Publish or Perish : FG Reads Riot Acts Against Varsities

As part of efforts to improve good governance and standards in federal institutions, the federal government recently ordered the mandatory disclosure of key institutional data on websites, including yearly budgetary allocation, research grants, revenue of the previous year and current year allocation from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

Despite the May 31 deadline issued to federal institutions to disclose key financial and institutional data on their websites, 70 out of 72 federal tertiary institutions have yet to comply fully with the transparency order.

Of the 41 major institutions sampled, only three per cent fully complied, while 97 per cent are yet to fully comply with the federal government’s directive aimed at promoting transparency and accountability in the tertiary education sub-sector.

Others are the endowment fund of the previous year and the total student population.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, directed that such data be published on the institutions’ websites on or before May 31, 2025, with failure putting defaulters at risk of zero funding.

Alausa said the move represents a critical step in collectively uplifting the integrity and global competitiveness of Nigeria’s education sector.

Industry stakeholders believe this move is part of the government’s efforts to promote accountability and university autonomy, draw in potential investors, secure vital funding, and boost competitiveness among public tertiary institutions.

It is also in line with global best practices, where sharing financial records online is the norm, as it fosters trust between public higher institutions, government, the public and potential donors.

For instance, in the United States, it is statutory for public institutions, including universities, to disclose financial information, such as budgets, student population and expenditure reports, on their websites or through state government portals.

Specifically, in Pennsylvania, four state-related universities—University of Pittsburgh, Temple University, Lincoln University, and Penn State University—are required to publish financial records online, including detailed financial information, employee salaries, and contracts exceeding $5,000.

In the United Kingdom, universities are required to publish online financial statements as part of their yearly reports. In South Africa, the public universities in the country publish their books and balance sheets at the end of every year.

Checks however, revealed that there is low compliance with such directives in Nigeria, as managers of most federal universities thrive in data secrecy, though hankering after ‘publish or perish’ from lecturers.

Besides the 72 federal universities, there are also 41 federal government polytechnics and 90 federal monotechnics, bringing the total number of federal tertiary institutions expected to upload required data to 203.

Im categories, the 41 sampled federal universities into four levels of compliance: fully complied, substantially complied, partially complied and zero compliance.
At the time of filing this report, it was observed that while two of the institutions fully adhered to the directive, three substantially complied, 22 partially complied, and 14 had zero compliance.

Specifically, out of the sampled size, only the University of Benin (UNIBEN) and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi (ATBU), ticked all the boxes by fully complying with the directive, while the University of Lagos (UNILAG); Bayero University, Kano (BUK), and Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE) have substantially complied.

For instance, UNILAG published 2024 financial records, including yearly budgetary allocation, endowment fund, breakdown of TETFund allocations and a comprehensive breakdown of the student population on its website, but the 2025 TETFund allocation was notably missing.

Similarly, the student population for the 2024/2025 session at FUPRE was missing, while BUK also lacked a breakdown of its student numbers.

Similarly, the 22 federal universities that partially complied include the University of Ibadan (UI); University of Ilorin (UNILORIN); Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU); University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID); University of Abuja (UNIABUJA); University of Calabar; National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN); University of Uyo; Federal University of Technology Owerri; Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) and Federal University, Otuoke.

Also in this category are the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN); Modibbo Adama University, Yola; Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto; Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria; University of Jos (UNIJOS); Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) and Federal University, Zamfara.

Others are Federal University, Lokoja; Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike; Federal University, Wukari; Federal University, Lokoja and Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi.

The 14 institutions with zero compliance as of the time of filing this report include the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT); Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA); Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUTMINNA); Federal University of Lafia; Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka, and Federal University, Dutse.

Others are Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike; Modibbo Adama University, Yola; Federal University, Gashua; Federal University, Dutsin-ma and Federal University of Kashere.

Equally on the list are Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna; Federal University, Birnin Kebbi; Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko and Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna.

Findings showed that while UNILORIN and UNIJOS have data on student enrollment on their sites, financial records like yearly budgetary allocation, research grants, and endowment funds are missing.

It was further observed that the UNILORIN website’s top menu listed various options, including TETFund, but whenclicked, the sub-menu options, such as yearly intervention, zonal intervention, academic manuscript development, high impact intervention and others, displayed blank pages. This is also the case with Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.

Also, FUNAAB shared audit reports from 2018 to 2023 and a blurry document as TETFund 2024 intervention, without current financial disclosure.

The site also lacked data on the student population. Like UNILORIN, there was no financial disclosure for TETFund allocation.

Similarly, UI, ABU, UNIABUJA, OAU and Federal University, Zamfara, published only student enrollment numbers, without financial information details.

For UNN, the institution posted the financial report for 2019 to 2023, omitted that of 2024, as well as data onundergraduate and postgraduate student population.

ADVERTISEMENT

In the same vein, the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), has columns for yearly budget allocation, endowment fund, TETFund allocation and student population on its home page, but omitted the figures.

Some stakeholders have called for a deadline extension to give institutions more time to implement the order, even as others blamed the slow pace of compliance on weak Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure by federal institutions.

Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, in an interview with The Guardian, lamented that most of the institutions are digitally backward, as they lack the needed infrastructure to upload that information.

“In any case, implementation of the new budget has not started. So, I think the government may need to give some extra time for them to upload. The ICT infrastructure in many institutions is very weak. We are trying to encourage them to improve their ICT infrastructure and upload whatever data they have,” Bugaje stated.

Reacting, UNIABUJA spokesperson, Dr Habib Yakoob, said the institution was working hard to upload the required data. “The process of uploading the data is on”, he said.

His UNIPORT counterpart, Dr Sam Kpenu, said the media unit was unaware of any such government directive.

“Although we are updating our website. I need to find out if we are in receipt of any memo like that because if they are, they have not informed me. The ICT Director manages the university website. I don’t manage it,” he stated.

Also speaking with The Guardian, FUTA spokesperson, Adegbenro Adebanjo, was upbeat that the information would be published on the school’s website.

He said: “The university is working on it. The required information is being painstakingly compiled and will be posted in due course.”

Similarly, in separate interviews, Kunle Akogun, UNILORIN spokesperson, and Muhammad Nur of Modibbo Adama University, and his counterpart in ABU, Awa Umar, promised to check with the appropriate units and get back but were yet to do so as at press time.

When contacted, UNILAG spokesperson, Joke Alaga-Ibraheem, requested a formal email inquiry, but no response had been received.

Efforts to get the reactions of spokespersons of UI and OAU proved abortive, as they did not reply to phone calls and text messages sent to them.

Equally, phone calls and messages sent to the Director, Press at the Federal Ministry of Education, Folasade Boriowo, were unanswered.

The federal government has also hinted at the sanctions that await institutions that fail to comply.
At a one-day strategic engagement with heads of institutions, bursars, and heads of procurement of TETFund’s beneficiary institutions last month, the Executive Secretary, Sonny Echono, warned that institutions that fail to meet performance benchmarks or mismanage allocated funds risk being defunded.

He noted that institutions that fail to effectively access, utilise, and account for funds, or those not meeting enrollment and academic performance standards, risk losing eligibility for TETFund’s support programmes.

Echono clarified that the policy’s purpose is to protect
the integrity and effectiveness of the Fund’s interventions, and not to punish institutions.