Immediate-past Chairman, Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, has said that the major problem of Nigeria’s tertiary institutions is not inadequate funding but lack of discipline.

He also identified lack of data and lack of focus as other problems inhibiting the growth of tertiary education in the country.

He spoke in an interview with our correspondent in Ilorin on Thursday. He said there were sufficient resources in tertiary institutions for university administrators to achieve more.

He stated that with prudent management of resources, good planning, strategic and efficient execution of those plans, focus and tenacity of purpose, there would be a big lift in tertiary education in the country.

"I believe the problem with tertiary education is lack of discipline, lack of data, and lack of focus. I believe that if we address these things, things will get better. People are talking of under-funding; I do not believe that is the problem. I believe that we have sufficient resources to do a lot of things. If we manage our resources very well, if we are focused and not distracted, there will be a greater impact," he said.

Oloyede, who is also the immediate-past Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, said that there were lots of distractions for vice- chancellors of federal universities such that they do not concentrate their manpower resources on core and more important needs of the universities.

According to him, the VCs are expected to attend to issues that could have been appropriately handled by other persons or institutions other than them.

He stated that this consequently made them spend insufficient time on their core responsibilities of ensuring adequate planning, maximization of human and material resources and efficient management of the universities.

He said, "An average vice- chancellor of a federal university will spend an average of five days a month in Abuja because of one thing or the other. Today, it is the Senate, tomorrow, it is House of Representatives, National Universities Commission, Ministry etc, rather than being allowed to focus on what you are expected to do and allow the NUC or Committee of Vice- Chancellors to coordinate the matter.

"You know in Nigeria too many things do not work and everybody wants to be seen as important. That is part of the problem. That is eroding the resources available, not in terms of material but human resources available for proper planning and management of our individual universities particularly federal universities."

Oloyede also said that state governors interfered too much in the activities of their respective state universities. This, he said, retards smooth operation and academic development of those affected institutions.

He stated that there was the need to restore discipline in tertiary education and management as well as ensure more focus on research.

"For the state universities, of course, many of them, the state governments are intruding too much. The level of intrusion by the state government generally speaking, is unbearable. A times, I wonder whether some of those universities are universities, given the level of intervention by the state government.

"The solution to problem of tertiary education is discipline. When people are disciplined, they know what to do. It is very costly and expensive but it is a major solution to our problem," Oloyede said.