Jega: Nigerian varsities awarding degrees to illiterates

Former National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, says many Nigerian universities were producing graduates who were illiterates and not worthy in character and learning.

Jega said this at the 14th convocation lecture of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in Abuja on Friday, April 11, 2025.

The former INEC boss, who decried the drop in the quality of graduates from Nigerian universities, said: “After four or five years of course of study in a tertiary institution, especially in a university, whenever we mention that someone has been found worthy in learning and in character, people tend to wonder whether learning and character necessarily go together. Well, they do not.

“One can have learning and even be considered learned, as lawyers refer to, but with no good character, I’m sorry to say. Also, one can be certified without learning anything or learning much, and yet have good character.

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“But the expectation is that university graduates are positioned for the ideal of having good learning and character. Now, if this ideal has been approximated in Nigerian universities in the past, it now remains a mere aspiration.

“In most cases, regrettably, our universities are certifying illiterates and awarding degrees in many cases to persons with unworthy character. This is an aberration. But the expectation is that university graduates are positioned for the ideal of having good learning and character. Why and how is this so? I can only say that there are complicated reasons and complex explanations, but that will be a subject or a topic for another lecture.”

Also speaking at the event, the Vice-Chancellor of NOUN, Prof. Olufemi Peters, said the convocation lecture has become a routine in the university, adding that it has provided the opportunity for guest lecturers to share knowledge and experience in a particular field.

Peters assured that NOUN has championed a major revolution in the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system of education in Nigeria and beyond.

The Star