Rethinking the Curriculum of Nigerian University Education: Functionality Challenges

Abstract

The founders of Nigerian university education aimed at providing the requirements of industry, commerce and society and at the relevance of university graduates to the social and economic needs and day-to-day life of the people of Nigeria. These aspirations were met in the early years of the universities, but not toady. The quality of university graduates and research outputs of toady, in relation to the expectations of local employers of labour and the organisations that should commercialise research findings, are far from fulfilling the noble visions of the founding fathers of Nigerian university education system. This paper examines the imperative need for an urgent rethink on the curriculum of Nigerian university education system in order to keep pace with the visions of the founding fathers of the system. The first indigenous university in Nigeria, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, is the the focus.