Perhaps the management of the National Universities Commission (NUC) is having a sleepless night over how to improve the status of Nigerian universities. MARTIN PAUL writes that the workshop equipment maintenance could change the psyche of operators if taken seriously.
The quest for Nigeria’s drive for attainment of high potentials in university education, particularly science and technology education, reached another level within the week.
A United Kingdom based organisation called “Eagle Scientific Limited International”, in collaboration with the National Universities Commission (NUC), on Wednesday held a seminar in Abuja on “Science and Engineering Equipment Functionality, Procurement and Processes and Mechatronics in Nigerian Universities”.
Until this workshop, some Nigerian institutions have been accused of purchasing equipment that are not functional, either caused by long years of usage before being sold manufacturers or lying waist without expertise to operate them.
This situation has been a serious concern in this era of technology education and had not just affected the tertiary institutions, but the basic education system of the country was not left out.
Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Julius Okojie in his welcome address at the workshop, identified some of the factors militating against this phenomenon.
Consequent upon this, Okojie said the NUC in collaboration with Eagle Scientific Limited, in 2014, muted the idea of a workshop that would brain-storm on issues relating to equipment functionality, processes and mechatronics
Okojie said this effort, which is directly linked to the production of high quality architects, builders, engineers, doctors and scientists, was apt for the country’s university education system.
“As a scientist, I fully understand the importance of working with state of the art equipment in teaching and research, practical sessions enhance understanding of courses, which results in the production of high skilled graduates”, Okojie said.
Although the Commissionn had in the 90s worked oerganisations such as British Overseas Development, the then European Economic Commission, the World Bank and had established equipment maintenance and development centres in five universities, and equipment maintenance centres in all federal universities, maintenance culture was the problems in the past.
In the current follow-up, Okojie said imbibing maintenance culture would go a long way in prolonging the useful life span of equipment and would also save cost relative to purchase of new equipment.
The 1990 interface with other oganisation had revealed that only 47. 65 per cent of laboratory equipment was functional, 28.69 per cent non-functional, while 23.66 per cent were obsolete.
The high per centage of non-functional and obsolete equipment I Nigerian universities, could be traced to the fact of poor maintenance, while the “throw-away” culture without first considering the possibility of repair is still in practitioners, but must give way to more prudent maintenance culture.
Today, Okojie said that five EMDCs and some EMCs are still functional and effective, but some federal universities still do not have EMCs, whereas those with EMCs are still existing, but with complaints of inadequate staff, lack of training to cope with emerging technologies.
Some of the equipment are lying waste because of non-availability of spare parts, besides qualified engineering to repair them.
The critical challenge facing universities in the country, the NUC scribes opined, is to make sustainable arrangements for maintenance of laboratory equipment.
He, perhaps, recalled that direct teaching and laboratory cost (DTLC) was introduced by the NUC to curb the problems of maintaining teaching and research equipment.
Other intervention areas to curb break down of equipment for research, it could be recalled are he Skill-G Project, World Bank’s sponsored Science Technology Education and Post-Basic (STEP-B) and the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN).
The managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Eagle Scientific Limited, Mr. Tim Johnsen, is his paper, said the aim of the workshop is to give a suppliers’ view of the procurement process and what will allow better outcome for the purchasing institutions.
The company is also saddled to tell lecturers and scientists how to teach their subjects, but “we hope that we can offer some insights and strategies that in our experience will assist in their getting better value for money out of supply chain.
The other objectives, according to Johnson, include “to give some guidelines on the planning of the physical structures for laboratory and workshops.
Showcase some of the latest training equipment and technologies in the area of mechanical engineering by TecQuipment, who have been working in Nigerian’s higher education institutions for almost 50 years.
The workshop also expected a presentation on the benefits of laboratories and workshops to institution through achieving the ISO 17025 quality standard.
Johnson expressed the belief that all problems demand different approach in solving it, therefore, there would be the need for series of consultations, where the delegates would be addressed on their needs.
In his introductory remarks, NUC’s director of special Duties, Chris Maiyaki, said Tim Johnsen had been participating in the development of Nigeria University System in the past 35 years.
The idea of joint workshop, according to Maiyaki, was heart-warming in that after several attempts, the seminar has eventually come to fruition and commended the resource person for his support.
While enjoining participants to make use of the opportunity to learn more on the topic of the workshop, Maiyaki said everyone was at liberty to ask questions and make enquiries from any member of the local organising committee, who were ready to prove answers and solutions to their problems.
Participants were drawn from public universities across the country and it is expected that at the end of the exercise, a communiqué would be issued to guide other institutions or scientists, who were not privileged to attend the seminar.
