and University of Ibadan—hiked their charges significantly. UNILAG, for instance, raised fees from N19,000 to over N100,000 in some departments.This sparked protests and criticism, especially from students, parents, and civil society organisations. Many argued that the hikes were insensitive, given rising living costs and stagnant wages.

In response, the Nigerian government introduced student loan schemes e.g., The Nigerian Student Loan Act of 2023, backed by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), establishes the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to provide interest-free loans to eligible Nigerian students for tuition and fees in public tertiary institutions. The Act aims to address the funding gaps in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector and increase access to higher education for indigent students, but implementation has caused more havoc than good.Today, though federal universities still claim to offer “tuition-free” education, the cumulative cost of “charges” makes that claim largely symbolic.

Beyond: The Future of University Education in Nigeria

Higher education is the education after secondary school. It is an education designed to produce manpower for the social, economic and technological development of the country. It is unfortunate that Nigerian higher education is plagued with many challenges. To address these challenges facing higher education in Nigeria, the most accurate recommendation is the adequate funding of higher education by the government.

The most hopeful future envisions a reinvention of higher education itself. With advancements in digital learning, universities could adopt blended models—cutting costs and expanding access. Government and private sector partnerships could fund student technology grants, free online courses, and vocational alternatives that make university education one of several valuable pathways.

A visionary education policy which would be centered on access, affordability, and innovation could make Nigerian universities truly global, competitive, and inclusive.

Conclusion: The Price We Pay, The Future We Choose

The history of tuition fees in Nigerian universities reflects broader national tensions: between ideals and realities, between access and sustainability, between past glory and present crisis. From the days of free education to the age of silent privatisation, the struggle over who pays and who benefits continues to define the Nigerian higher education experience.

The question we must ask, going forward, is not just how much should students pay, but rather what kind of society are we building through our education system? Will we invest in our youth, or will we turn learning into a luxury? In the end, education is not just a budget item, it is a nation’s declaration of its priorities.